4 Reasons Rebrand does not mean failure

Many companies do it. Whether it is for one brand, to add an additional line or to change the corporate image, there is a long history of rebranding. However, for one reason or another, people equate this change with a failure of the previous brand strategy. However, I choose not to view that each product or corporation rebrand has been due to failure. I see some instances of rebrand including the ones below as being quite strategic.

1.       Change of corporate direction. – A business that has changed direction either as a function of corporate initiative or customer demand may change the brand to reflect the new image. For example a soup maker may change direction to provide only healthy ingredients in the soup and feels that the brand needs to reflect that shift.

2.       Wider focus – A company may widen the scope of its offerings and feel that their brand is too restrictive considering their new aspects. Take the case of a communications company who may widen their product offering to include entertainment and therefore uses a brand change to help make the market aware of the additional service.

3.       Change to target market/niche – While some brand changes may be corporate driven, others are customer lead. The product may have the chance to appeal to a wider audience and therefore in response to the change in customer demand the brand may adjust itself or transform altogether to reflect this new customer base. For instance, a clothing company may be working with a religious niche, however, there is the chance to have an impact on a wider scale and change the name to one that can appeal to non-religious segments of the market who may not have understood the brand name and message.

4.       To reflect operational changes – The company may become increasingly efficient or change the capabilities in some areas of its operations and feels the brand needs to match these adjustments. For example, a company may move from producing handmade accessories to machine operated manufacturing. Therefore, this company would no longer carry the handmade stamp in their brands.

I believe that a rebranding strategy is simply an attempt to appeal to a wider audience or change the view of your company in your current market. This change is by no means an indication of failure but simply a shift of priority and as your priority changes so does your image.