Which is better? Consistency or Evolution?
Amy Protexter
Global Fortune 400 Executive | Multi-Industry CMO Experience | Brand Repositioning Expert | Experienced Digital Transformation Leader | Board Member and Strategic Advisor
Last week, I read about Lyle’s Golden Syrup – a staple item in any British baker’s pantry – and their desire to refresh the brand’s identity for the first time in 140 years! The article claimed that Lyle’s is the oldest unchanged brand in the world, until now.
This remarkable run of an unchanged brand and visual identity presents an interesting study in whether or not a company should stick with a legacy brand identity or evolve that identity over time. What is the right answer?
In my opinion, it all depends on your brand’s purpose and how that relates to what your customers are looking for.
While leading the global brand function for Insight , one of the first assignments the Board of Directors and Executive Leadership asked of me was to lead the evolution of the Insight brand, which at that time had remained unchanged for 27 years. Of the five rebrand exercises I have led in my career, this was by far the most successful for a few reasons:
1.?????? The organization was more than ready for it. As a technology company with transformation in its DNA, the company was rapidly evolving to keep up with explosive innovation in technology industry. Teammates believed a new, fresh identity was necessary to keep the company relevant.
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2.?????? The new purpose, values and identity were derived from extensive internal and external perception research. As such, they felt true and albeit a bit aspirational and were believable to all key stakeholders, internally and externally.
3.?????? Before revealing the new brand purpose and identity to the outside world, we spent four months helping our internal team understand every nuance of the new identity, in essence enlisting an army of 5700 brand ambassadors to bring the brand to life for our clients and other external stakeholders.
You might ask why Insight did not follow the example of Lyle’s, and that’s easy: Its employees and customers were looking for a brand that evolves at the pace of technology – because the companies Insight serves across the world are being forced to evolve and innovate at record speed.
Lyle’s on the other hand, is valued for the unchanging nature of its product… that stability is visually represented in a logo that has not changed in 140 years - until now.
As you think about your organization, where does it fit on this spectrum of the need to evolve to the other extreme of abject stability?
Technology Optimist | Partnership Advocate | Strategic Marketer | Board Member | Mentor
1 年I love that at the heart of it all, a brand is based on how it serves its customers and not what it serves. For Lyle, I would imagine their customers have been unwavering in what they need from the product, the company and the brand. For Insight, I think IT customers and their needs are always evolving but the brand you helped shape for Insight really does emphasize how the company serves clients and not just what the products and services are. Great conversation starter Amy!