How did the rebranding come about? Rebranding: what is it in simple words

About what rebranding is - the heads of companies who care about the prosperity of their business should know.

Entrepreneurs and executives with experience are well aware that a lot depends on a well-designed company brand: this brand name must be recognizable, creative, easy to remember and stand out from competitors.

But even if many years ago you, together with a designer, managed to create a successful brand name for your company, the time will still come when you have to remember what is rebranding.

And the longer you put off upgrading it because of nostalgia for the old days, the more problems will have to be decided in the future.

So, without delaying things, start now to understand all the intricacies of rebranding.

Rebranding is a powerful marketing ploy

Like many words in business and marketing, rebranding has a foreign origin.

In fact, this is a tracing paper English term rebranding, which implies an active marketing strategy aimed at visual change.

When ordering a rebranding, the owner can get a completely new company logo at the output, in which nothing remains of the former.

Such radical changes need to be decided only when you want your new logo to cease to be associated with the old one.

For example, you need to improve the company's tarnished reputation or hint that the company will start moving along a completely different path.

In this case, it makes sense to change even the name of the company in order to start everything from scratch.

If you do not need such drastic transformations, then it is advisable to make a softer rebranding:

choose other corporate colors;
change font;
add or replace an image on the logo;
create a new composition;
work on the name, for example, place the incomplete (as it was before), but the abbreviated name of the enterprise, etc.

What is rebranding and when should you decide on it?

Any entrepreneur who launches his company on the market dreams, if not of worldwide success, then at least of a stable position within his country.

For any company (especially manufacturing enterprises) it is very important to think through all the nuances at the stage of launching a startup, so that later you do not recycle what has already been done, while losing money.

A few decades ago, domestic entrepreneurs did not devote too much time to developing the brand itself.

Like, what's the difference on what background to write the name of the company?

The main thing is that this company produces delicious ice cream (substitute any other product for ice cream), right?

Of course, there is some truth in this, but often it is the stupidity of the designer who creates the brand, or the greed of the owner, who is stingy to pay good specialist, lead to the fact that the brand of the company cannot be remembered in any way by consumers, partners, or advertisers.

What to do?

Decide on updates, and start them immediately.

An initially unsuccessful brand is not the only reason why owners decide to update it.

Remembering what rebranding is also forces:

Change of company owner.

The new broom sweeps in a new way and naturally starts with brand changes.

Company reorientation.

For example, a new product line appears on which a large bet is made, or a company enters a new market, for example, in a neighboring country.

Rebranding is underway to highlight these changes.

The existing brand has ceased to be fashionable and relevant.

Consumers are dissatisfied with the way your company's brand looks, although quite satisfied with the quality of services and products.

The opinion of consumers should be listened to.

An office appeared on the horizon, the logo of which suspiciously resembles yours.

That and look, customers will begin to confuse your products.

Order a rebrand to confuse cunning competitors and regain consumer loyalty.

What can be achieved with a rebrand?

Let's say you already know that rebranding is a strong marketing ploy, but you still doubt whether your company needs it.

This happens when there are no particular complaints about an existing brand: it has not lost its relevance, it looks beautiful and fashionable, everyone likes it, it is easy to remember and stands out among other logos.

And yet, any entrepreneur should be familiar with the main benefits of rebranding in order to start thinking about rebranding now.

With rebranding, you can:

Attract new clients.
Strengthen the loyalty of an already established customer base.
Exit to new level in business, for example, to get a serious partner.
Break into the foreign market.
Carry out a bright advertising campaign.
Demonstrate upcoming changes to consumers
It is advantageous to stand out among competitors, etc.

That is, as you can see, rebranding performs many useful functions, so you should not ignore such a strong marketing strategy.

Rebranding is a strategy that consists of several stages

Naturally, rebranding, like any marketing strategy aimed at positive changes, consists of a number of steps that must be overcome step by step in order for the result to be as successful as possible.

The main stages of rebranding:

Full brand audit.

