Ten Popular Brands That Failed In India (2024)

FAQs

What are the top 10 brands that failed badly in India and why? ›

Albert Einstein had the label "mentally slow" put on his permanent school record. Henry Ford's first two automobile companies failed. Oprah Winfrey was fired from an early job as a television news anchor. Jerry Seinfeld was booed off stage in his first stand-up comedy appearance.

Defining product and brand failures

The inability of a product to achieve the anticipated life cycle as defined by the organization due to any reason; or, The ultimate failure of a product to achieve profitability.

General Motors (GM) :

Durant in the year 1908. It owned a 50% market share in the US until 2007. Although it is very dominant in the United States, the company's International business didn't do quite well, especially in India. The company started doing its business in India in the year 1928.

New co*ke is often cited as the ultimate example of one of the most notorious product flops and brand missteps of all time. New co*ke was launched in the mid-1980s by Coca Cola in an attempt to help the soda company stay ahead of competitors during the so-called "cola wars." Instead, it just annoyed consumers.

Why do most brands fail? ›

Arguably the number one, most fundamental reason brands fail is a lack of authenticity. As we always say, it's a madhouse out there. The marketplace is crowded with millions of potential customers and as many competing solutions. Know who you are, know what you do best, and know who you serve.

The Bottom Line. At the time, Enron's collapse was the biggest corporate bankruptcy to ever hit the financial world (since then, it has been surpassed by the bankruptcies31 of other former giants, including Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, WorldCom, and General Motors).

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THOMAS EDISON:

As an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn't fail 1,000 times.

Negative branding, just like positive branding, has many techniques. Generally, people think negative branding is a technique that involves you to paint your competitor in a bad light. It is infamous for being unethical and competitive.

While most companies strive for positive names, others succeed with negative ones. Names that suggest the opposite of what the company is offering, or even risk offending the very customers it hopes to attract.

Weak brands usually have a low profile, are insecure, and unclear in their communication. At their brand touchpoints they do not deliver a clear brand promise. The result: Neither employees nor customers know what the brand stands for, so they don't find it attractive.

The U.S. retailer, the SEC report said, failed to implement internal accounting controls between 2009 and 2011. Its India joint venture, the report said, and retail ventures continued to retain “third-party intermediaries” that made improper payments to government officials to secure store opening permits.

Why do American companies fail in India? ›

Lack of Global Approach

It's not just in Asia that they have suffered but in Europe and other parts of the world as well. And, we believe that the major reason for this is the lack of a global approach by the US manufacturers.

A slew of big names including German retailer Metro AG, Swiss building-materials firm Holcim, US automaker Ford, UK banking major Royal Bank of Scotland, US bikemaker Harley-Davidson and US banking behemoth Citibank have chosen to pull the plug on their operations in India or downsize their presence here in recent ...

India remains a relatively new opportunity for global luxury brands, which have been frustrated for years by regulatory barriers including high import duties. Louis Vuitton was the first premium luxury brand to enter, as recently as 2002, while Tommy Hilfiger followed in 2003.

They have issues with basic infrastructure, with untrained staff, it's just not a luxury experience. For Indian consumers, it is a matter of prestige when people associate themselves with a brand that they are paying for.

Between 2014 and November 2021, up to 2,783 foreign companies left India, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal told parliament late last year.

3,552 foreign companies, subsidiaries closed in India between 2017-2022 | Business Standard News.

GM started on a successful note in India with its Opel cars and later on with Chevrolet cars but it failed to sustain the momentum due to its lack of consistency in leadership, brands, and models.

Some of the worst partnership marketing fails include Shell and LEGO, PayPal and eBay, Daimler and Chrysler, and Kraft and Starbucks.

For example, a company invests a lot of money in new technology but fails to generate revenue from it. This type of business failure often occurs in innovative businesses such as tech or medical companies.

What are 4 examples of market failures? ›

Types of market failures include negative externalities, monopolies, inefficiencies in production and allocation, incomplete information, and inequality.

Apple iPhone 6, Newton, U2 iPod, Apple III, FireWire, Lisa, Homepod were some of the biggest failures of Apple.

Aside from difficulties getting financing and raising capital, small businesses typically fail for 4 major reasons: lack of market research, inadequate financial management, unclear sales and operations data, and human resource challenges.

The most common reasons small businesses fail include a lack of capital or funding, retaining an inadequate management team, a faulty infrastructure or business model, and unsuccessful marketing initiatives.

Unfortunately, the majority of small businesses fail within the first few years of its lifespan, specifically apparel brands. This can be attributed to fashion industry's many challenges, and fragmented and competitive nature, making the success rate fairly low.

When a product fails to gain a sufficient amount of demand after its launch, thus fails to recover its expenses, we know it's a product failure. The symptoms often include a decline in sales, more costs than expected, and the inability to survive in the market.

Who failed but became successful? ›

Many notable success stories began in failure: Henry Ford went bankrupt before starting the Ford Motor Company; Thomas Edison and his colleagues tested thousands of materials before creating the carbon-filament lightbulb; J. K. Rowling received twelve rejections before the first Harry Potter book was published.

Mickey Mouse creator Walt Disney dropped out of school at a young age in a failed attempt at joining the army. One of his earlier ventures, Laugh-o-Gram Studios, went bankrupt due to his lack of ability to run a successful business. He was once fired from a Missouri newspaper for “not being creative enough.”

The most important reason why Indian Startups Fail

According to a study conducted by IBM Institute for Business Value– 91% of startups fail within the first five years and the most common reason is – lack of innovation. Innovation is the most important factor in deciding the success or failure of Indian startups.

Is Gucci famous in India? At 41 per cent, India actually tops the world for the largest number of people wishing to buy a Gucci product.

ML: Gucci is the most coveted brand in the world. Worldwide, every fifth consumer said that money would be no 'object' and he would go for Gucci. And, the highest number of persons who chose Gucci belong to India.

Which startup failed in India 2022? ›

NEW DELHI : Indian startups faced a challenging year, with 2,404 of them shuttering in 2022, more than double the 1,012 that had shut shop in the previous year, according to data from Traxcn.

Delphin Varghese, Co-Founder & Chief Business Officer, Adcounty India says that recent studies indicate a 90% failure rate among the majority of startups.

These are some of the big names that have either moved out of India or have downsized their operations in the last decade. Heightened local competition, shifting global market priorities, new business models, accumulated losses, among other factors are some of the reasons why some MNCs pulled out from India.