There are a lot of aspects of a business and a brand’s marketing that are under their control or under the control of the marketing agency they closely work with, but the biggest and most important of these is the audience’s perception and reaction to a campaign.

It can sometimes be disheartening when a long-term business strategy and accompanying marketing push is rejected by the people a business aims to appeal to the most, but this initial negative reaction can be turned around, turning a success out of a seemingly destined failure.

Here are some of the most successful course corrections and what we can learn from them.

CD Projekt Red

It has been a rollercoaster of a ride for the biggest video game developer in Europe, with the company seemingly on the brink of losing everything due to betraying their own values, only to course correct at just the right time.

CDPR are best known for The Witcher series of games, but in 2020 they launched their long-delayed and hotly anticipated new game, Cyberpunk 2077. It did not go well.

With a game so broken that within weeks it faced a class-action lawsuit for false advertising as well as reports of negative corporate culture and the erosion of their open-access ethos that had existed since the launch of their storefront Good Old Games (now GOG), CDPR looked to fall as quickly as they had risen.

The company admitted fault and endeavoured to fix the game after a series of positively received major updates to the game, as well as the popularity of a tie-in Netflix series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners in 2022, CDPR’s reputation was largely restored.

Coca-Cola

A marketing turnaround so infamous, quickly implemented and successful that some people genuinely think it was all part of one giant plan, the New Coke fiasco was a genuine attempt to try 

and beat longtime rivals Pepsi at their own game.

The consequence was that it alienated Coca-Cola’s longest and most fervent supporters, and the original formulation’s quick return after 79 days as well as the introduction of Cherry Coke helped to launch even greater success for the brand.

Apple

One of the greatest marketing turnarounds ever was when Steve Jobs returned to the company he founded in 1997, weeks away from bankruptcy. He simplified the product line, created new products based on a minimalist ethos and axed failures such as the Apple Newton.

This was tied into “Think Different”, the establishment of a stylish counter-culture ethos and products that focused on an appealing style that rivals Microsoft, Dell and others simply could not match.

For more information and advice from a marketing agency in Hull, get in touch today.