The NY Times has an interesting article on what they call „Ghost or Orphan Brands“, in other words brands, that are not used.
The brand is Bromo Seltzer, the effervescent antacid and analgesic that dates to 1888.
Its new owner will seek to revive interest in the moribund brand with a campaign centered on a mnemonic device, the “Bromo burp,” that its creators hope will become a catch phrase.
Bromo Seltzer is among scores of consumer products known as ghost brands or orphan brands because they were once formidable powerhouses in their categories but are now forlorn.
The brands were forgotten or neglected by their owners, typically giant companies that market dozens of products, then used as cash cows to raise revenue for developing newer, often more advanced brands.
As reduced advertising spending hastens the slowing of sales for ghost brands, retailers relegate them to lower shelves or stop stocking them to cut clutter. That reduces sales further, contributing to a downward spiral that usually ends in the graveyard of discontinued products among casualties like Duz detergent, Kellogg’s Pep cereal, Oasis cigarettes and Plymouth cars.
Recently, owners of many ghost brands have been selling or licensing them to smaller, more entrepreneurial marketers that hope to revive them through a combination of advertising, price promotions and public relations.
One goal is to capitalize on the residual fame of the brands by reminding older consumers who bought or remember them that they still exist.
Another goal for those trying to bring back orphan brands is to pique the curiosity of younger consumers, particularly those looking for products from the past that they deem to have authentic heritage.
Such consumers have helped start unlikely comebacks for bygone brands like Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.
Indeed, the slightly rude nature of the “Bromo burp,” to be featured in the brand’s new TV commercials, is intended to appeal to consumers for whom Bromo Seltzer is just a name on a clock tower in downtown Baltimore.
In addition to Bromo Seltzer, the ghost brands seeking second lives under new owners include once-familiar products like Aqua Net hair spray, Barbasol shaving cream, Close-Up toothpaste, Comet cleanser, Log Cabin syrup, Metrecal diet drinks, Niagara starch, Nuprin
pain reliever, Prell shampoo and Swanson frozen foods.