You need to conduct research to find out what its strengths and weaknesses are, what consumers like and what annoys, how customers and partners would like to see it, etc.

Definition of rebranding tasks.

What do you want to achieve by changing the brand.

These tasks should be understood by the designer who will work on the new logo.

Strategy drawing.

Thanks to the audit, you will understand how serious changes your brand needs and what these changes will be.

Development of a new brand, possible changes to the final version.
Approval of the new logo.
Introducing the audience to the new brand.
Research to find out if consumers liked new brand.

Naturally, it is better for the owner of the company not to engage in amateur activities, but to entrust rebranding to a good specialist.

Why do successful companies need to rebrand from time to time?

You will hear in the following video:

What is a successful and unsuccessful rebranding?

Each of the global companies that have been operating on the market for several decades has rebranded at least once.

The number of updates of brands you know such as Mercedes, Nike, Nestle, Microsoft, Nivea, Procter & Gamble and others is more than 5, which indicates that even the best of the best need to change from time to time.

In the history of rebranding of various companies, you can find many examples of both successful and unsuccessful ones.

If we talk about successful logo upgrades, then it is worth remembering the rebranding of automobile companies such as Renault, Skoda, Fiat, Mercedes, Toyota and others.

The recognizable and stylish badges you see on shiny iron horses today did not appear overnight.

They were preceded by several less successful options.

One of the main failures of the rebranding of the last decade, experts call the change of the Pepsi logo.

The brand did not suffer significant changes, just the white central strip shifted slightly to the right and became a different shape.

Still, such a rebranding had a negative impact on the company's image and even led to the appearance of cartoons, for example, these:

An unsuccessful upgrade of the Pepsi logo is no reason to forget forever, what is rebranding.

You just need to approach any updates wisely, having studied the tastes and moods of your customers in advance.

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At the time of the decline in sales, companies begin to apply active marketing strategies aimed at increasing interest in their products. One of them is rebranding. What it is? This strategy for improving the efficiency of the company is to change the name of the company or brand of the product or individual changes in its visual display. At the same time, the essence of the change is not limited to a graphic expression, it should include a new value proposition aimed at retaining its own audience and attracting new consumers. In most cases, the use of techniques to change the corporate identity, logo or product name significantly increases sales.

Rebranding goals

For those who seek to increase sales by changing the name, it is necessary to study rebranding in more depth, what it is and its possibilities. When developing a rebranding strategy, marketers usually form 2-3 main goals and a few additional ones. Among the main goals:

increasing consumer loyalty;
attracting a new target audience;
entry into new markets.

Among the extras:

product line differentiation;
increase the difference from other companies operating in this market and its competitiveness.

Most often, brand change is carried out with a focus on one specific goal. The need for it arises in the following cases:

change of ownership of the company, when the new owner wants to change the company in line with its values;
initially incorrect creation or positioning of the company's brand or one of the products;
drop in sales
the need to increase market share;
change in direction of activity;
changing consumer preferences.

Often in the process of developing a marketing strategy, goals change and new ones appear. This is due to the study of the preferences of the target group of consumers. The effectiveness of rebranding depends on how the goals were achieved.

Types of rebranding

In world practice, three technologies are used to change the style of a company:

repositioning;
restyling;
rebranding.

restyling is in the nature of a visual brand change. Most often, it is not associated with a change in the mission or policy of the company. It is carried out quite often in order to reduce the effect of addiction on the consumer. The method can be expressed in changing the logo, product name, types of packaging, other private elements. Even in this easy version restyling usually increases sales among a loyal audience by several tens of percent at the first stage of a new product release.

Repositioning means changing the brand in line with changes in the surrounding world and the consciousness of consumers. He is preceded marketing research that determine the change in the value picture and preferences of buyers. Changes can be associated with the maturation of the audience, and the introduction of new technologies, and with a change in the visual perception of the world. When using this marketing technique, the emphasis is on promoting the updated brand among new groups of buyers or in new regions.

