14 Iconic Brands That Are Losing Their Luster
Brand value (according to Interbrand): $7.44 billion
1-year decline in brand value: 65 percent
What went wrong: Failed to respond to rise of smartphones
Reason for hope: Getting acquired by Microsoft is its best hope to do battle with Apple and Samsung.
Nokia
Brand value: $5.72 billion
1-year decline in brand value: 21 percent
What went wrong: Trading revenue plunged after the investment bank’s credit rating was cut.
Reason for hope: Earnings were better than expected in the second quarter and are forecast to be good in the third despite unpredictable economic headwinds.
Wikimedia Commons
Brand value: $6.09 billion
1-year decline in brand value: 14 percent
What went wrong: Rivals took away market share as Nintendo suffered with the rise of mobile gaming.
Reason for hope: In the short term, new titles could drive sales. Longer term, it will need to transition along with the rest of the console gaming industry.
Flickr/Crazyoctopus
Brand value: $4.98 billion
1-year decline in brand value: 12 percent
What went wrong: Ratings for the cable channel plunged after “Jersey Shore” went off the air.
Reason for hope: Viewership for the channel’s “Video Music Awards” surged 65 percent thanks to Miley Cyrus’ X-rated antics.
MTV
Brand value: $4.61 billion
1-year decline in brand value: 11 percent
What went wrong: Sales declined for years, under investigation for allegedly bribing foreign officials.
Reason for hope: CEO Sheri McCoy recently unloaded its underperforming Silpada jewelry line as she tries to turn the business around.
Avon
Brand value: $6.84 billion
1-year decline in brand value: 11 percent
What went wrong: Failed to embrace the post-PC world fast enough.
Reason for hope: Perhaps CEO Michael Dell will find it easier to fix the company he founded outside the glare of the public market.
Dell.jpg)
Brand value: $11 billion
1-year decline in brand value: 9 percent
What went wrong: IDC estimates that the global digital camera market will shrink 29 percent as consumers increasingly find their smartphones sufficient to meet their picture-taking needs.
Reason for hope: President Fujio Mitari might gain traction from some of the many new products that he is pushing through the Japanese company’s pipeline.
Flickr/Doug88888
Brand value: $8.4 billion
1-year decline in brand value: 8 percent
What went wrong: The sprawling Japanese conglomerate is spread thin, making everything from movies to consumer electronics. Activist investor Daniel Loeb has called for the company to spin-off of as much as 20 percent of its entertainment arm.
Reason for hope: Expectations are high for the PlayStation 4, set to launch in November. Pre-orders have already topped 1 million.
Flickr/Jami3.jpg)
Brand value: $37.3 billion
1-year decline in brand value: 5 percent
What went wrong: The world’s largest chipmaker is struggling to adjust to the post-PC world.
Reason for hope: Intel is making inroads in cloud computing through acquisitions and has formed an alliance with Google to develop hardware.
Reuters/Rick Wilking.jpg)
Brand value: $10.6 billion
1-year decline in brand value: 4 percent
What went wrong: Nescafe dominates coffee markets around the world except the U.S. The company has been overshadowed by the growth in single-cup coffee products such as Green Mountain’s K-Cups and Nespresso.
Reason for hope: The 75-year old brand is making inroads in traditional tea-drinking markets in Asia. It continues to do well in Europe.
Flickr/Nestle Spain.jpg)
Brand value: $8.1 billion
1-year decline in brand value: 4 percent
What went wrong: Earnings are under pressure because of weak demand from financial services clients.
Reason for hope: The company is making a “strategic review” of its business units. Its Eikon financial desktop platform has gained traction against its longtime nemesis Bloomberg L.P.
Flickr/Global X
Brand value: $4.66 Billion
1-year decline in brand value: 2 percent
What went wrong: Interbrand cites “serious complaints from UK customers over poor customer service and increased interest rates on mortgages.”
Reason for hope: “Santander took a step forward,” the branding group says, “reorganizing globally and naming Javier Marin its new CEO.”
Wikimedia Commons
Brand value: $25.8 billion
1-year decline in brand value: 1 percent
What went wrong: As the PC era comes to an end, HP’s key products became commoditized. Management upheaval didn’t help matters.
Reason for hope: Under CEO Meg Whitman, HP is focusing on higher growth businesses such as cloud computing. The company, whose acquisition of Palm was a failure, plans to re-enter the smartphone market.
Wikimedia Commons
Brand value: $7.65 billion
1-year decline in brand value: 1 percent
What went wrong: The company’s North American consumer business has been stagnant, dropping 1.4 percent in the latest quarter. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital acquired the company for $28 billion in June.
Reason for hope: Innovations such as its “dip and squeeze” single portion ketchup packets resonate with consumers.
Wikimedia Commons