Top 10 Product Redesign Fails
These redesigns/rebrands failed spectacularly! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re taking a look at 10 times brands botched their own glow ups at redesigning their products and or rebranding themselves.
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00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're taking a look at 10 times brands failed at redesigning
00:11 their products and/or rebranding themselves.
00:28 A bird tweets, Twitter has a blue bird as a logo.
00:31 Bird, tweet, tweeting, it all adds up, right?
00:33 Well, all of that brand recognition and synergy kind of went out the window when tech mogul
00:38 Elon Musk acquired the social media platform and rebranded it as X.
00:46 Musk has visions of creating a "everything" app, and the acquisition and rebranding of
00:50 Twitter is a big part of that.
00:52 However, it's not gone over great with fans of the platform, with many feeling that the
00:56 brand recognition and familiar feel has simply vanished.
01:03 All of this uncertainty has ultimately led to the app's value falling to just a third
01:08 of what it was before Musk took over.
01:20 This British airline is well known for its patriotic Union Flag tail fin design, but
01:24 for a stint back in 1997, the company embarked on a new programme called "World Tails".
01:30 This had its aircraft's tail fins donning various different murals from artists all
01:33 over the world.
01:34 The general consensus, however, was that the airline lost a big chunk of its British feel,
01:39 and some felt that the supposed "culturally rich" designs were actually a bit patronising.
01:47 The designs were dropped after four years, and the airline has since reprised its Union
01:51 Flag moniker.
01:52 Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher summarised the World Tails programme rather
01:56 abruptly, stating "We fly the British flag, not these awful things".
02:15 Another staple of British culture next, Royal Mail, which believe it or not, back in 2001,
02:19 was rebranded "Consignia".
02:21 The idea behind this renaming was that the word "Consignia" more accurately represented
02:25 the wide scope of what the Royal Mail service actually did.
02:28 The word "Consignia" also has connotations of royalty and trust, but this change didn't
02:32 last long.
02:33 After just 16 months, the Consignia reign was over, and the mail service became Royal
02:37 Mail once again.
02:41 Royal Mail as a brand is about as British as it gets, and rebranding it "Consignia"
02:46 is like trying to change fish and chips to cod and fries.
02:49 It's just not gonna happen.
03:06 The release of the iPhone back in 2007 made all big tech brands rethink their marketing
03:11 strategies, and one of those brands was BlackBerry.
03:13 In order to take on Apple, BlackBerry made its first foray into the touchscreen smartphone
03:17 market, launching the BlackBerry Storm.
03:20 This phone was a complete reimagining of the button-heavy BlackBerrys of yesteryear.
03:24 The problem was, it just wasn't very good, with its newfangled, sure-press display malfunctioning
03:28 more often than not.
03:30 In short, the BlackBerry Storm was a failure, and it set the tone for the brand's downward
03:33 spiral in the years to come.
03:47 You know how it is in school, you don't give yourself a nickname, you wait for your
03:50 friends to bestow one upon you.
03:52 Well, RadioShack jumped the gun in 2009 with a feeble attempt to appeal more youthful,
03:56 and to help boost its mobile product strategy by rebranding themselves "The Shack".
04:05 RadioShack was facing stiff competition from colossal stores like Costco and Best Buy at
04:09 the time, and this was seen as a relatively cost-effective way of shaking things up.
04:13 Sadly for RadioShack, the new name didn't catch on, and it seemingly went as fast as
04:18 it came.
04:31 Companies are always trying to strive to become more environmentally friendly, and back in
04:35 2010, Frito-Lay, who makes SunChips, decided to do their part for the environment and redesign
04:40 its bags with plant-based materials to make them 100% compostable.
04:44 Great, right?
04:45 The only problem was that the new, more rigid bag construction made the crinkle sound of
04:49 the packaging loud.
04:50 Very loud.
04:57 As a result, customers stopped buying SunChips, and sales of the tasty, eco-conscious treat
05:01 reportedly dropped 11%.
05:03 Frito-Lay reversed the change a year and a half later, and went back to the drawing board
05:07 to try and create something a little less deafening.
05:20 Brands are always modernising their logos, often adding simplified shapes and letters
05:24 to create a fresher look.
05:25 This was what the Hershey brand looked to do back in 2014, by reimagining its "Hershey's
05:29 Chocolate" logo, featuring new, bold lettering and one of its famed "Hershey Kisses"
05:33 chocolate treats.
05:34 But what does that "Kisses" chocolate treat look like to you?
05:37 I mean, it kind of looks like a steaming poop emoji, right?
05:40 Well, the social media world thought so too, and creators everywhere were quick to point
05:44 out the similarities.
05:45 Did Hershey's quickly change the design?
05:47 No.
05:48 Surprisingly, the brand stuck with it.
05:49 Could all of this negative publicity be seen as a success?
05:52 Possibly, but when the intent was to drop a new, modernised logo, not a deuce, we'd
05:57 argue that this belongs firmly in the fail column.
06:02 We've got another straight-up packaging fail next, dating back to 2009, when the Tropicana
06:06 brand famous for its orange juice, decided to ditch its straw-stuck-in-an-orange carton
06:10 design for something a little more, well, obscure.
06:13 The new branding, intended to make the drink more, quote, "down to earth", simply featured
06:17 the colour orange and some choice wording.
06:19 Many consumers complained that this branding looked cheaper, and unrecognisable, and it
06:23 seemed the departure from the straw-based logo was too much to stomach.
06:26 That consumer backlash, and the not-so-measly 20% drop in sales, urged the brand to go back
06:31 to their more recognisable trademark.
06:46 Big brands need to constantly update and innovate, and that's exactly why Windows brought out
06:50 Windows Vista in 2007 - a replacement for its solid, but ageing Windows XP system.
06:55 From the get-go, however, Vista hit a lot of speed bumps, most of which related to speed
07:01 and incompatibility issues with various apps and hardware devices.
07:05 Windows 7 came along a few years later and completely revived the Windows brand, with
07:08 huge improvements to overall performance and user-friendliness.
07:11 But Vista was a close call, that arguably nearly tanked the tech giant, or at least
07:23 got die-hard Windows fans to start looking elsewhere.
07:27 People don't like it when you mess with their cola.
07:55 Pepsi tried it with Pepsi AM, and failed miserably.
07:58 And so did Coke.
07:59 Back in 1985, Coke was facing increasing competition from Pepsi.
08:03 So it decided to launch a new, sweeter formula, carrying the unofficial name "New Coke".
08:14 The public takedown of New Coke was instantaneous.
08:17 Coke fans thought it was too sweet, the media slammed Coke for past ads that criticised
08:20 sweet Cola rands, and Coke put themselves in danger of cannibalising their own market
08:25 share with what was effectively a new beverage.
08:27 Surprisingly, New Coke was only discontinued in 2002.
08:38 Did you actually like any of the failed products mentioned in this list?
08:41 If so, let us know in the comments below.
08:51 And as always, thanks for watching.
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