Have you ever written something off as a failure that then went on to be a huge success?
History is littered with stories of unlikely and unexpected successes.
For example:
- The Beatles were turned down by Decca records in 1962 because they thought guitar music was ‘on the way out.’
- JK Rowling’s Harry Potter manuscript was turned down by 12 different publishers before being picked up by Bloomsbury.
- Walt Disney was apparently fired from a newspaper because he ‘lacked imagination and had no original ideas.’
History is also littered with stories of unexpected failure we can learn from – including one of my favourite stories: the epic fail of New Coke.
In 1985 in response to its declining market share and the increasing popularity of its key rival Pepsi, Coca-Cola launched ‘New Coke’.
At the time Pepsi’s advertising campaigns were based around asking the public if they could taste the difference between Pepsi and Coke. They could – and they said they preferred the taste of Pepsi.
In response Coke developed a new sweeter tasting formula. After conducting over 200,000 taste tests, which according to the tasters not only tasted better than the old Coke, but also tasted better than Pepsi, New Coke was ready for launch.
However on 23 April 1985 when New Coke was launched and old Coke was taken out of circulation – it was a disaster. Coke’s customers were horrified that their Coke had been changed.
On July 11, Coca-Cola withdrew New Coke and old Coke was reinstated.
What happened?
“We did not understand the deep emotions of so many of our customers for Coca-Cola,” said company President Donald R. Keough.
Coca-Cola were fighting a taste battle with Pepsi and in doing so completely missed the point.
They failed to understand the value of brand loyalty and the heritage of their own customers.
The audience decides
If you’re asking yourself: so what can a small business innovator learn from giants like Disney, Coke, and The Beatles?
There is one common success factor.
The audience decided.
- Once people heard the Beatles play, they decided that guitar music was very much on the way in.
- It was the eight-year-old daughter of the editor at Bloomsbury who fell in love with the Harry Potter story and insisted that her dad pay attention.
- Walt Disney shared his imagination, children and adults flocked to cinemas to see his films and then later to Disneyland to meet the characters.
- Coke did ask their customers what they thought, but because they didn’t really understand them, they asked them the wrong question.
“The most successful innovators focus on the audience that they are innovating for.”
The more we understand the needs of our audience, the greater our ability to develop communications, campaigns, products and services that meet their needs – or better still – delight them.
If you have any questions about helping your business to learn from the success of others, do get in touch lucy@lucidity.org.uk or sign up to Lucidity insights.