◆ THE 1985 BULLETIN ◆

IT WAS THE REAL THING.
THEN THEY FIXED IT.

A totally rad bulletin of bold moves that bombed — sourced, cited, and built to last (unlike the formula).

Just Filed Nissan Retires 'Datsun,' the Name America Knew, and Spends a Reported Half-Billion Teaching Everyone the New One In 1981 only 13% of American buyers knew what 'Nissan' meant. So the company that owned one of the best-known car brands in America spent five years and, by its own count, roughly $500 million teaching everyone the new one. Read the case →

See the Cases Report One ★

◆ Bold Moves That Bombed

Corporate · Global Image

Nissan Retires 'Datsun,' the Name America Knew, and Spends a Reported Half-Billion Teaching Everyone the New One

The fix: Head office decided the export-only 'Datsun' name should surrender to 'Nissan,' the name it already used at home, to 'unify' the worldwide image. It started scraping Datsun off the cars with the 1982 model year, at a cost its own later math put near $500 million.

★★★★★ NotableRead the case →

Corporate · Better Ideas

Coca-Cola Improves a Drink Nobody Asked to Be Improved; Un-Improves It 79 Days Later

The fix: Rattled by the 'Pepsi Challenge' taste tests and a slipping lead, Coke spent some $4 million and ran nearly 200,000 consumer taste tests, then on April 23, 1985 scrapped the old recipe for a sweeter 'New Coke.'

★★★★★ NotableRead the case →

What Wasn’t Broken

We start with the thing that was working fine — boring, dependable, doing its job.

The "Fix"

Then the improvement: bold, expensive, announced with confidence. Usually unrequested.

The Result

And the receipts — what it cost, what broke, and the citations to prove it.

IT WAS THE REAL THING.THEN THEY FIXED IT.