Avis: how admitting it was number two turned a loss into a profit
In 1962 Avis was losing $3.2 million a year behind Hertz, and an advertisement admitting it was only number two came before its first…
Volkswagen: Think Small and the honest car advert
Volkswagen of America gave DDB an $800,000 budget in 1959 to sell a small, plain German car, and the ads that admitted its flaws…
Apple: how Think Different helped bring the company back from the brink in 1997
Apple lost $1.05 billion in fiscal 1997, then launched Think Different with no products shown, and earned $309 million in fiscal 1998 as the…
Nike: Just Do It and how it grew into a brand for everyone who exercises
Nike's 1988 slogan aimed at everyone who exercises, and in September 2018 its Kaepernick campaign drew a boycott before shares hit a record on…
Dove: how a campaign for real beauty lifted sales by 20% in 2005
Dove put ordinary women in its ads after a survey found only 2% called themselves beautiful, and reported US sales up 20% in 2005…
Old Spice: a tired deodorant brand speaks to women and sales jump
In February 2010 Old Spice aimed a 33-second body wash film at women, and sources report body wash sales up from 60 to 125…
Domino’s: admitting the pizza was bad and rewriting the recipe
In December 2009 Domino's replaced a 49-year-old recipe and told customers why, and US same-store sales rose 14.3 per cent in the first quarter…
Coca-Cola: New Coke lasted 79 days before the original formula came back
In April 1985 Coca-Cola replaced its 99-year-old formula after taste tests favoured a sweeter drink, then brought the original back 79 days later after…
Xerox PARC: the research lab whose inventions made money for other companies
Xerox founded PARC in 1970 and it produced the Alto, Ethernet and laser printing, yet its $16,595 Star workstation failed in 1981 while Apple,…
PayPal: eBay buys its biggest payment rival for $1.5 billion in 2002
eBay agreed in July 2002 to buy PayPal for about $1.5 billion in stock, then in 2014 decided to spin it off, by which…
