Top Ten Brands That Will Disappear in 2014

24/7 Wall St. has published its Top Ten Brands that will disappear in 2014. Many of them aren’t surprising as we have written about their turnaround attempts with rebranding but it is always interesting to note how many of these predictions come true.

Last year 24/7 Wall Street’s predictions had some hits and misses. For instance, Suzuki, MetroPCS and Current TV are no longer brands in the US. Others that were listed and somehow saved included American Airlines (merger with U.S. Airways saved the brand), Talbots (acquired by a private equity firm) and Research In Motion while no longer a brand was renamed Blackberry. For some reason, the predictions proved wrong for Avon, the Oakland Raiders and Salon.

Major criteria to determine who will make this list include:
• Declining sales and losses
• Disclosures by the parent of the brand that it might go out of business
• Rising costs that are unlikely to be recouped through higher prices
• Companies that are sold
• Companies that go into bankruptcy
• Companies that have lost the majority of customers
• Operations with withering market share

The list for 2014 includes brands in some very competitive categories that are experiencing difficulties for a myriad of reasons. A couple are favorite magazine brands that are iconic in the publishing industry. The auto industry has had its share of problems, especially foreign brands competing in the United States so it comes as no surprise that there are two brands that are withering and listed. A major big box retailer may not make it to 2014 and some telecommunications brands.