The 10 Biggest Brand Disasters of 2010

It's been a rough year for those in the branding business at big corporations. SEC investigations, massive product recalls and oil spills (among more traditional factors like competition and slowing sales) have taken a toll on the reputations, as well as the stock prices, of some of America's most well-known companies.

[Silly gameAr]

This is getting ridiculous.

[Godmars290]

What, like listing Sony between BP and Toyoda?

And you'd think the only reason Google lost value was all the re-investments and buying they did.

For that matter, where's MS with Vista? You mean to say they didn't take a hit?

[Poseidon]

vista took a hit hard godmars

[ChronoJoe]

Not in 2010 though.

[moparful99]

Well the article did say that it only tabulated brand value in the fiscal year of 2010.. But nonetheless they are quantifying a percieved value and you really cannot do that because value is highly subjective.. Just because the ps3 brand is estimated to have less valuation then the wii and 360 holds no bearing over the quality and sales of the console.. Sony has an all inclusive console meaning they only make money off of console sales and content sales. They dont have revenue drivers like live gold memberships, and myriads of acccessories, and charge for nearly everything in their online store.. Microsoft has these factors to buffer their income which of course skews this evaluation. Thats why I dissmissed this article in regard to the ps3.. But sony is an entertainment company, everything they do revolves around entertainment and the goods asssociated that goes with it. So its not hard to believe that sony as a whole has slipped in its revenue do to the laggin economy seeing as entertainment is a luxury and is usually the first to get cut in peoples budgets. You can also factor in the tremendous amounts of R and D that sony has been doing recently which costs lots of money with little in the way of short term gains.. Don't fret people sony is still doing well.. Ohh and the main driver of microsofts success has always and will alwasy be windows software... So again something else they have to weather these economic woes..

[Poseidon]

1. BP (BP)
Brand value Jan. 1, 2010: $20 billion.
Brand value June 30, 2010: $0.
Change: -100%

i remember that damn oil spill in the gulf, it was a hit nobody would expect, a damn tragedy.

[gamerzBEreal17]

JESUS CHRIST ANOTHER ONE!??

[ndibu]

You know you're a fanboy when you read this and you're praying that the console manufacturer that you support is not on the list as you're feverishly scrolling down.
You know you're an even bigger fanboy when you find yourself grinning at the fact that the company that you do not support...ah heck, why do I need to explain myself?! Sony has lost brand power and it made me smile!!
Do not judge me! Don't you dare judge me!!

[yewles1]

"Do not judge me! Don't you dare judge me!!"

SEIG HEIL AND A HALF!!! I OUGHTA' BEAT YOUR ASS WITH A "BOOK"!!! j/k XD

[moparful99]

Why are you happy about a company losing profits? Especially one like sony which has done more for this industry then anyone else? You and the people who think like you are going to kill this industy with that kind of logic.. Please stop.

[ndibu]

Vista was not this year's hit...read the title of the article please.

[TheTeam06]

Damn, BP. That's what you get for not securing your oil drilling procedures with safety checks and causing the biggest man-made disaster in history.

We all know why Toyota got a decline, but most of these (excluding BP) will be back on their feet in no time.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

BP is, in no way, responsible for what happened. The American media has blown it way out of proportion. They were looking for someone to blame that wasn't American. Britain ended up being that scapegoat, unfortunately.

I'm an American...and I'm proud of my country when it does good things. It's a great country to live in. The media has too much control though. It's sick.

[TheTeam06]

Who was?

[dizzleK]

mere weeks before the spill, the clean-up company was bought out by Halliburton. yes, that Halliburton.

http://www.prisonplanet.com...

On April 12th, just over one week before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, Halliburton, the world’s second largest oilfield services corporation, surprised some by acquiring Boots & Coots, a relatively small but vastly experienced oilwell control company.The company deals with fires and blowouts on oil rigs and oil wells. It was responsible for putting out roughly one third of the more than 700 oil well fires set in Kuwait by retreating Iraqi soldiers during the Gulf War.

Halliburton was forced to admit in testimony at a congressional hearing last month that it carried out a cementing operation 20 hours before the Gulf of Mexico rig went up in flames. The lawsuits claim that four Halliburton workers stationed on the rig improperly capped the well.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

The person who wrote this article is not a respected analyst in the stock market industry.

There's a reason for that.

[IHateYouFanboys]

look, anyone that thinks sonys brand name HASNT taken a big hit is kidding themselves.

they used to make the best tvs, and as such they sold the most. while still making good tvs, their sales have absolutely plummeted, and have been overtaken by Samsung and other TV manufacturers.

they used to be the leader in videogames, now theyve been overtaken by both of their competitors.

then there have been all the problems with batteries for their laptops, which shouldnt be taken lightly. batteries setting alight/exploding forcing recall after recall are kinda hard to make good headlines out of, and dont help your brand name.

[Playerz8]

While Sony does lag in TV sales (still the highest quality) and their computers aren't exactly popular, the PS3 has GAINED ground on both Nintendo and especially Microsoft.

While I see Sony definitely rebounding, Microsoft will eventually find themselves in a deep hole, with Apple fast overtaking their computer software, Sony having better quality consoles and Nintendo having tremendous sales, and they have virtually no sales in the smartphone business, and it's probably too late for them to have serious market share in the sector.

