Denise Milani Marriage

When they screw

By: Evan Davis

big bet ... and lost.

Even larger companies can make big mistakes. And when they do, the result is usually a commercial disaster.

• companies constantly strive to improve products and profits. But modifying an existing product can be a failed experience that leads to customers protest and left the firm in crisis.

• A bad marketing coupled with clumsy public relations can make the most experienced companies seem incompetent.

• And the costs, both financial and in terms of reputation, can be enormous.

• Unilever, Coca-Cola and the British Motor Corporation have provided some of the most extreme examples.

• Stain (destructive) of Unilever
• The detergent market can be a fierce battle between manufacturers.

• When in the early '90s Unilever brand announced the launch of a new formula, Persil Power, its creators will bet on the British market dominance with a detergent able to remove any stains .

• For a short time, the product was able to beat his main rival, Ariel, Procter and Gamble.

• Many consumers were excited until they began to realize that the detergent not only removed the stains ... but also destroyed the clothes.

• Persil Power The manganese contained an ingredient called "the gas."

• accelerated What was the wrath of consumers when began appearing in the press photos, posted by the competition, wearing underwear with holes.

• Vikki Orvice journalist dedicated to consumer issues, remember the phrase: "When using this product, your clothes will be shredded to the point of indecency."

• Analysts estimate that the debacle could cost him at Unilever to over U.S. $ 400 million.

• But the company quickly and introduced the New Generation Persil, without the manganese accelerator.

• Persil regained its position as market leader four years later with Persil tablets.

• The taste (again) from Coca-Cola
• Despite being the soft drink sold in the world, Coca-Cola always afraid of his rival, Pepsi, that his heels.

• When Pepsi introduced its famous Pepsi Challenge, a blind tasting test that suggested that most customers preferred the sweeter taste of the number two, Coca-Cola shook.

• Its executives were convinced that the taste of his product had become a problem, so it tried to develop a new one that will win the game at Pepsi.

• Coca-Cola changed the flavor to the Pepsi Challenge.
• The new and supposedly better Coca-Cola was introduced to the press in New York in April 1985.

• Surprisingly, not only changed the taste of Coca-Cola but the original was discontinued.

• journalist for The New York Times Pamela Hollie, who was at the launch, recalls his amazement.

• "It was like saying that it was changing the American flag" he recalls.

• Consumers were horrified, mounted noisy campaigns and staged protests.

• A "militant" said at the time: "My daughter is 22 years. His first word was Coca-Cola. His second word was mama ...".

• Ultimately the Coca-Cola executives reviewed their market research and realized that they had committed a fundamental error.

• The blind tasting test did not take into account the associations involved the brand and consumer loyalty.

• After only 79 days, Coca-Cola has reversed its decision and announced that the original recipe occur again.

• (great) error Mini
• The Mini was the most successful car in British history, with more than five million units sold. But their success lay a story surprising that most benefits the consumer went to the company.

• Its low price, the Mini became a commercial success.

• When it was introduced in 1959, Leonard Lord, head of the British Motor Corporation, decided that the car was sold for 500 pounds sterling (about U.S. $ 816 today), in order to undermine his closest competition, the Ford Anglia , which cost 610.

• That price turned the Mini into an instant success and, with the support of celebrities like John Lennon, Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, became the vehicle of the moment.

• Ford bosses were perplexed and decided to remove one of the cars piece by piece to access the secret of lower production.

• Former director of Ford Planner Bob Howe recalled that analyzed the cost of each component.

• "Our analysis found that Ford's auto production would have cost 35 pounds above their cost in the market."

• Apparently the Mini costing 535 pounds and sold at 500.