Why my children ate Play-Doh and how Hoover hooverd its money Fiona van Iersel MSc Marketing — King's College London Module: Marketing Strategy and Planning (7QQMO515X) Date: 23 March 2025 https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=747267 Why my children ate Play-Doh and how Hoover hooverd its money Submitted: 23 March 2025 10:27 PM 1. Hoover’s Free Flights Fiasco: When Vacuums Fly (Marketing strategy gone Badly) Back in the early 1990s, Hoover was watching its market share drop faster than a Dyson price tag. So they launched a promotional campaign promising two free flights to the U.S. with any vacuum purchase over £100 (The Independent, 1993). The shit hit the hoover when everyone and their mother claimed the tickets and the campaign cost more than the earnings. BCG Matrix Breakdown: • Market Growth: Hoover was operating in a flatlining market. Vacuum cleaners weren’t exactly a growth industry by the 90s. • Relative Market Share: Weak, especially with aggressive competitors moving in. • Placement: Classic Dog—low growth, low share (Douglas, 2024). • Instead of gently phasing out or pivoting their strategy, Hoover dumped cash into a promo they couldn’t fulfill, resulting in lawsuits, PR disasters, and a complete loss of credibility (The Independent, 1993). GE Matrix Breakdown: • Market Attractiveness: Low. Commoditized and price-sensitive. • Business Strength: Medium at best—legacy name, but failing to innovate. • Zone: Blue – Harvest or Divest (King’s College London, 2024). • GE Matrix would’ve recommended squeezing what little value remained or walking away. Hoover? They strapped on a pair of metaphorical wings on their dog and crash-landed into marketing history. 2. Play-Doh: The Wall Cleaner That Became an shooting star I have spent a small fortune on Play-doh so it was amazing to hear that before it was squished, molded, and eaten by kids around the world, Play-Doh was invented in the 1930s as a wallpaper cleaner (Goldstar IT, 2022). With the rise of vinyl wallpaper and electric heating, that market dried up faster than the play-doh still stuck on my white couch. But instead of becoming a “dog,” Play-Doh pivoted—hard. BCG Matrix Breakdown: • Original Product: Dog. Obsolete, low share, and shrinking demand. • Rebranded Product (Children’s Toy): Star. High growth market (toys) + strong brand share = squishy success (Douglas, 2024). • A brilliant example of product repositioning and portfolio reclassification. What was once cleaning goo is now an educational and entertainment staple, with massive brand equity dirtying my house. GE Matrix Breakdown: • market attactiveness: High. Safe, creative play is always in demand. • Business Strength: High. Early entry, continuous innovation, and brand nostalgia. • Zone: Green – Invest for Growth (King’s College London, 2024). • GE Matrix would’ve thrown capital behind this pivot, and that’s exactly what happened. Play-Doh today is a multimillion-dollar brand under Hasbro with themed sets, scent lines, and a devoted fanbase in my household. I guess Hoover ignored their BCG and GE Matrix reality, thinking a ticket to Disney World would magically save a sinking ship. Their vacuum strategy? Sucked… and not in the way vacuums should. Play-Doh, on the other hand, saw an obsolete product, flipped it into a booming new category, and reshaped its future— literally and figuratively. This was textbook BCG “from Dog to Star” and a shining(get it cuz its a star) example of GE’s green zone investment logic (Douglas, 2024; King’s College London, 2024). See comments for my references. References • Douglas, W. (2024). BCG and GE Matrix Explained. King’s Business School [Lecture]. KEATS, King’s e-Learning and Teaching Service. • King’s College London. (2024). 3.4 Assessment of portfolio tools and their purpose. KEATS: Marketing Strategy and Planning (7QQMO515X). • The Independent. (1993). How Hoover got stuck in the free flights trap. [online] Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk. • Goldstar IT. (2022). Top 10 Company Pivots You Might Not Know About. [online] Available at: https://goldstarit.com/top-10-company-pivots-you-might-not-know-about. • Reddit. (2023). What is your favorite example of a massive marketing fail? [online thread]. r/AskReddit. Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/18jqluv.