Brand fails

Welcome to the Frontify newsletter for June 2024! This month, we’re focusing on BRAND FAILS - how brand mistakes happen, and how even iconic brands like Nike and Apple can sometimes fail big.

We're not here to point and laugh, or wallow in assumed superiority. Instead, let’s examine how these insidious mistakes can affect any brand and how learning from and anticipating them can act as a catalyst for future success. 

And of course, we also want to celebrate some recent standout moments, such as our new customer showcase, our great panel session at D&AD, and some other cool things we’ve noticed.

Nike - The danger of forgetting your next customers

Sportswear fashion is no stranger to controversial product launches, usually around the disparity between male and female sportswear. Nike’s recent launch of their Olympic track and field designs has caused the same old stir for the same old reasons. The high-cut leotard option presented to female athletes has caused backlash from athletes and the public alike, with CEO John Donahoe rather incongruously blaming “remote work” for the lack of foresight in the blunder.

Nike is currently gearing up for the 2024 Paris Olympics, spending more than ever before on influencers and AI stunts as the company faces lower growth and major layoffs. The lack of innovation and audience awareness with this uniform controversy is a symptom of Nike’s current struggles, during what this Wired article calls their “midlife crisis.” The sports giant is competing in a crowded market where smaller, innovative brands like Hoka, On, and Lululemon are gaining ground and gaining attention from a brand that once utterly monopolized the sportswear space. 

Ultimately, Nike is a victim of its own success, and the connection it once had to the young, fashion-forward demographic is failing. In order for Nike to consolidate its place at the top of the hill, the brand desperately needs to reignite its relationship with a younger audience.

Apple’s Crushing Disappointment

Apple has traditionally delivered very engaging and out-of-the-box launch commercials, which makes their recent iPad launch spot even more jarring and off-brand. Dramatizing the thinness of the new iPad by crushing objects associated with creativity and play in an industrial crusher appears to have misfired dramatically, alienating even hard-core Apple lovers. The strong reactions to the commercial led to the brand apologizing and stopping the broader distribution of the campaign. 

For a company historically dedicated to creating tools for creative people, underestimating the symbolic impact on its audience of destroying physical, creative tools when hyping up a new product, especially in times of concern about tech companies and AI startups taking away human creativity, is definitely a cause for reflection and learning. 

The Wonka Experience - Celebration of failure

Unless you’ve been living in a world of pure imagination for months, you’ll probably have seen the chaos that was Glasgow’s failed AI-fueled Wonka Experience. The threadbare social event, part child’s theme park and part student horror film, went viral around the world for its shoddy, bizarre, and downright disturbing execution - everything a brand wants to steer clear of.

Now, in the age-old tradition of the US taking an iconic British phenomenon and giving it a uniquely American slant (following in the footsteps of The Office, Ghosts and chucking tea leaves into water), the Wonka Experience has been revived in LA - warts and all. They even flew in the original Oompa-Loompa from the doomed Glasgow event to reprise her role.

Apart from capitalizing on a fun meme and the surrounding zeitgeist, it’s an example of how a misstep can be turned into an opportunity and how exciting failures can sometimes be more compelling than plain successes. So, next time you can’t avoid failure, do you have a plan for using it to your advantage?

Creative Spotlight: Freedom of movement with Lacoste.

In contrast, let’s look at a brand with a successful momentum in reaching new audiences: Lacoste. Lacoste has had a tremendous creative run in the last years, including a multi-awarded campaign showing how older and younger customers use the same clothes styled differently, breaking an old inter-generational taboo in fashion.

The brand has also been unafraid to showcase big and bold creative expressions, ranging from its new bold campaign with Serena Williams to stylish and gravity-defying visuals under its “Freedom of Movement” umbrella. 

Finally, it has also tapped into the recent “tenniscore” revival - a new love for classic tennis fashion, amplified by films like Challengers starring Zendaya - who has modeled bold new Lacoste looks on the red carpet.

Don’t forget your audience.

All brands, especially successful ones, need to keep the audience connection fresh and try new, unfamiliar things to connect with customers outside its core community. If a brand doesn’t keep this in mind,  it can suddenly find itself in the position of having to win people back or have lost connection with future customers.

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