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Two days before the Wall Street Journal reported Kodak will file for bankruptcy, James R. Gregory, CEO of branding and market research firm CoreBrand, predicted that Kodak would "disappear" as a brand in 2012.
CoreBrand conducts 8,000 phone surveys of business leaders every year, and asks them about the corporate reputations of 800 companies in 49 industries. Participants are asked to rate brands based on favorability, overall reputation, perception of management, and investment potential.
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Kodak has been in trouble for years, of course, after it invented the digital camera in 1975 and then failed to capitalize on it. But it was intriguing that the CoreBrand survey signaled the potential end of Kodak before its lawyers did.
Gregory says his data also shows that the Sears and Saab brands are failing to contribute to their companies' fortunes, as is Yum! Brands and insurer Aon.
We asked Gregory to tell us which other companies' brands appear to be in trouble, and why.
Kodak
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Bankruptcy doesn't mean the end for Kodak as a business. The company and its brands could be bought or restructured. But it isn't looking good.
"There is high familiarity with the Kodak brand," Gregory says, "but there's a lack of clarity or focus for the organization, which shows up in our data. It's much harder to understand what Kodak does these days. The film and development and printing of pictures is not something Kodak does anymore. Therefore, what is it they actually do? That's something that's not well understood."
Sears
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An operating loss is expected at Sears Holding Corp. for 2011 and the company is axing 100 to 120 Sears and Kmart stores to keep up. CEO Eddie Lampert is sticking with his company, however. Could Sears really disappear?
"Their brand has been suffering from the corporate brand perspective," Gregory says. "As strong as a brand is, and it has huge familiarity and favorability over the years, you can't continue to have a lack of focus without causing long-term damage."
Avery Dennison
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You've probably never heard of Avery Dennison but you've almost certainly used its products. It's perhaps best-known for Hi-Liter pens. Avery just sold its office and consumer products business to 3M for $550 million. Could this be the beginning of the end for Avery? Gregory can't say, but he notes that "The data is always accurate in identifying problems."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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