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Have you ever considered changing career or offering different products or services in your business? Perhaps you've thought about rebranding or retraining and learning new skills in order to pursue a new role? Here are 20 global brands that completely reinvented themselves and changed paths in order to become world famous and highly successful.
When starting a business, it is easy to become obsessed with being "perfect" before you launch. The truth is that if you wait until your brand is perfect in your eyes, you may run the risk of never feeling ready to launch. Also, for one reason or another, you might no longer feel connected to your brand's name, services or products later down the line. This is ok and despite what you might hear about changing direction - often being told that it looks unprofessional or that you should stick to what you know, many of the world's most successful and famous brands underwent major changes in order to get to where they are today. As you will discover by reading the stories of these brands and how they started off selling completely different products to what they are known for today, if you feel it is time to change then it's probably the right move to make.
These pivots show the importance of adaptability and innovation in business, as these companies transformed their original concepts to meet new market demands and opportunities. Each of these companies made significant pivots from their original business models to become the giants they are today. Here’s a brief overview of how each company evolved from their initial concept and offering in a drastic way to become household names and brands that many of us use on a daily basis.
Shell
Original Business: Decorative Shells
Founded: 1833
Original Focus: Marcus Samuel started a small business in London selling antiques, which included decorative shells. This business eventually grew into an import-export business trading various goods, including shells.
Pivot: In the late 19th century, Marcus Samuel’s sons expanded the business to include the importation and transportation of kerosene oil from the Far East. They built a fleet of steam tankers to transport the oil, which marked the beginning of their transition into the oil industry.
Current Focus: Shell is now a global energy company involved in the exploration, production, refining, and marketing of oil and natural gas.
Samsung
Original Business: Grocery Store
Founded: 1938
Original Focus: Lee Byung-chul started Samsung as a trading company in Korea, dealing in groceries, dried-fish, noodles, and other goods.
Pivot: Over the decades, Samsung diversified into various industries, including textiles, insurance, food processing, and retail. The most significant pivot came in the late 1960s when Samsung entered the electronics industry.
Current Focus: Today, Samsung is a leading global technology company known for its electronics, including smartphones, televisions, and semiconductors.
Western Union
Original Business: Telegrams
Founded: 1851
Original Focus: Western Union started as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph
Company, providing telegraph services.
Pivot: Western Union expanded its services to include money transfers in 1871, leveraging its extensive telegraph network to offer financial services.
Current Focus: Western Union is now a leader in global money transfers and financial services.
Original Business: Whiskey App
Founded: 2010
Original Focus: Instagram started as Burbn, a mobile check-in app that allowed users to check in at locations, make plans, and share photos of their experiences, with a particular focus on whiskey.
Pivot: Founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger noticed that users were primarily interested in the photo-sharing features. They rebranded and relaunched the app as Instagram, focusing solely on photo sharing with filters.
Current Focus: Instagram is a popular social media platform centered around photo and video sharing.
Amazon
Original Business: Online Bookstore
Founded: 1994
Original Focus: Jeff Bezos founded Amazon as an online bookstore, capitalizing on the growing internet to sell books to a wide audience.
Pivot: Amazon quickly expanded its product range to include electronics, clothing, and more. It also developed into a technology company with ventures like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and introduced services like Prime.
Current Focus: Amazon is a global e-commerce and technology giant offering a wide range of products and services, including cloud computing, streaming, and artificial intelligence.
YouTube
Original Business: Dating App
Founded: 2005
Original Focus: YouTube was initially conceived as a video-dating site where users could upload videos to introduce themselves and find partners.
Pivot: Founders Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim realized that users were more interested in sharing general videos. They shifted the focus to video sharing and social networking.
Current Focus: YouTube is the world’s largest video-sharing platform, where users can upload, view, and share videos across various genres.
Nokia
Original Business: Paper Mill
Founded: 1865
Original Focus: Fredrik Idestam founded Nokia as a pulp mill in Finland, producing paper and other wood-based products.
Pivot: Nokia diversified into rubber products, cables, and electronics over the years. The most significant shift came in the 1980s and 1990s when Nokia focused on telecommunications and mobile phones.
Current Focus: Nokia is now a major player in telecommunications infrastructure, technology, and licensing.
