Excerpted from NYT, “Those Shelved Brands Start to Look Tempting”, Aug. 21, 2008
During economic downturns, consumer products marketers takiw stock of brands they already own to see if any can be revived or renewed. It can cost significantly less to bring back a brand — or restore the luster to a faded one — than to develop a new product, because spending huge sums to generate awareness is not necessary.
For instance, in considering a comeback for Eagle snacks, research found that “6 out of 10 adults remember the brand” … Reserve Brands is reintroducing Eagle in stores and vending machines … plans to reintroduce Eagle include new snacks under names like Bursts and Poppers, to “modernize the brand and contemporize it.”
“It would take $300 million to $500 million to recreate that brand awareness today.”
Eagle is among scores of products that marketers abandoned because of declining sales, stronger competitors or a desire to focus on newer brands deemed more contemporary.
Marketers are also taking another look at products that are still in production but have been forgotten or neglected, known as ghost brands or orphan brands.
Makers of such products usually cut advertising budgets in the face of declining sales. That slows sales further, which leads to more budget cuts — creating a downward spiral, difficult to avoid, that can land a ghost or orphan in the netherworld of once-popular, now-deceased trademarks.
To keep some of its venerable brands fresh — brands like Aleve, Alka-Seltzer, Bayer, Flintstones and One A Day vitamins, and Phillips’ Milk of Magnesia — Bayer HealthCare is pursuing a strategy … focused on “marketing innovation, product innovation and technology innovation.”
For instance, new advertising campaigns for Alka-Seltzer draw on its heritage while at the same time updating brand catch phrases like “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing” and “Try it; you’ll like it.”
There are also new products being brought out under the umbrella of the well-known brands, among them Alka-Seltzer Wake-Up Call, a hangover treatment, and Phillips’ Colon Health, a probiotic supplement in caplet form.
Other older brands may be ripe for revival because “as the population ages, there are certain brands that really resonate with consumers.”
* * * * *
* * * * *
Want more from the Homa Files?
Click link => The Homa Files Blog
* * * * *
The Homa Files 
Leave a comment