Brands are pivoting everyday. We don’t always hear about it – that’s usually because the brands in question are smaller and not household names. In fact a lot of the brands today that are household names have pivoted on their journey to succeed.
Here are five examples of brands that have pivoted and their journeys:
Instagram started out as a location-based app called Burbn that allowed users to check-in at various locations, earn points and post pictures. However, it was too complex and not gaining much traction. So the founders decided to pivot the idea and focus solely on photo-sharing. They rebranded to Instagram and within a year had over a million users.
Wrigley
Wrigley is a well-known chewing gum brand, but it didn’t start out that way. William Wrigley Jr. started his career selling soap, and he would give a free pack of chewing gum with each purchase. The gum became so popular that Wrigley pivoted his business and began producing chewing gum instead. It proved to be a smart move, and Wrigley became a household name.
Nintendo
Nintendo started out as a playing card company in Japan. However, when the market became saturated, the company pivoted to toys and then to electronic games. Nintendo released the popular Game & Watch handheld game in 1980 and then the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985, which became a massive success and cemented Nintendo’s position in the gaming industry.
PayPal
PayPal originally started out as a company called Confinity, which was focused on developing software for handheld devices. However, the founders soon realized that their peer-to-peer payment software was more successful, and they pivoted the business to become PayPal, a payment platform that allowed users to make online payments securely and quickly.
Starbucks
Starbucks originally started out as a store that sold coffee beans and coffee-making equipment. However, when the owners noticed that many customers were using their store as a place to sit and enjoy their coffee, they pivoted to focus on providing a high-quality coffeehouse experience. They rebranded and expanded their menu to include espresso-based drinks, pastries, and sandwiches. The pivot proved to be a success, and Starbucks became a global brand with over 30,000 stores worldwide.
In each of these examples, the companies recognized that their original business models weren’t working and were willing to pivot in a new direction to achieve success. They were able to adapt to changes in the market, consumer preferences, and technology to transform their businesses and create new opportunities for growth.
P.S. All images in this blog post have been generated by AI by Dall-E, DreamStudio and Lexica and edited by Pixlr.
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