Netflix
Original Business: DVD Rental
Founded: 1997
Original Focus: Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph started Netflix as a DVD rental-by-mail service, offering customers a subscription-based model to rent DVDs.
Pivot: Netflix recognized the potential of online streaming and began offering streaming services in 2007. They also started producing original content in 2013.
Current Focus: Netflix is now a leading global streaming service provider, known for its extensive library of films, TV shows, and original content.
Wrigley
Original Product: Soap and baking powder.
Current Product: Chewing gum.
Pivot Story: Wrigley initially gave away chewing gum as a promotional item with soap and baking powder purchases. The gum became more popular than the original products, leading Wrigley to focus solely on gum.
Nintendo
Original Product: Playing cards.
Current Product: Video games and consoles.
Pivot Story: Founded in 1889 as a playing card company, Nintendo explored various ventures, including a taxi company and a love hotel chain, before finding immense success in the video game industry in the 1970s and 1980s.
Slack
Original Product: Online game called Glitch.
Current Product: Workplace communication tool.
Pivot Story: Slack started as an internal communication tool for a gaming company. When the game failed, the founders realized the communication tool had potential, leading to the creation of the popular workplace messaging platform.
Original Product: Podcast directory called Odeo.
Current Product: Social media platform.
Pivot Story: After Apple launched iTunes, which included a podcast directory, Odeo's business model became obsolete. The company pivoted to create a microblogging platform, which became Twitter.
PayPal
Original Product: Cryptography and mobile payments.
Current Product: Online payment system.
Pivot Story: PayPal started as Confinity, focusing on security software for handheld devices. After merging with X.com, they pivoted to become a global online payment system.
Original Product: Mobile shopping app called Tote.
Current Product: Social media and image-sharing platform.
Pivot Story: Tote aimed to combine e-commerce and social networking but struggled to gain traction. The founders shifted focus to create Pinterest, which allows users to discover and save creative ideas.
Shopify
Original Product: Online snowboarding equipment store.
Current Product: E-commerce platform.
Pivot Story: Shopify started as a way for the founders to sell snowboards online. Frustrated with existing e-commerce software, they developed their own platform, which they eventually turned into a business.
Groupon
Original Product: Social action platform called The Point.
Current Product: Online deal marketplace.
Pivot Story: The Point aimed to bring people together to accomplish goals. The founders noticed that users were most interested in group buying deals, leading to the creation of Groupon.
Yelp
Original Product: Email-based referral network.
Current Product: Local business review and social networking site.
Pivot Story: Yelp started as a way for friends to share recommendations via email. When this failed, they pivoted to a website where users could post reviews of local businesses, leading to its current success.
Sony
Original Product: Rice cookers.
Current Product: Electronics and entertainment.
Pivot Story: Sony's first product was a rice cooker that failed to sell. The company shifted focus to electronics, eventually becoming a global leader in consumer electronics and entertainment.
Flickr
Original Product: Online role-playing game.
Current Product: Photo-sharing website.
Pivot Story: Flickr originated as part of an online game called Game Neverending. The photo-sharing feature was so popular that it became the main focus, leading to the creation of Flickr.
Spotify
Original Product: Peer-to-peer music service.
Current Product: Streaming music service.
Pivot Story: Spotify initially used a peer-to-peer model for music streaming. To avoid legal issues and improve user experience, they transitioned to a licensed streaming model, becoming one of the largest music platforms in the world.
Should You Reinvent Yourself or Completely Change Your Business?
These examples of global brands that have completely changed direction illustrate how businesses can successfully pivot from their original products or services to new markets, often resulting in greater success. These are all inspiring examples that demonstrate the importance of adaptability and recognizing new opportunities when the original plan doesn't work out. So never be afraid of completely reinventing yourself or changing direction in your business.
Although it might seem frightening to go in a different direction and change your offering, never let the opinions of others or fear of what people might think stand in your way. Can you imagine if the likes of Shell, which today is worth $222.98 Billion, had stuck to just selling shells because they were afraid of pivoting in business? There's a good chance the painted shells would not be turning over more than $200 billion dollars annually and known as a trusted brand around the world.
So let this be a lesson to you. If reinventing yourself or completely changing direction is something you want to do then don't let anything or anyone stand in your way. The only way to see if a new idea is going to work is by seizing the opportunity and trying it out for yourself.