Marketing Case Analysis

Select one of the products from the article “8 Biggest Product Fails” that you will bring back to life. To do this, you will need to consider why the product failed, but also how to make it better. This will include conducting research and collecting information to assemble your marketing brief. Your brief should:

Describe the initial product, including original target market and reason(s) for failure
Identify a new target market including specific segmentation criteria
Describe the changes needed to meet the presumed needs of the new target market, these can include product design, packaging, distribution, and/or pricing
Detail a specific promotional activity to support the revised plan (as detailed above).
Your brief should be approximately 450-500 words, double spaced. You must include a works cited/reference page listing all of the sources used in completing your assignment (not included in word count). Use this link for help with citations: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/ (Links to an external site.)

Biggest Product Fails of 2014

In 2014, some of the most hyped products, even those that showed promise, either turned out to be huge failures or still had quite a few kinks to work out. While some products weren’t as great as advertised, others were poorly marketed and quickly dropped off the consumer radar. From gimmicky gadgets that don’t work to unpopular fast food, here are the biggest product flops of the year.

1. Amazon Fire Phone. Just one month after debuting the device at a press conference in Seattle, Amazon slashed the price of the Fire phone from $199 to just 99 cents. It seems Amazon’s foray into the smartphone market came way too late. The Fire phone was introduced seven years after the original iPhone and six years after the first Android device, making it a wild card in a well-established market. Such a newbie would need superior technology to lure Apple and Android users to switch operating systems, but the Fire’s features were lackluster. It’s no surprise Amazon was stuck with $83 million worth of unsold Fire phones in October.

Like its competitors, Amazon wanted to lock Fire phone users into its own apps and products. But unlike Android or Apple, Amazon went to a whole new level by installing a “Buy” button on the side of the phone. Another major setback for Amazon is its limited choice of apps: 240,000 versus more than 1 million apps on Google Play and iTunes. To stand out from the competition, Amazon loaded the Fire phone with a flashy interface that creates a 3D effect on the home screen, but reviewers were underwhelmed. Fortune blames some of its failure on its high price, and says “selling the Fire for $200, the industry standard, ran contrary to Amazon’s long-held, company-wide strategy of undercutting the competition.”

2. Detergent-free laundry systems. Detergent-free laundry units, like PureWash ($300) and Washit ($400), were a great idea in theory. Not only are they less harmful to the environment, they could also help consumers save time and money. That is, if they actually worked. In March, Consumer Reports put both systems to the test to see if they cleaned as well as they claimed to. PureWash and Washit work by squirting ozone, a disinfecting oxidant, into the cold wash water. According to PureWash’s website, “Ozone kills micro-organisms found in soiled laundry (kills bacteria 3,000 times faster than bleach).” Consumer Reports placed fabric swatches soiled by culprits such as mud, blood and grass, into both washers. The results were disappointing. “Devices were only a bit better than plain water at tackling soils,” says Consumer Reports. They ran a second wash test using a very small amount of standard laundry detergent, as the user manuals suggest. Testers saw no improvement in either system’s cleaning performance. Consumer Reports also notes that it could take anywhere from eight to 11 years to go through an inexpensive, standard laundry detergent, so the money savings isn’t too great, especially on a product that doesn’t work well.

3. Burger King’s Satisfries.In August, Burger King took Satisfries off the menus in two-thirds of its franchises in the U.S. and Canada. Burger King gave each franchise the option to continue selling them, but only about 2,500 of the 7,400 restaurants decided to keep them. Satisfries debuted in September 2013 as a “healthier” alternative to regular fries, but they never caught on. Perhaps it’s because Burger King’s health claims were pretty dubious. Satisfries were supposedly fried in a less porous batter that absorbed less oil. However, when compared with a small order of McDonald’s fries, a small order of Burger King’s Satisfries actually contained 40 more calories: 270 versus 230 calories. At $1.89, a small order of Satisfries also cost more than a small order of Burger King’s regular fries ($1.59). Burger King didn’t post any signs in its restaurants explaining the difference between the two, so many customers weren’t even aware of Satisfries, let alone their alleged health benefits.

4. Nike FuelBand.In the wearable tech market, the Nike FuelBand was yet another contender that quickly ran out of gas. On April 18, CNET reported that Nike had laid off a good chunk of the team behind the FuelBand, which included 55 engineers and other development specialists, spiking rumors that Nike would completely withdraw from the wearable tech world. In 2013, The NPD Group estimated wearable fitness trackers to be a $330 million market and Nike FuelBand only made up for about 10% of sales.

BusinessWeek cites a bulky design as the main reason the FuelBand falls so far behind Jawbone and Fitbit in popularity. Marcus Wohlsen at Wired points out another major flaw: When it comes to tech, Nike has failed to set itself apart from the competition. The FuelBand has no unique features that give it an edge on other wearable fitness trackers, or even smartphones for that matter. “Other fitness tracker makers have done more than Nike to market their devices as multi-purpose lifestyle tools, rather than the single-focus exercise product synonymous with the Nike brand,” says Wohlsen. If consumers simply want to track their activity, they can do it on their phones; there is no need for an extra device.

5. McDonald’s Mighty Wings.McDonald’s Mighty Wings were another short-lived and underwhelming fast-food item. In February, McDonald’s announced the return of the Mighty Wings, which were intended as a seasonal fall menu item in 2013. However, the wings were not back by popular demand. This was McDonald’s attempt to get rid of 10 million pounds of unsold frozen wings at a deep discount. Overestimating the success of the Mighty Wings when they were introduced last year, McDonald’s bought about 50 million pounds of wings in preparation for their limited-time promotion. The wings didn’t fly with consumers, so 20% of that huge inventory was left unsold. To cut its losses, McDonald’s offered the remaining stock at $3 for five wings, or about 60¢ per wing, as opposed to the original price of $1 per wing.

Source: McHugh, Sage. “8 Biggest Product Fails of 2014.” AlterNet. Independent Media Institute, 05 Dec. 2014. Web. 24 May 2016.