Brand Discontinuity

Photo on left by Pat Wellenbach/Associated Press from the NY Times; Photo on right from Dr. Momentum’s Flickr photostream

Today’s NY Times had an article about Nabisco discontinuing (for the second time) Crown Pilot brand crackers. A beloved staple on Chebeague Island in Maine, the grass roots enthusiasm for the product seems like it will not prevail a second time. According to Nabisco:

Unfortunately we no longer manufacture the Crown Pilot crackers. The size of the Crown Pilot business declined so much we are no longer able to produce it. We have seen that folks in that region have highlighted how there is a very loyal customer base, but even within that region demand for the product has declined significantly.

The whole brand loyalty thing is interesting, especially when it does not seem to translate into a profitable (enough) business for a manufacturer. There was another related article last month in the Times Magazine Section on River West Brands, a company that specializes in acquiring and reintroducing discontinued brands such as Brim Coffee and Salon Selectives. The punch line of the article seemed to be that consumers have such faulty memories that a company can take an old, discontinued brand and sell products that never actually existed before—and yet nostalgic consumers will feel a misplaced loyalty to them, not realizing that these are completely new products that they are encountering for the first time!

I know my own memory is poor because I can’t even think of any discontinued brands from my past. Can anyone else out there remember any beloved products that are no longer made?

Randy Ludacer
Beach Packaging Design