Combines restyling and repositioning technologies, but complements them with a change in essence trade offer companies. Visual elements are changing (logo, corporate style, style, employee uniforms, office design), communication tools (slogans, mottos, advertising messages) are changing. In addition, a new strategy for working with clients, means of capturing and holding their attention are being developed. Often, a complete rebranding can take several years, as in the case of Sberbank, where thousands of offices were changed and tens of thousands of employees were trained in a new way of working with clients.

Rebranding stages

Rebranding is a complex sequential process that requires the efforts of both involved experts and most of the company's divisions. The implementation of the strategy consists of several stages. It:

marketing audit;
development of a new brand;
brand implementation.

Marketing audit includes studying the audience of the brand, its preferences, the capabilities of the company. The strengths and weaknesses of the existing logo and slogan are determined, the required depth of changes is determined, the direction of changes is determined, taking into account the preferences of the audience and the marketing reality prevailing at the time of the study. Final stage is inherently related to the first, as it is carried out taking into account already made marketing conclusions. Implementation should be focused precisely on those target audiences that have been identified by research.

Development is preceded by the stage of determining the directions of change. Those elements of corporate identity that should be modernized are determined, the goal of modernization is formed. At this stage, tactics and strategies are developed to bring the new concept to consumers. The brand is approved by the shareholders of the company, who must confirm their agreement with the new strategy.

At the development stage, it is determined in which direction of the possible the style of the company should be changed. He can be:

strengthened, upgraded. This is true for traditional companies and enterprises whose style has not changed since the moment of establishment;
individualized. This is true for logos that are either unrecognizable or reminiscent of other companies' visual means of identification;
disseminated to a wider range of consumers;
updated in line with modern trends.

After the development of the concept and visual means of its implementation, the implementation phase begins. It is no less important than the development stage. But it should be preceded by a preliminary testing stage using such means as the opinion of the expert community, focus groups of target consumers, and other ways of obtaining feedback.

Only after preliminary testing new image can be put into production. To increase awareness of the updated product, its release to the market should be preceded by advertising company, using all modern facilities communications, from videos to viral ads. Today, the successful implementation of a new brand is impossible without the increased use of the power of social networks, which is confirmed by some especially successful companies.

Examples of successful company rebranding

Examples of successful rebranding

By studying examples of company rebranding, you can find both successful strategies and failed ones. Among the successful foreign projects you can call CVS Pharmacy, which was the first in the US to stop selling tobacco and changed its name from CVS Caremark (“Care Mark”) to CVS Health (“Health”). The powerful advertising campaign in social networks attracted the attention of even the President of the United States, who left a comment, appreciating the desire for a healthy lifestyle, thanks to which the new name of the company created a large loyal audience for it. Changes in the logos of Coc-Cola, Apple, Mozilla left their mark on the history of marketing.

There are some successful stories of introducing a new image in our country. The rebranding of large Russian companies, such as Russian Railways, Aeroflot, Beeline, described in Wikipedia is good example use of marketing technologies. By studying its history, one can understand what is the rebranding that brought a real increase in the audience of the product? One of the most striking examples of the successful use of the strategy will be the history of Aeroflot. The advertising campaign of the largest air carrier was recognized as one of the most successful, the second most successful in Russia. Many world-class experts were involved in its development. It included many elements related not only to changing the brand, but with many techniques. The Russian flag was placed on board the aircraft, the uniform of flight attendants was changed, the style of interaction with customers was completely changed, which allowed Aeroflot to adequately withstand competition with many competing airlines and become laureates of many international awards.

But the rebranding of a subsidiary of the same air carrier, Rossiya Airlines, raised many questions among experts. It was held by the forces of a domestic company: OTVETDESIGN, but the idea developed by it was not successful. After the rebranding, experts recorded a decrease in brand awareness.

In some cases, not only companies, but also cities and countries are being rebranded. It aims to increase their recognition in order to attract tourists. A 2004 rebranding of Denmark's capital, Copenhagen, cost 100 million euros, but moved the city from the list of capitals on the verge of bankruptcy to the list of the best cities in the world in terms of safety and convenience for business. Last but not least, in the perception of the city, the experts took into account image changes. Among Russian cities, Perm has become an example of successful rebranding.

