What can current manufacturing businesses learn from some of the most successful products of all time? This article will take a look at these products and how they changed the face of their prospective industries.
There are many ideas about what make a successful product. Simple sales data isn’t the only factor at play here. Some products sell by the bucketload but don’t live long in the memory. These products all changed the way we live in one way or another. Let’s take a look.
Sony PlayStation 
Simply put, this changed the way we spend our leisure time. Sony were seen as a struggling company at the time, meandering from one market to another without really knowing what it wanted to be. The PlayStation changed all of that. The company launched the console and a series of legendary game franchises. The rest is history.
It has sold well over 300 million units in all the different formats, with billions of games sold on the back of that. And with the PlayStation 5 on the horizon, it looks set to continue for many years yet.
Apple iPhone 
You knew that any list of the most successful products of all time would include the iPhone. Apple brought this out way back in 2009 to much acclaim. Although he advances on the more recent models haven’t been as ground-breaking as the early days, it still packs stores and creates queues with every new release.
People didn’t believe Apple were a serious player in the market. Palm and Blackberry were the major players and seemed to have the market locked down. Steve Jobs and Apple had other ideas. The smartphone was born. None of our lives have looked the same since.
Coca-Cola
Again, this is the kind of product you would expect on the list of the most successful products of all time. Coca-Cola has been a staple of American life for over 130 years and hitting the global stage for much of that time too. It is said to be the number one selling drink in all of the countries of the world except Scotland.
Whether it is the bottle, the liquid, the logo or the can, Coke is instantly recognisable. Their advertising campaigns have developed a recognition and brand trust that many others have been envious of for decades.
Microsoft Windows 
Another all-encompassing brand that is everywhere we look. It is so much a part of our lives that we often forget it’s there. If you look back through the annals of history, you might be surprised to find that Windows was launched as far back as 1985. We all know that Bill Gates has become a multi-multi-billionaire on the back of the success of this simple product.
The latest word from the company is that Windows 10 is the last ever version of the product. Knowing the company, there is bound to be something to follow. We’ll have to wait and see what that is.
Total Gym 
This might not roll off the tongue like many of the other products on this list, but Total Gym transformed the face of their industry by taking people out of the gym and letting them get fir in the comfort of their own home. The success of this product was driven by two things –
- Effective marketing via infomercials
- Word of mouth
The Total Gym infomercials combined the power of Chuck Norris and the sexiness of Chrissie Brinkley to persuade people to part with their cash to the tune of over $1 billion – and still counting. It is the ancestor of all the sales pages you now see all over the internet, offering incentives such as a money back guarantee.
Ok, so maybe not a product per se, but something that took the world by storm. The innovation linked to Star Wars was that it was far more than just a movie. Before then, you might find the odd piece of promotional material linked to a film. But the purpose of that was to get people to go to the cinema and watch. Star Wars and George Lucas saw it all differently. It was as if the idea was that the movie was the promo for all the other stuff – and that’s certainly what it feels like in the modern day.
All of these products have innovation at their core. The UK government is looking to support innovations, large and small. R&D tax credits could be the financial support you need to come up with an idea like those above. Get in touch to find out more.