I
was viewing an online list of the biggest marketing flops in history, and I can’t
help to discuss the ones that really caught my eye. For instance, one of the
products was Smith and Wesson Mountain Bikes. When I saw this it just made no
sense to me. Smith and Wesson has always made guns. Whatever caused them to
believe that mountain bikes from Smith and Wesson would catch on is beyond me.
I don’t see how the two are related. I wonder why upper management approved
this? After all, gun and mountain bikes consist of target markets that are not
even similar to one another. This just didn’t seem logical.
Another
item on the list was Microsoft Web TV. This was a service in the mid-1990s that
allowed people to get an internet connection through their television set. The
reason this caught my eye was because having internet access through your TV is
quite popular nowadays. The list states that one of the reasons this product
failed is because of extensive customer service issues. I believe that this
product’s concept was merely ahead of its time. Technology was not yet
sophisticated enough to support such a concept and that is the main reason
Microsoft Web TV flopped.
McDonald’s
Arch Deluxe sandwiches were also included on this list. When I saw the
explanation to this marketing failure it seemed obvious. The McDonald’s Arch
Deluxe was meant to be for customers who preferred a more sophisticated sandwich.
McDonald’s target market is mainly customers who want a quick burger on the go.
This example caught my eye because it was another example of a company trying
to venture outside its target market and just ending up with a failed product.
Why do companies choose to expand their target market so drastically instead of
easing into more closely related products?
Here
is the link to the site where the list of marketing flops is located: http://www.dailyfinance.com/photos/top-25-biggest-product-flops-of-all-time/3662621/