Rebranding cannot be just one of the tasks associated with changing the color or font of the logo, it is an independent integrated strategy that is designed to increase the success of the company. When implementing it, it is necessary not only to use the best world methods, but also to carefully monitor the reaction of the professional audience at the development stage. Only in this case the tasks assigned to the company will be fulfilled.

Rebranding cannot be just one of the tasks associated with changing the color or font of the logo, it is an independent integrated strategy that is designed to increase the success of the company.

The continuous dynamics of the market, due to a whole range of factors (scientific and technological progress, fashion, increased competition), constantly changes the consumer's attitude to goods, services and the level of service. Therefore, an obligatory component of the development process of any type of business is the evolution of the brand, which can be implemented partially or comprehensively.

gradual transformation individual elements brand is expressed in minor changes in the visual component of the corporate style in order to adapt it to modern standards. Such an update is carried out every two or three years and does not cause a sharp change in strategy, and therefore, theoretically, it is not a rebranding. Many consumers do not even notice such updates, taking them for granted.

In turn, an integrated approach affects all aspects of a company's positioning in the market and can often completely change the concept of a business. It is used in the presence of certain problems, which determine the main goals of rebranding:

The obsolescence of the brand itself and the emergence of more powerful competitors. Being present in the market for too long, the brand can simply bore consumers, which will force them to turn to a new, more interesting competitor.
Changing or expanding the target audience. With a change in market direction, especially with a change in the age category of the consumer, a complete revision of the concept is necessary.
Transition to another price category . A cheaper or more expensive product should be reflected in the brand, otherwise the target audience will not accept the new format.
Conquest of new markets. Changing the concept when entering the international market allows you to solve the problems of cultural differences. So, for example, the domestic brand of Zhiguli cars for export to France was replaced by Lada, due to the obscene meaning of the original name in the French lexicon.
Merger of companies or change of management. When combining brands, it is more effective to create a fundamentally new one, giving the consumer an understanding that the merits of both manufacturers are combined in the updated products.
Reputation boost. If the company has been involved in high-profile scandals, rebranding can reduce negative associations and attract the attention of new consumers.

Formulating the very concept of rebranding in simple terms, we can say that this is a set of measures to change the brand of the company, aimed at creating a new perception by the consumer and necessary to increase demand.

The main stages of the company's rebranding

The rebranding process has a strict sequence of actions, the final result depends on the correctness of their implementation. In total, four basic stages are distinguished: analysis (audit), formulation of a new strategy (repositioning), visual transformations (restyling) and integration into the business.

Stage 1. Conducting a marketing audit

The main goal and essence of rebranding is to increase consumer demand and improve the company's reputation. And therefore the most milestone in its implementation is the analysis of the current state and the construction of a new marketing strategy based on the identified problems. At this stage, the following work is carried out:

Existing brand recognition and consumer loyalty are assessed. For example, when entering new markets, it is important to understand whether a new consumer knows about a product or service and what your brand is associated with.
The obstacles to the correct perception of the brand by the target audience are determined. This aspect is especially important when reorienting to a new category of buyers.
Analysis of competitive advantages and weaknesses . For example, the company's policy may not correspond to the social trends of our time.

A marketing audit is carried out for each block of the brand:

Mission and Philosophy. Are they relevant and understandable.
Identity. What associations does the brand evoke.
Communications. Features of interaction with the consumer.
Architecture. Visual components (product name, fonts, colors).
Image component. What image is formed directly by brand advertising.
Competitive environment. Comparison with brands operating in the same segment.

Based on the analysis, a decision is made on the need for repositioning and restyling of the brand.

Stage 2. Brand repositioning

Due to high competition in almost any business sector, one may encounter factors such as consumer indifference to a certain product or even negative perception without good reason. The reason for this is most often that the buyer does not see the benefits of your brand in total mass goods. Such a situation can arise both for a fundamentally new brand, and for a concept that has existed unchanged for too long.

