PR Bookshelf: Brand Failures by Matt Haig

I wanted to take a break from Tiger Woods for a little while, so I thought I would offer up the first book review for what I plan to be a recurring feature. With the PR Bookshelf series I’m going to take a look primarily at books that focus on public relations, marketing and branding; however, there will also be reviews of business books that deal with other topics or have a more general scope. Leading off the series will be a look at Brand Failures by Matt Haig.

Brand Failures
Matt Haig
260 pgs.
Kogan Page, UK

Synopsis
In Brand Failures, UK branding and marketing consultant Matt Haig examines 100 of the most spectacular branding disasters that have struck businesses over the last fifty years or so.  Case studies range from all-time fiascos like New Coke, the Sony Betamax and the McLibel Trial, to screw-ups that have now been largely forgotten, such as Lifesavers Soda, and VoicePod – a recording device that allowed users to attach audio messages to email.

Haig has ten categories of failures that he examines: classic failures; idea failures; extension failures; PR failures; culture failures; people failures; rebranding failures; internet and new technology failures; and tired brands. Individual case studies range from as little as one or two paragraphs in length up to a max of five to six pages. Most cases conclude with a bulleted list of “lessons learned” that impress the key takeaway points to the reader.   

Review
Written for a non-expert audience, Brand Failures is a breezy read. The compact length and self-contained nature of the cases studies make it suitable for busy readers as it can be read in chunks of 5 or 10 minutes.  Haig’s clear writing style includes a healthy dollop of humour and he is aided by much of his subject matter, which includes many tales of poor judgement, executive hubris and hopeless products. Readers with even just a passing interest in marketing or business will be chuckling and shaking their heads at ill-thought out ideas such as Bic brand underwear, Colgate Kitchen Entrees, RJ Reynolds’ Smokeless Cigarettes and Smith and Wesson Mountain Bikes.  

The one criticism I have is that because of the short length of many of the examples, Haig’s explanations for the failures of those particular brands can seem a bit pat. However, on the whole Haig does a good job of providing adequate context and explanation to the lay reader. As the book is intended foremost to be an entertaining “greatest hits” package of branding disasters, the occasional lack of in-depth background and analysis can be forgiven.  

Suitable For:
Branding fans and general interest business readers.

 Final Grade
 A