Brand Wraiths: When Neglect Leads to Brands That Neither Live nor Die

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photo courtesy of twinrosesdesigns.com

We all know what it means to say “bringing the brand to life“. Managing brand perceptions, utilizing creative advertising and marketing to make the most of a good brand, resulting in recognition, loyalty, and brand profitability. Now consider the opposite of this idea. What does it take to have a brand brought neither to life, nor to death? How do companies let successful brands decline to the point of irrelevancy?

It’s usually because the brand owner failed to support them with sufficient R&D and marketing. In other words, they milked the brand (either deliberately or not). If the brand neglect lasted long enough (usually many years), a brand may become so damaged it is neither fully alive nor fully dead but continues in a sort of wraith-like existence.

Examples are plenty. Think of Yellow Pages or Diner’s Club, Polaroid, Ovaltine, Sears, Kmart, RCA, Zenith, etc. All brand wraiths have three fundamental characteristics: They are (still) actively selling product, they have relatively high name recognition based on former (but faded) glory, and they are broadly perceived as irrelevant or obsolete.

Can you resuscitate a brand wraith? Can we imagine bringing the brand to life (again)? The answer seems to be, “not really”, because no examples seem to exist of restoring a brand wraith to anything resembling its former self. It appears that some smaller success is possible by pursuing a niche strategy (cutting price and/or focusing on the most loyal fans with minimal investment). What notable brands are currently nearing brand wraith status? AOL? Kodak?

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