How refusal to modernize impacted some of history's hottest brands.

1. 5 BRANDST H A T F A I L E D
TO ADAPT
HOW REFUSAL TO MODERNIZE IMPACTED
SOME OF HISTORY'S HOTTEST BRANDS

2. KODAK
A leader in the film industry for more
than a century, Kodak created its first
digital camera in the late 1970s.
However, since film was the bread
and butter of its revenue stream and
the thinking that digital would hurt
film sales, Kodak didn't move quick
enough. Competitors arrived to the
scene in the 2000s with cheaper
digital options. Kodak never fought
its way back to the top and went
bankrupt in 2012.
WHO DID IT RIGHT?

3. YAHOO
WHO DID IT RIGHT?
Yahoo! came out swinging in the
1990s, leading in search engine use
and email service. But as Google
emerged and did those same things
better, Yahoo lost its way and
focused more heavily on news rather
than technology. It also charged for
services when Google products were
always free, and had some misfires in
acquisitions. It's still a popular search
engine/website, but can't hold a note
to Google.

4. BLOCKBUSTER
As bandwidth improved, WiFi
became ubiquitous and video
streaming and digital capabilities of
users became more widespread. But
Blockbuster failed to react fast
enough. Couple that with on-
demand packages from cable
providers and a home delivery
offering from competitor Netflix, this
resulted in a mega fail. The company
went bankrupt in 2010.
WHO DID IT RIGHT?

5. BLACKBERRY
Research in Motion (RIM) made
Blackberry phones, which served as
a great technology for busy, working
professionals. One could talk, text,
email and surf, but with better
smartphones emerging (heard of
the iPhone?), it couldn't keep up with
the changing, improved interfaces
and features that consumers were
demanding, especially within apps. It
went from 50% market share to
0.04% in just a few years.
WHO DID IT RIGHT?

6. SEARS
Another century-old company, Sears,
was a household name as the go-to
resource for all things, well,
household. However, they slowly
shifted their focus from catalog sales
to retail locations. By the 1990s, they
had trouble competing with chains
like Walmart. Perhaps if they focused
solely on their mail-order business,
they would not have only made it,
but would have been an industry
pioneer. Imagine a retailer without
an actual brick and mortar store!
WHO DID IT RIGHT?

7. RESOURCES
https://www.investopedia.com/article
s/investing/072115/companies-went-
bankrupt-innovation-lag.asp
https://www.insidermonkey.com/blog
/10-companies-that-failed-to-
innovate-and-change-572511/3/
http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/02/
blackberrys-global-market-share-is-
now-0-0.html
https://www.cnet.com/news/why-
yahoo-faded-the-internet-changed-
but-it-didnt/