Failed Products Essay Example for Free

Failed Products EssayA haberdasher, such as Levi Strauss, that has been around for 150 years is bound to have their share of hits and misses because fashion is atrociously fickle and largely unpredictable. But this doesnt mean you should ignore your target audience. In late 2002, Levi Strauss began a massive marketing push to launch what was being touted as one of the companys closely significant launches in history, Type 1 Jeans. The spot unnecessarily went to great lengths to accentuate all those trace design details already long-associated with Levis, such as the red tab logo, buttons, rivets, and the two-horse back patch. To accompany the launch, Levi Strauss exhausted $2 million on an artsy, misguidedSuper Bowl commercialthat confused viewers. Going against vernacular practice, they placed Type 1 in retailers with inconsistent prices, ranging from $30 at a retailer exchangeable JC Penneys to over $100 at Barneys, with no discernable difference in quality. Levi Strauss pulled the entire line after less than two years and Type 1 proved to be the proud clothiers most spectacular flop. How marketing can cause a product to fail? I have discussed in the past many good examples ofmarketing helped a product to succeed. Apple is the introductory speck that comes to mind when we talk about marketing. The communication and design of the products has led to its wide spread advantage and Apple becoming one of themost valuable companies in the world. But what about marketing failures?For both Apple there are many products that fail due to bad marketing strategies. In this atom I would like to discuss one of them-The TATA Nano. - In a recent trip to Sri Lanka, I apothegm the TATA Nano being used extensively as a Taxi. As I asked around the average Sri Lankan mat that the Nano though a good elevator cardid not carry enough prestige to be a passenger car. And this they felt was a result of the positioning taken by the marketing managers of the brand. As I look back at the previous efforts for the Nano, it suddenly struck me that Nano was a consumer behavior assessment failure.The brand managers positioned the car as the next upgrade for a family of four with a two wheeler. But each such household had an aspiration to move to something better and not necessarily cheaper. Even if the consumer was in that income bracket, he aspired for something cooler. This point was not taken into consideration while the brand managers were coming up with the positioning. The next campaign focused on the tier 2 cities with bad roads and little or no rock to move things along. This further hit the car sales. Finally now the Nano has been positioned as a cool car to have fun with.Also the colors and the powerful AC are being positioned as the differentiators along with the classic adage of better fuel efficiency that has helped its sales. I personally feel that positioning a product or service would be a strong spin off from consumer behavior and w ithout savvy the hopes and aspirations of the masses a product is bound to not have the stickiness factor. TATA Nano was a classic case of a product manager who chooses not to respect the aspirations of his prospective consumers. A famous marketer once told me that A man buys a car for what he wants to be and buys a house based on what he is.