In order to raise the status of the brand relative to analogues, repositioning is carried out, which involves focusing on new practical properties. In this case, the following methods can be applied:

Identification of new areas of product use. For example, the transfer of goods from the category "for children" to the category "for the whole family".
Emphasis on advanced functionality . For example, dishwashing detergent with glycerin, caring for the skin of the hands.
Transfer of products to a new product category.
Revealing new physical properties that have not been given attention before. A striking example of this method is the emergence of eco-products, positioned as especially beneficial to health, although in reality they are no different from ordinary goods.

On the practical side, brand repositioning does not involve changing the products or services themselves, but is aimed at transforming the marketing strategy and brand image in the eyes of customers. Thus, at this stage, a new company philosophy is formulated.

Stage 3. Corporate style restyling

The direct process of changing the external attributes of the brand (logo, corporate colors, fonts, leitmotif, name, slogan, interior design and signage), which is often called rebranding, was called restyling in a professional environment. It can be carried out as independent process(partial evolution of the brand), and be one of the stages of complex transformations.

The prerequisites for brand restyling are the following factors:

Obsolete aesthetics of brand attributes.
Disharmony of the visual solution trademark with updated product (packaging). The old brand may not fit the new formats, for example when moving from desktop PCs to mobile applications, the visual component of the brand can become too complex and inconvenient to use.
Inconsistency of old solutions with the new brand philosophy. The problems of society are constantly changing, after which the mission of companies is changing. So, if earlier mobile operators bet on favorable rates, then today, when prices are about the same, quality and an extensive list of services come to the fore.
Copy protection. The periodic change of visual elements significantly complicates the production of "pirated" copies.
Simplification of perception. Simple symbols are much faster perceived by the consumer in the modern flow of information, and therefore the main trend in restyling is to replace complex logos with simpler icons.
Change of cultural values in the target audience (growing up). The brand may be based on the current fashion trend, but it should be understood that with the departure of fashion, rebranding will also be required, more in line with new consumer hobbies.

The development of new visual attributes may involve both a complete change in corporate style and a partial update. At the same time, the degree of transformation should be selected based on the goals of rebranding. As a rule, several versions are created, which are tested with the involvement of focus groups, which allows you to make the most correct choice. When deciding to perform a radical restyling, it should be understood that a sharp change in visual attributes is an unspoken signal of a change in the way of doing business, which can be regarded as a change in the usual quality standards.

Stage 4. Interaction of the new brand with the audience

The final stage of rebranding is the integration of updates into the business system and informing the main mass of the audience of information about the new qualities of the product. It is implemented by reorganizing the principles of interaction with consumers and conducting a fundamentally new advertising campaign. At the same time, in order to retain the existing audience, brand rebranding may require pre-training consumer to enter the market of a new format. The most important is the announcement of changes for large and well-recognized brands.

Informing about brand updates should be directed not only to the direct buyer of goods or services, but also to the internal staff of the company. Employees must understand why changes are being made and what the main goals are, which will allow them to seamlessly adapt to new requirements and work standards.

After the preparation, the new brand is integrated into the products, while it is extremely important that the adopted format be implemented in all areas, completely replacing the outdated one. Otherwise, misunderstanding may occur. For example, if a customer sees both old and new packaging in a store, he will decide that these are different products.

