Establishing iconic brands is hard, but maintaining their relevance and status is harder. It’s something many legendary brands learned the difficult way. They failed to adapt to the changing consumer needs, clinging to outdated marketing strategies and refusing to innovate. All these factors became a leading cause of their downfall. Let’s explore 12 iconic brands that experienced gradual death for the same reasons.
JCPenney
Many Americans have grown up seeing this brand because it was the go-to departmental store for almost every product. From clothes to accessories, home furnishing to beauty products, you could buy everything from a single store. While convenience, great deals, and variety were some of the primary highlights that took JCPenney to great heights, its inability to keep up with the changing shopping demands, emerging eCommerce trends, drastic rebranding, etc., led to its slow death. The company eventually filed for bankruptcy in mid-May 2020.
Applebee’s
Once a massively popular casual restaurant chain, Applebee’s is losing its market grip due to people’s changing dining preferences. Applebee grew rapidly in the 1990s and peaked in the early 2000s, opening restaurants in almost 1,500 nationwide locations. However, the chain started experiencing a gradual decline while trying to impress the new generation and unknowingly alienating its core customer base. People now prefer fast-casual restaurants, such as Five Guys and Chipotle, over more traditional casual dining places, like Applebee’s, leading to the brand’s slow death.
Macy’s
Once synonymous with America’s shopping culture, Macy’s now struggles to remain relevant in today’s market. Macy’s was one of the largest retailers in the United States and enjoyed a dominant market position. However, it all came crashing down due to multiple factors, such as changing consumer preferences, declining mall traffic, a shift to online shopping, etc. The brand is struggling with declining sales and reduced share value. While the management is making various efforts to regain its brand position, the results have been underwhelming, raising concerns about the brand’s losing relevance.
Victoria’s Secret
The rise and fall of Victoria’s Secret can be used to set an example of what to not do to maintain business success. While the brand performed exceedingly well for years, its recent business decisions paved the way for its imminent death. Many accused the brand of going ‘woke,’ which its target audience didn’t perceive well. The accompanying accusations around promoting unrealistic body standards and a misogynistic culture driven by sizeism, sexual misconduct, chauvinism, and an archaic view of hyper-conformist femininity made the brand suffer.
Budweiser
Budweiser was considered one of America’s most favorite beers until recently. Its marketing move to rope in the controversial transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney to promote its association with a basketball tournament single-handedly destroyed the company’s brand reputation and market share. It is now among the dying brands struggling to maintain relevance and revenue. While the marketing blunder occurred a year back, its financial impact still exists. With independent local wholesalers and other small-medium businesses struggling to sell Budweiser, the brand may not recover.
IBM
This tech giant is experiencing a slow death, losing significantly to other major tech players like AWS, Microsoft, Google, etc. According to one of its employees, IBM missed the opportunity to innovate and tap into the cloud solutions market. The company is accused of patching up its legacy technology instead of building innovative solutions. If this trend continues, the company may eventually collapse sooner than expected.
H&R Block
Almost all working Americans have heard this name at least once or even used its services at some point. H&R Block was launched to simplify tax-filing challenges and became successful quickly. However, it is gradually transitioning into the ‘dying brand’ category because of its deceptive marketing and unfair trade practices. The rise of free tax filing options, such as the Direct File pilot available via the IRS’s website, also contributes to the brand’s steady decline.
GAP
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Americans were surrounded by sweatshirts from the Gap. They almost signaled a taste for fashion during those periods. While the brand long enjoyed being synonymous with cool and casual style, it started losing grip to newer brands featuring more stylish designs at affordable prices. Sales at the flagship Gap brand have witnessed constant decline as the company fell out of touch with Baby Boomers and failed to attract Millennials and Gen Z. It’s now a dying brand that may be unable to regain its original position.
Campbells Soup
A staple in American culture, Campbells Soup has dominated the market for 100+ years with its iconic red and white cans. While its canned soup was convenient and delicious, it no longer aligns with customer preferences. The company has recorded a considerable decrease in sales and reportedly lost market shares in the packaged food industry. It’s facing intense competition from companies like Nestle and losing to the consumer’s growing awareness of wellness, product convenience, and product quality.
Buffalo Wild Wings
This casual dining restaurant and sports bar was the go-to place for many Americans to chill with friends and enjoy crisp fried wings with beer. With hundreds of stores nationwide and crowds filling their spots, they’ve enjoyed much success for an extended period. However, the situation isn’t the same. Buffalo Wild Wings is slipping into an inevitable death phase because of factors beyond their control. The rising chicken prices, fiery competition by local brands, and peoples’ awareness of how damaging fried food is to their bodies is affecting their overall business.
Harley-Davidson
Loyalists can find it hard to accept, but Harley-Davidson is slowly dying because of its own mistakes. While some people link its downfall to the company’s ‘woke’ policies, its plummeting sales are a reason for Harley-Davidson’s failed attempt at innovation. The company didn’t pay attention to the world around them, failing to adapt. Its original customer base is aging, and its models have been designed to please the same group of people since the late 1970s. People no longer have the discretionary income to purchase such expensive bikes, adding to the company’s deteriorating condition.
Kellogg’s
Kellogg’s is a classic example that nothing lasts forever, even the most iconic brands. The company dominated the shelves in food aisles of almost all departmental stores and was regarded as the most common breakfast option in many American households. However, Kellogg’s doesn’t enjoy the same market reputation, domination, and revenue. Its sales are declining, forcing the company to close a major production plant in Nebraska as its restructuring strategy. Some believe the breakfast cereal business is dying anyway, leaving no hope for Kellogg’s resurgence.
