How many times have you seen this same brand strategy story reported in the business press?
A company fails to see - or blatantly ignores – seismic industry and audience changes that are developing because its historical business model has worked for years. In the absence of generating its own innovative and financially attractive strategies, it buys a new rival hoping to thwart changing market dynamics. It subsequently fails to realize the anticipated cost savings, invest in critical, value-creating functions, and make market-based sense of the piece(s) it acquired. To oversee the impending decline, the company hires senior executives from equally-struggling brands because they are available and familiar with brands imploding through lack of foresight. After exploring all its options and failing to uncover ways to prop up all the bad decisions, the financiers swoop in to rip the pieces apart, getting paid on every deal they arrange, as the company continues to promise business as usual. The End.
All the time, right?
This week’s starring brand is FTD, the century-plus old brand once ubiquitous as THE source to order flowers for delivery, It voluntarily filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday as part of a strategy to sell the brand. The objective is to paydown debt incurred during its 2014 purchase of ProFlowers, a rival start-up with a different business model than FTD.
Articles reporting the FTD bankruptcy repeated familiar themes:
Sigh. Why do so many brands embrace this tired brand strategy and expect positive results?
Here’s an alternative: If this strategy doesn’t ever work, DO THE OPPOSITE.
Admittedly, THAT is not even a new idea. It’s inspired by the Seinfeld episode where George decided that nothing he ever chose was right, so he needed to do completely the opposite. Relative to this brand strategy story, opposite looks like:
While this strategy story remains a mystery – since we don’t know EXACTLY how it will turn out – the chances HAVE to be better that it will end positively than hoping disruptive changes will go away. – Mike Brown