We didn’t ask this question with any reference to a product or service. Or perhaps we did, subconsciously. Without any further ado, here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in today’s edition of Das ka Dum.
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Q.Do laggard brands – those at #4 and $5 in their category – have a future?
A. It depends on what is the objective of the laggard brand to continue. Theoretically, laggard brands would always a be a drain on finite resources. Again it also depends on which industry sectors we are referring to. A laggard brand may be a challenge in the newspaper industry, but not necessarily in the cable and satellite TV industry. Sometimes a laggard brand might not be a market leader in turnover or profit, but might a have narrow base of very loyal customers and are enough to break even. In the stockmarket ( I am not an expert on the subject by any stretch of imagination), I won’t be surprised that some stocks might do well even if the organisation may have laggard brands in their portfolio. And finally, I have seen in my lifetime that many brands are kept alive for reasons other than only objective commercial reasons. So, a text book rules may not be a pragmatic answer in real life. In case you prefer a textbook answer, there are chapters in strategy books to offer you a pedagogically-enriched response.