Bill Gates RIP

[IHateYouFanboys]

"Microsoft will eventually find themselves in a deep hole, with Apple fast overtaking their computer software"

lol

Apples OS sales account for like 1% of operating system sales in the world. Windows, especially Windows 7, absolutely wiped the floor with anything apple have ever released in terms of sales (and quality, but thats another story). people really overestimate Apples popularity in the computer world. yes, the iphone is the most popular phone in the world. yes, the ipod is the most popular mp3 player in the world. but mac computers, let alone computer software, are nowhere near the most popular. theyre so far behind its not funny.

Windows is more popular, works better and allows you to do much more with much more flexibility, and is bundled with 99.9% of computers that people buy.

and while yes, the PS3 has gained SALES ground on the wii and 360, that doesnt change the fact that the BRAND NAME of the Playstation and Sony has been diminished. going from outright leader to dead last, even when youre slowly clawing your way back, still means youre dead last. when a brand has gone from first to last, its diminished.

[moparful99]

Sony continues making the highest quality products that money can buy but thats the problem. Alot of people can't justify those prices with the economic climate the way it is right now.. Sony still is a leader in videogames seeing as they push more advancements into our medium then anyone else but their sales haven't reflected this fact because of a multitude of reasons that they are addressing and in doing so have gained considerable ground as far as sales go.. They are making great profits off of the playstation branding but its not enough to compensate for the losses in other branches of the sony label. You are blowing sony's financial situation out of proportion and its dangerously close to recalling the doom and gloom predictions of the early years of the ps3.. Sony will weather this storm and they will continue to provide the best in consumer electronics....

[PotNoodle]

I can understand why Sony is on there, but that decline has been a combination of things over a few years. The PlayStation has had a massive boost from 2009 and 2010, so it isn't anything to do with that - it is years of misguided "we're sony, we'll do it anyway" type attitude that had them mis-stepping in many places in the market, it caught up with them in recent years and they had to do a restructure to find their way again.

They are one of the biggest companies out there, and the evidence that they have realised their mistakes is there with many improvements across their many departments.

[jaosobno]

This article was written by an idiot. Proof:

26.07.2010.

Nikkei reports today that Sony will be posting an operating profit of between 10 billion and 30 billion yen over the April through June quarter. The company posted a 25.7 billion yen loss in the same period the year before.

As contributors to the turnaround, the site lists strong sales of product in China, strong performance of new SLR camera models, and strong performance both domestic and abroad for LCD televisions.

It looks like video games contributed as well. Nikkei states that Sony's games and mobile division reached profitability for the quarter thanks to cost-cutting measures.

[Cmoney]

Microsoft made 4.5 billion NET PROFIT

Sony has failed in every conceivable way this generation
1. First to last place
2. 5 billion dollars in losses
3. xbox has more games rated 80 & above on metacritic
4. sony market share is shriking faster than a midget's **** in a freezer

[PotNoodle]

The PS3 market share has been growing and gaining on their main competitor the Xbox 360, since launch. The 360 started off with a 12 million headstart, it is now down to 4 - 5.5m.

[jaosobno]

Did you know that microsoft is actually the company that gave you the OS you are using? And did you know that almost all of their profit comes from windows and office sales and not from xbox brand?

Did you know that microsoft was 1,5 years early to the show with x360 because they were dead afraid of sony and playstation brand? Did you also know that this decision (to rush out the console) caused plethora of technical problems (most famous being RROD) to appear causing billions of dollars in losses due to repairs and extended warranties?

And most importantly, did you know that investors would be very happy if microsoft killed consumer electronics altogether and focused on OS&office bussiness? Read this:

"Investors to Microsoft: Drop the Xbox

The Xbox 360 has turned into a hot console after Microsoft took a huge loss with the original Xbox to break into the console gaming market. It currently sits in second place in console sales between the Nintendo Wii and Sony PS3 and has helped drive innovation in online gaming for the consoles.

However, investors look at the bottom line and after disappointing sales with the Zune, shrinking Windows Mobile market share, and the high costs of consoles they have a request for Microsoft. Get out of the consumer electronics market.

"It's hard to make the case this has been a good use of shareholder capital," says Todd S. Lowenstein, who runs HighMark Capital's value fund. "I don't fault them for trying this stuff, but investors are getting impatient."

Some investors would rather see Microsoft concentrate on its PC and corporate software where operating profit margins reach as high as 72% versus just 10% in its Entertainment & Devices unit.

The Xbox 360 recently reached the point where Microsoft makes money off of each console sold but the entertainment division has still lost an estimated $8 billion since 1999. How much of that is because of the Xbox versus other entertainment initiatives is not known though.

Microsoft is banking on Project Natal (and possibly the introduction of a Xbox 360 'Slim' model) to kick start sales of the Xbox 360 much the same way that Sony enjoyed a sales surge after the introduction of the PS3 Slim in conjunction with a price drop.

It could result in Microsoft being able to delay introducing a new console for a couple of more years. Natal also possibly has a future of being integrated into other devices and new technologies.

However, investors look at the bottom line and would prefer to see Microsoft focus on their extremely profitable core business instead of brancing out to other areas."

And trust me, when investors get unhappy, it's CEO's job to make them smile again... No matter what it takes.

[ChronoJoe]

I are using Chromium. Don't make assumptions like that please.

[Cmoney]

it's done.

[Demarco156]

this is only in america

i have no ideia what sony did for american hate then so much