The Magic of Rebranding

Introduction

Most people probably aren’t the same person they were in high school. It is quite likely that they reminisce on their teenage years and cringe at some of the things that they have said, done, or believed in. As they grow older, they change their ways and ultimately, they change how they are perceived. This is no different for brands – as brands grow and evolve, a rebrand is often an opportunity to allow the brand to grow with its target demographic and optimize all sales, marketing and service spend through a brand connection.

Over the past five years, I have had the opportunity to work with small and large organizations on their rebrands from a graphic design and business strategy perspective. I am currently a Customer Strategy and Design Consultant at Slalom and I have previously spent time at a creative agency and at other management consulting firms, focusing on marketing and brand strategy. I was also a finalist in a nation-wide advertising competition where I helped a technology firm develop a comprehensive advertising and marketing campaign. Since then, I have worked with various brands spanning across financial services, retail, non-profit, and government sectors.

Redefining Rebranding

When you think of a rebrand – do you picture a shiny new logo, a revamped design and a change in fonts and colours? A common misconception is that a rebrand relies solely on visual elements and aesthetic alterations. Using the high school analogy again, this concept is comparable to an individual dressing themselves in new apparel and accessories but having zero change from within. Consumers purchase and engage with brands because of the emotional associations that come with them. It is not just about how beautiful a logo looks, more importantly, it is about what the logo represents.

While a rebrand can include activities like a logo change, name change and design change, the focus area of a rebrand should be on changing the emotional association and perception that consumers have when they are exposed to the brand.

Quick Hits on Successful, Unsuccessful and Work in Progress Rebrands

Corona – Rebranding as a Response:

Take Corona for example. Upon reading the word Corona, what was the first thing that came to mind? Probably the beer and not the virus, right? However, if this question was asked in the beginning of the pandemic, it is likely that the answer would have been the opposite. Corona is a classic case of a brand that had to go through a rebrand – not by choice, but because of an unexpected event, and it did so without making any alterations to the logo, name, or design style. The beer brand decided to create an eight-part digital series that highlighted the “Corona lifestyle ” by showcasing a handful of people who left a corporate job to embark on an outdoor adventure. Corona communicated to its consumers that a safe adventure awaits. Free Ranged Humans, the name of the series, was produced in-house and each episode was promoted on Corona’s Instagram , Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #FreeRangeHumans . Despite all the negative publicity that the COVID-19 pandemic had originally caused the brand, its campaign and rebranding efforts allowed consumers to disassociate negative sentiments from the beer.

Ayds – Reluctancy to Rebrand:

On the other hand, the appetite-suppressant candy brand Ayds faced a similar situation during the AIDS crisis due to their phonetic similarity and the fact that the disease also caused immense weight loss in patients. However, the candy brand was reluctant to change. An executive of the manufacturer was even quoted , “The product has been around for 45 years. Let the disease change its name” in 1986. By 1988, the product was pulled entirely from the market.

CVS-Aetna – M&A Rebranding:

Additionally, a rebrand can occur without it being triggered by an unforeseen event. Rather, a company can actively create events such as embarking on a merger or acquisition to strengthen its brand. The $69 billion CVS-Aetna acquisition was seen as a transformative moment in the U.S. healthcare industry. The two brands had to align on a brand strategy, operations, logistics, vision, and other complexities that followed the deal including both internal and external brand communications that supported the overall brand strategy. Both Aetna and CVS placed focus on shaping the future of healthcare for people, businesses, and communities. CVS incorporated a heart in its logo, communicating the idea of health with heart . And to symbolize the concept of being one brand, Aetna incorporated the heart into its logo as well.

Bumble – Brand Expansion:

Next, examining Bumble, a brand that was solely associated with dating is now on the journey of building up a brand around creating connections. In addition to Bumble Date, the app has also added Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz to allow users to make friends in their physical location and/or grow their professional network.

This showcases the level of impact that branding and rebranding can have. The mere perception of a brand, regardless of the quality of the product or service, can significantly affect sales. Brands must be open to the idea of innovation and change to fit the needs and tastes of their target market at the given time. As the market and audience evolves, the brand must do so as well to stay relevant.

How Slalom Can Help with an Effective Rebrand

When companies decide to rebrand, executives may choose to outsource the work to a creative agency, brush their hands and think that the job is done. That is not always the case. To effectively rebrand, the vision and strategy must be thought out in detail. Companies must move away from the belief that brands are only defined by its symbols and colours. A brand is composed of the flavours of brand strategy including:

• Vision/Mission: The aligned vision, mission and values help to prioritize opportunity areas and points of differentiation. Slalom would help conduct workshops to define the organization’s why and prioritize the target segments based on this vision. As an outcome, Slalom can help create vision/mission with a unique value proposition.
• ?Brand Promise:?A brand promise is a value or experience customers can expect to receive every time they interact with the brand. At Slalom, we will help craft the brand promise and identify and enable experiences that will consistently deliver against this brand promise. ?
• ?Brand Architecture: According to the Gravity Group , brand architecture is a system that organizes brands, products and services to help an audience access and relate to a brand. A successful brand architecture enables consumers to form opinions and preferences for an entire family of brands by interacting or learning about only one brand in that family. As a part of formulating the brand strategy, Slalom will assist brands in defining and articulating their product/service architecture.
• Identity: Well-known brands make it easy for customers to immediately recognize their products, services, and experiences. These elements are building blocks that establish and reinforce the brand identity. The brand identity would include visual elements such as the logo design, visual identity system, brand style guidelines and a library of brand assets and templates. The designers on Slalom’s Customer Strategy and Design team can provide expertise on the brand’s visual identity.
• Value Proposition: A value proposition is a statement that summarizes why a customer would choose the brand. Slalom will work closely with brands to determine the most suitable value proposition that is in alignment with the vision/mission.
• Competitive Differentiator: A competitive differentiator are the elements that make a brand stand out in comparison to its competitors. Slalom can help prioritize points of differentiation and how this piece can evolve over time.
• ?Target Audience: A brand cannot serve all audiences; therefore, it is important to identify the target market that it aims to serve. Slalom has expertise in defining target audiences, creating personas and mapping the key needs, pain points and future-state processes of each audience segment.

At Slalom, we sit at the intersection of strategy, design, and interaction. We help organizations ask critical-brand-level questions pertaining to internal perceptions, market opportunities, external perceptions, brand identity, audiences, performance, experience and organizational alignment. Through our full set of capabilities for evolving brands, we look at:

• Your Reason for Being
• How You’ll Win the Market
• Who You Exist to Serve
• ?Holistic Audience Experiences
• Naming & Category Definition
• ?Tools to Bring a Brand to Life – Technology and Operating Model
• Tone and Voice
• ?Brand Metrics

To learn more about how Slalom can support rebranding efforts or other brand strategy offerings, please contact me directly at [email protected]. Our team of strategists and advisors are available to support you and your organization.