We trying a first here, trying to start an actual discussion. How novel.
Question: Can anyone think of any b2b brands that have tried and failed at becoming a b2c brand?
Add your two cents on this topic in the Comments.
Next week: Conversing with inanimate objects, aka designers.
6 responses so far ↓
1 David Scott // May 13, 2009 at 3:54 am
IBM comes to mind. I know they sell laptops (or used to?) to the consumer market, but I rarely ever see one. My guess is they can’t be selling very many.
2 Steve // May 13, 2009 at 5:30 am
About 10 years ago I was hired to name Intel’s new line of wireless computer mice and keyboards. Ultimately, the decided to stick with chips.
The funny bit is that I spent an hour presenting names, asking for feed back from the 20 client-side “participants’. I had an hour to go, but no comments from the room. I stopped and explained I needed participation. They looked genuinely puzzled. After a few awkward moments, one of them had an “Aha!” moment and said, “Oh, we are just here to collect data, we are not decision makers”. I asked if at some point if I could speak with those making the naming choice and they said, “Oh my, no. Not only can’t we even speak to them, we will never know who they are”
3 Steve // May 13, 2009 at 7:08 am
Intel also marketed a WiFi system to consumers in the late 90s. It was called Anypoint. They wanted to compete with Apple’s Airport, even mimicking the name. Note that Anypoint and Airport each begin with “A”, have a “P” in the middle and end with a “T”.
4 Matt W. // May 14, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Sun with their “we’re the dot in .net” comes to mind. Though I’m not sure which b2c product they were trying to sell. But it seemed to be targeted at consumers (the ads were playing in movie theaters etc.).
@David: IBM thinkpads (now Lenovo) are/were certainly a successful consumer or at least “prosumer” brand.
5 George // May 18, 2009 at 10:26 am
Second on IBM. IIRC Lenovo are no longer IBM products — I’m sure if this is wrong, I’ll be corrected.
I’m thinking Xerox. They failed miserably at B2C.
I wish I could add AMC/Hummer to this list (too soon?) but since Chrysler purchased them, the brand history is a little muddled.
6 Mikal Lewis // May 25, 2009 at 12:59 am
I’d add cisco to the list.
They’ve acquire their way into the space with Linksys but haven’t had any success under the cisco name.
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