Critical mistakes during rebranding

It is rather difficult to predict the effectiveness of rebranding, and therefore the priority task of a marketer is to avoid critical mistakes. The latter include:

Superficial approach. Very often, rebranding is implemented only as a change in the visual component of the brand, for example, a logo. However, the latter is only a marking ( identification mark) for the product being promoted. Lack of analysis and understanding real benefits new format does not give the desired result, and often can cause a backlash.
Unjustified name change. Many companies go down the path of simplification, losing the very essence of the brand. If the name changes but the product stays the same, it is important not only to inform customers about the reasons for the change, but also to create a logical reference to the old brand in the name itself.
neglect corporate culture and position of employees. Changing the brand without appropriate motivation of employees, as a rule, does not solve business problems. At the same time, quite often, when creating a new brand, only the opinion of marketers and management is taken into account. In such cases, there is a risk that the rest of the staff may not agree with the new format, which will lead to reduced productivity, and sometimes to the dismissal of key specialists.
Lack of interaction with the audience. In the history of business, there are a huge number of examples when companies had to return to an old brand because they did not take into account the peculiarities of the perception of the target audience.
Imitation of the masses. Rebranding should be based on the characteristics of a particular business and take into account the values \u200b\u200bthat it is trying to convey. In turn, blindly following fashion can neutralize this advantage and make the brand inexpressive.
Integration inconsistency. Quite often, in the domestic market, rebranding is implemented by trial and error, which in practice manifests itself as a frequent change of values. The reasons for this mistake can be hidden both in insufficient preliminary analysis of the existing brand, and in the impatience of the company's management, which does not take into account that it sometimes takes time for the audience to adapt to the new format.

Summing up, we can say that the process of brand renewal is a complex marketing tool, with the help of which a change in the consumer's emotional associations with respect to certain products is achieved. Understanding what changes and goals rebranding brings, what it is in simple words and in what cases it should be applied, you will be able to modernize your business in a timely manner, maintaining the existing and attracting a new audience.

Rebranding is not about changing the logo or refreshing the packaging design or company identity. Such marketing tools lead to a new perception of the brand by buyers. This rebranding helps to increase revenues, become more reliable and attractive for old and new customers and reach a new horizon for the development of the region. The main goal of rebranding is to create a new impression for the buyer about the company.

The essence of rebranding

We can say that rebranding is a well-known marketing technique that can make the leader unattainable and the pursuer number one. But there is one serious snag. Rebranding, which belongs to the category of "marketing tools", is the most difficult to manage and control, requires the utmost balance of decisions and coordinated work of the entire team.

The term "company rebranding" is difficult to surprise anyone in the modern world. Nothing out of the ordinary about changing a logo or overall design The average consumer does not see the company. Moreover, he considers it an unreasonable expenditure of funds. Often, rebranding is perceived only from the outside: the choice of font in the update, colors and others.

In practice, the situation is much more interesting and deeper. In marketing, three terms with the re- prefix are used: repositioning, restyling and rebranding.

restyling

Restyling is a common tool. Specialists often use this term with the epithet "easy". Sometimes brands do general restyling or specific restyling of the logo, corporate identity, packaging design. On this occasion, extensive advertising campaigns are often issued, but these modifications themselves are visible only to their creators. Brands do not have specific prerequisites for restyling, but they are stubbornly carried out.

Such marketing tools are cosmetic in nature. Such changes do not bring any impact on the relationship of the brand with customers.

Repositioning

The second type of restyling is deeper, it has strategic reasons, and here the differences are clear. The main task of restyling in this case is to increase brand awareness, taking into account changes in environment his habitat.

For example, the target audience of the company is young people under thirty years old, and intricate graphic drawings are in fashion. After ten or twenty years, the previous target audience of the brand has matured, and with a new buyer it is necessary to speak his language.

The second type of restyling is used by companies with life experience. But not always after such a change in the logo, the corporate identity of the brand changes completely, although changes in positioning can occur. Companies are trying to increase their visibility and at the same time maintain their visual image.

Direct rebranding

And the third type of brand behavior has a completely different nature. And specifically with regard to brands-companies using this approach, it is customary to use the term "rebranding", that is, brand reformation, its improvement and correction.

We are talking about companies that, according to certain prerequisites, make special changes (repositioning), significant changes in visual symbols (color, logo, design and packaging form) and new messages, new communication strategies (slogan, creative settings). In addition, updated principles for working with clients are being developed.

