Skip to main content

Side Click: When rebranding takes a U-turn

Successful rebranding involves restoring a brand’s overall goal, message and culture – not just a logo or name change. It means connecting with consumers. But do all rebranding exercises bring the desired results? Or can they go horribly wrong?

Branding and rebranding can be a very tricky business. Brands distinguish a company for who they are and convey value to customers. But when a brand’s value proposition, personality and values no longer align with their vision, function and purpose; it prompts a marketing message realignment or rebranding.

A successful rebranding can refresh, renew and improve customer’s sentiments towards the company. But rebranding can also become a costly affair if it fails to re-build that all-important emotional connection with customers. Some implications of unsuccessful rebranding include:
  • High level of expenditure
Rebranding burns up a great deal of money and energy. And reversing an unsuccessful rebranding cost even more. In 2010, Gap attempted to change their 20 year old logo as part of their rebranding efforts, with unexpected results. Online users vocally demanded the return of the old logo, which Gap had to reintroduce within six days of the new logo’s launch . The attempt at rebranding reportedly cost USD100 million.
  • Unexpected results
Rebranding is notoriously hard to pull off – especially when a brand commands a strong foothold in the market and has years of recognition to its name. Consumers might refuse to accept a new concept or changes to the logo due to the absence of that long term emotional connection. For instance, Airbnb – a US-based online booking hub for accommodation worldwide – introduced a new logo as part of their rebranding campaign in July 2014. The new logo – known as Belo – was a simple icon for ease of recognition. However, the logo’s similarity to several other businesses like Automation Mobile led to a lot of criticism. In spite of consumers’ displeasure, the new logo remains in use.
  • Dent in rebranded brand
Careless rebranding can be very damaging to a brand. One of the greatest rebranding debacles was when Tropicana redesigned its Pure Premium beverage line in 2009. Their new Pure Premium beverage line led to a 20% plunge in sales post rebranding! Dollar sales further dropped 19% which means an estimated USD33 million to USD137 million loss between January 1 to February 22 in 2009.

The history of rebranding is littered with more failures than successes, not to mention plenty of episodes of under-performing “rebranded brands” that fail to justify the costs of rebranding.

The moral of the story seems to be that iconic brands are deeply emotional entities. And rebranding risks cracking this delicate Humpty Dumpty. It should be undertaken only as a last resort.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

QE program unveiled for Eurozone

The European Central Bank (ECB) recently took a policy leap by launching its own Quantitative Easing (QE) program – a bond purchasing policy to inject new money to revive the Eurozone’s economy. Will it work? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights in The Business Times – Views from the top section on the effectiveness of the QE program. With the launch of the QE program, the ECB hopes to boost economic growth and check deflation. This will be achieved through the purchase of both government and private sector bonds worth €60 billion from March 2015 until September 2016. Perera commented that, while better than nothing, the ECB’s QE program is small in comparison with the scale of the problem facing Europe. It will most likely have to be increased and sustained for some time before any results are seen. Moreover, the ECB runs the risk of trading short-term quantity for long-term quality of growth. This is due to the reduced ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bangladesh – A journey from poverty to development

Equivalent to the combined population of the Netherlands, Germany and France, Bangladesh is home to 160 million people. Although it is ranked as one of the world’s poorest of the 10 most populous countries, its economy grew by 7.1 per cent in 2016, a 30 year record. The country is starting to attract the attention of global companies. Can Bangladesh make poverty history? The story so far Bangladesh’s recent economic upturn is attributed to two major factors: its robust NGO sector and its thriving garment manufacturing industry. Bangladesh exported over USD26 billion in clothing, second only to China. Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971 after a devastating war. Just prior to the war, in 1970, a massive cyclone had hit the nation, killing thousands. Today Bangladesh’s GDP per person is USD1,538 in comparison to Pakistan’s at about USD1,470 in June 2016. Some analysts assess that Bangladesh has the potential to emerge as the 23rd largest economy in ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spire showcases findings of DiverseCity KLIAF 2017 Impact report

Spire Research and Consulting was invited to present DiverseCity KL International Arts Festival’s (KLIAF) 2017 impact report at the ‘Meet The Beneficiaries’ event organized by Yayasan myNADI with Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Abdul Razak as the guest of honor. Yap Far Loon, Business Development Director and lead consultant at Spire Research and Consulting, presented an impact report on KLIAF 2017. The report assessed the impact on audiences, including special needs children in Kuala Lumpur (KL). The Spire study provided independent validation of the economic and social impact generated by the KLIAF. The Spire report also outlined capacity-building recommendations for the development of the KLIAF ecosystem. Yap expressed his gratitude during the ‘Meet The Beneficiaries’ event to both Nottingham University and Datin Sunita Rajkumar, the festival director of KLIAF, who handed a copy of KLIAF’s Post Event report to the Malaysian Prime Minister. The KLIAF ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Will 3D printing enable the construction of permanent facilities on the moon?

On January 3, 2019, China became the first nation to land a probe on the far side of the moon. A rover was released to perform experiments in the Von Karman Crater, located in the South Pole-Aitken Basin. With the assistance of 3D printing technology, lunar facilities might be constructed there. Can permanent research bases for human beings be built on the moon? Read more :  https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/spirethoughts/will-3d-printing-enable-the-construction-of-permanent-facilities-on-the-moon/
Post a Comment
Read more

Spire talks about ASEAN B2B marketing best practices for companies in Osaka

Spire participated in a seminar organized on Go-to-Market best practices in the B2B space in Asia. The event was held on 14th June in Osaka, Japan. Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting Group, shared insights on ASEAN marketing trends with senior executives of Japanese companies headquartered in the Kansai region of Japan. Jeffrey shared business-to-business (B2B) marketing tips for Japanese companies struggling to work with local partners in ASEAN countries. The Asian ‘Tiger Cub Economies’ country landscape is evolving, with new emerging economies joining the ranks. Vietnam has joined Indonesia and Thailand as one of the low-cost production hubs in ASEAN, whereas the Philippines has emerged to become one of the key markets for sourcing materials for secondary industries. Therefore, the right ASEAN countries should be selected depending on one’s market position and strategic intent. For certain industries, the market dynamics a...
Post a Comment
Read more