Product Failure

In this post, I would like to discuss and identify the difficulty of designing and marketing new product. A lot of planning goes into the production and marketing of a new product and all of this effort can be for nothing if the line fails. A company wants to develop a statement known as a protocol that before the product development begins defines three things; (1) Target market defined (2) Customer’s needs, wants and preferences (3) What the product is and what it will do to satisfy customers. Even in doing so the product may be met with failure. An example of such a failure is when Ford came out with its newest car model, Edsel, in 1957.
                                
                                                                   Ford Edsel



"Among worst cars"             "A legacy failure"

(1)



"The biggest bust" 

Ford comes out with the Edsel:

 In the 1950’s Ford was facing tough competition with General Motors and was being pressed to come up with something new to differentiate its self. As a result, Ford decided to come up with a new car that would be its best model yet, the Edsel. Ford built up an enormous amount of hype to sell this car. They did not release any information as to what the car would look like and decided to do a big unveiling of the car instead. They set to unveil the new model on September 4^th, 1957 and named the unveiling as “E-day.” The new model however was a complete failure. Although it was supposed to be such a revolutionary car most Americans thought it was just like any other. There was a huge disappointment among Ford’s customer base. People believed that Ford did not deliver on what they promised. The new Ford model was underwhelming and most certainly did not meet expectation.

 

 

(2)

                                                    What causes failure?

According to Marketing 12^th edition, these are some top reasons for failure….

1.      Insignificant difference: A distinctive point of difference is the most important factor for a new product.

2.      Incomplete market and product protocol before product development starts. This leads to a company developing a vague product for a phantom market.

3.      Not satisfying customer needs on critical factors. Even if general quality is high the product can still fail if a few factors are not met.

4.      Bad timing. A product can be released too soon or late.

5.      No economical access to the buyer.

6.      Poor product quality. This is a result from an untested product.

7.      Poor execution of the marketing mix: brand name, package, price, promotion or distribution.

8.      Too little market attractiveness. A target market can be too small or competitive.

Ford’s biggest failure causes:

Ford meets many of these points discussed above but perhaps their biggest problem was in there over-stressing of their new car that was in fact not much different. Ford failed at creating a significant difference in its Edsel model as it let on. Therefore, customers’ needs were not met. The customers wanted something that was different and significant. Ford promised "there has never been a car like the Edsel." Not to mention, the timing of its release was terrible. There was a recession that hit and Edsel was their most expensive model yet. This was a threat external to Ford and they had no way of controlling the economical downfall.

 

 

Customer reviews:

Some said it looked like a lemon. Other customers stated that the front-end grille was less like horse collar, and more like a toilet seat. Overall the look of the car meant didn't meet customer expectations. In addition, due to a poor quality many complained about parts missing from the car.

(3)

 Concluding:

Ford and its Edsel model is just one example of a product failure. There has been many failures among different companies and for different reasons. When a company produces and markets a new product it is taking on a big risk and the possibility of failure. That is why it is so important for a company to go through the proper steps of planning and marketing. If customers needs or wants are not met then like Ford Edsel it will lead to customer dissatisfaction and huge amounts of lost sales. .

 

 

Oxford dictionary shows just how bad this failure was for Ford....

"a Ford car model that was a famous failure. It was named after the son of Henry Ford. Fewer than 100 000 were sold from 1957 to 1960. It became a popular US joke, and other unsuccessful products are still sometimes referred to in a humorous way as Edsels."

 

 

 

                                                                Work Cited

(1)http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090301419_2.html

(2)http://www.businessinsider.com/lessons-from-the-failure-of-the-ford-edsel-2015-9

(3)https://www.google.com/search?q=edsel+marketing+market+fail&biw=1684&bih=793&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMI6ImJp9vOyAIVhTc-Ch15xwn5&dpr=0.95#tbm=isch&q=edsel+ford+failure&imgrc=zMeFyOjNzg1uzM%3A