Reasons for rebranding

Often rebranding is carried out in three cases:

When a brand acquires a new owner who has his own attitudes, goals and values. He can become the heir to the image that the acquired company already had. In another case, the owner can change everything related to the acquired brand.
When the owner stays, but the brand name is no longer liked or, for some reason, unacceptable to the target audience.
The third category of rebranding uses is when a brand, perceiving changes in the consumer's worldview and the competitive environment, changes the target audience, makes adjustments to positioning, and then, as a result, updates the logo, appearance and messages, style of communication.

Companies belonging to the third group of rebranding use are often companies that conduct their business looking to the future and making sure that past successes do not become chains. They use rebranding as a holistic brand renewal marketing tool.

Often, rebranding helps to make a qualitatively new breakthrough, bypassing competitors. But it can also be the other way around. If understanding is not reached, brands that decide to rebrand lose their chance for growth and may lose their stable success even among loyal customers.

The need for rebranding

Rebranding is worth resorting to when:

the brand was misrepresented from the start;
changes in market conditions have come, and it is impossible for the brand to adapt to them;
brand awareness, its popularity is too low;
competitors take over the company;
the brand sets new, higher goals.

Rebranding tasks

The tasks to be carried out by rebranding are:

increasing the uniqueness of the brand, its differentiation;
strengthening the loyalty of its consumers;
attracting new customers, expanding the target audience of the company.

Rebranding specialists recommend leaving those elements that are the positive aspects of the company in the eyes of the consumer, defending it in front of competitors. It is also necessary to remove those properties that create negative effect for the brand.

Rebranding process

Rebranding stages:

Brand audit. This is a detailed observation of its current state, consumer attitudes towards it, recognition and loyalty of the target audience, recognition of problematic and strong points, determining the depth of rebranding, and researching the company's financial sources.
Development of tactics and strategy for the rebranding process. This decision concerns changing certain elements of the company's style.
Reconstruction of the main components of the company's identity. At this stage, a new positioning is created, fresh components of visual and verbal recognition, innovative brand communication.
Acquaintance of the audience with the result of rebranding and its meaning.

Brand rebranding is a rather risky undertaking. This is a sign that management is accepting a change in business strategy. If an existing brand has acquired stable audience recognition, then it is quite possible to lose it after rebranding. However, change is necessary for a rapidly developing world.

Common Mistakes

Among common mistakes should be named as follows:

rebranding the logo so that it stands out from the general style brand or does not say anything about it;
discarding the position of the brand in the market;
extracting the essence of the brand from the name, a strong generalization;
insufficient preparation for change, ignoring the testing of innovations on the audience;
partiality of the process, its application only to selective aspects of activity;
false information.

Rebranding: examples

An example of rebranding is one of the well-known companies, which, by improving its own brand, increased sales and popularity. This is the well-known Pepsi-Cola company, which carried out its rebranding policy in 1998. About once a decade, Coca-Cola and Pepsi do relatively significant upgrades.

In the field of companies providing cellular services, Svyaznoy Group of Companies carried out a successful rebranding in 2008. The brand logo acquired a colored stripe, and the company's colors expanded. The logo font has also been changed.

In 2005-2006, Beeline also experienced one of the most successful rebranding among telecommunications brands.

Everyone knows the updated images of Aeroflot, as well as Russian Railways.

The International Air Transport Association carried out rebranding in 2007. The name change to Unifest Travel, the introduction of electronic tickets, the entry into the BSP system - all this brought the company to a new level.

Rebranding is a laborious and large complex process that gives a company a huge chance to change direction and its history.

Rebranding is more than updating a logo or slogan. This is the search for a new value proposition or the formulation of it in new words. It shakes up the target audience and reminds them of the benefits of the company people are used to working with.

In this article, you will learn about amazing examples of effective rebranding. foreign companies. And of course, let's remember the domestic experience.

CVS Pharmacy: change even if it's unpopular

CVS Pharmacy is a network of large pharmaceutical stores in the United States.

Problem: in American pharmacies you can buy everything - from medicines to cigarettes. The very concept of pharmacy is blurred.

Rebranding: Pharmacy chain CVS Pharmacy became the first in the United States to stop selling tobacco products - after all, this is a pharmacy, not a bar. To highlight this, the network changed its name from CVS Caremark to CVS Health.

Rebranding, powerful support in social networks - and now pharmacy network already more than 100,000 tweets and even a comment from the US president himself. Yes, smokers were unhappy at first. But in the long run, the network only benefited - its value proposition became more specific and recognizable.

Burberry: luxury for thugs?

Problem: For 150 years, the company has been selling stylish coats and trench coats. Unfortunately, the expensive brand fell in love not only with fashionistas, but also with mafiosi. It got to the point that people took any person in Burberry clothes for crime boss. Something had to be done about this.

Rebranding: Expensive things always attract crime, and you can't change that. And the company, of course, was not going to refuse from the very style of coats and trench coats. Therefore, when rebranding, it was decided to turn to another category of rich people - celebrities.

Burberry marketers launched a large-scale advertising campaign featuring popular young actors. Thanks to her, many have taken a completely new look at the familiar brand.

Even if your product is to the taste of those who do not like you personally, you can always get out of the situation by simply pushing the boundaries of the target audience. At the same time, there is no need to abandon the usual quality and reputation.

Old Spice: deodorant for real men

Problem: Strictly speaking, Old Spice deodorants are no different from all others. But for a number of reasons - maybe because of the name itself - the young audience considered Old Spice products to be old and were in no hurry to buy them. The smell seemed sexually unattractive to them.

Rebranding: Old Spice made a bet on the charismatic basketball player Isaiah Mustafa. He liked the female audience. In the wake of the popularity of the new hero, the company even released a series of shower gels.

On the plus side, Old Spice didn't have to change the logo, it was enough to change people's perception. A young, active and sexually attractive hero and a humorous reckless presentation - that's what the brand needed to get rid of the image of "old man deodorant".

Sometimes it is enough to show the target audience a familiar product from the other side in order to revive interest in yourself and increase the conversion. Think about what sauce to serve what you are doing.

Pabst Blue Ribbon: entering the Chinese market

Problem: Pabst Blue Ribbon makes beer that is inexpensive and very popular with college students. At least in the USA. In China, the beer brand positions itself differently.

rebranding g: In China, the beer is called Blue Ribbon 1844 (1884 - the year the brand was founded), costs $ 44 and is popular with wealthy Chinese. That is, the average American brand, thanks to competent rebranding, has moved into the premium class.

Why China? It's simple: other markets are already occupied by large players.

New audience - new image. This is true both for global market players and for Internet businesses.

Corn Syrup: not as sweet as you think

Problem: The phrase "high fructose syrup" does not sound very attractive from the point of view of healthy eating. This leads to a reduction in the audience and revenues.

Rebranding: The rebranding idea is simple - to turn harmful fructose syrup into healthy corn sugar. Of course, syrup and sugar are completely different things. However, corn sugar has long been held in high esteem by those who have problems digesting regular sugar.

Bonus:

But a bad example of rebranding is RadioShack.

RadioShack dreamed of becoming more than a store for tech geeks.

Rebranding and a new name - The Shack - did little to help the company. It was not associated with electrical engineering at all. The Shack ("shack" in translation) is associated with something strange, and it was the new name that buried the company's reputation.

And what about in Russia?

Over the past 10 years, rebranding has been done by three largest companies countries:

Russian Railways.

The new logo won the REBRAND 100 Global Awards in 2011.

Sberbank of Russia

The rebranding of Sberbank is perhaps one of the most ambitious for domestic business. The bank spent more than 20 billion rubles on it. Literally everything has been changed - from the interiors of departments and the design of promotional materials to the corporate uniform of employees. And most importantly, the bank introduced common standards countrywide.

Post office

But with the Russian Post, the example, alas, is not so impressive. Only the logo has been changed. But this had little effect on the perception of the company by customers. Another proof that rebranding is much more than just changing the sign.