Rebranding - Know What, When, And How To Do It In 2023

Rebranding chiefly aims to reintroduce a product or a brand in the hopes that such action will trigger a significant rise in sales.

However, that is not always the case.

The buying public doesn’t always welcome change. Consumers even scoff at it sometimes.

Take the case of Tropicana.

One of the more popular fruit juice brands out there, Tropicana’s original packaging prominently displays “Tropicana” in bold dark green letters at the center.

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Right below it is the brand’s signature image of a bright orange with a straw inserted on it, giving the impression that drinking Tropicana is like drinking straight from an orange itself.

Genius, right?

So, to paraphrase a familiar saying, why fix it when it ain’t broke?

Still, the executives at PepsiCo – it owns Tropicana Products, Inc. – decided to go for a rebranding.

A glass of orange juice replaced the iconic orange with a straw. Plus, “Tropicana” got relocated on the right side of the package – printed vertically and in the same color as the other text.

To cut a long and sad story short, Tropicana’s rebranding failed miserably.

Insider reported that within the first month since the new packaging found themselves on supermarket shelves, sales plummeted 20 percent. It’s equivalent to an estimated $20 million in lost sales!

Now how much did PepsiCo spend for the flopped rebranding?

Based from various reports, a cool $35 million.

What is this rebranding thing that could either be a breath of fresh air to a brand/product or a shovel that will dig its grave?

Rebranding Meaning

It goes to say that Tropicana’s original look has endeared it over the years to its regular patrons as proven by its unsuccessful rebranding.

The new look seemed to be unacceptable to consumers. No wonder Tropicana ditched the new design and returned to the original one.

To get a better understanding of what rebranding is, let’s briefly explain first marketing strategy.

The American Marketing Association defines “brand” like this:

Branding is a type of marketing strategy.

Marion Andrivet, the founder of brand strategies website The Branding Journal, offers a concise explanation:

Another type of marketing strategy is rebranding.

3 Types Of Rebranding

Brand Merger Or Acquisition

When two existing brands merge to form a new brand, this type of rebranding occurs. When a company is acquired, its brands will merge. Brand mergers work best when the two brands complement each other. In other cases, a complete rebranding to merge the two companies may be preferable. Be aware that a complete rebranding may take longer.

Brand Refresh

What exactly is a brand refresh? Brand refreshes can range from as simple as updating your logo to as complex as shifting your mission focus. This is much less time-consuming than completely rebranding your company, but it does require updating all existing copies of your logo, printing materials, website, and other design elements.

Full Rebrand

A full rebrand involves tearing down your brand and rebuilding it from the ground up. Perhaps you are expanding your market into another industry, or perhaps there has been a significant change in management. In either case, a complete rebrand is time-consuming.

You should only do this when absolutely necessary, such as when you are unable to connect with your target market. Connecting with your target audience is the best marketing strategy you can have, so if you aren't doing so, a complete rebranding may be in order.

Rebranding Considerations

Start With The Business Reasons For A Rebrand

Perhaps your company is launching a new product and requires a brand design and messaging to go with it. Perhaps your company has outgrown its brand and you believe it needs to be updated to appear more professional. Perhaps your target audience or customer base has shifted and your current brand message is no longer relevant to them. You may be considering a rebrand because of market competition, which is forcing you to evolve and innovate or risk being left behind. Because a rebrand is a significant undertaking that requires both time and money, you must first understand why you are considering a rebrand before proceeding.

What Do You Want To Stand For In The Future?

You want a rebrand that will meet your company's needs now and in the future.

So, as you consider the changes you want to make, develop and design your brand to be the company you want to see it become.

Examine your core messaging in terms of who you are, what you stand for, what your brand promise is today, and where you want it to be in the future.

A value proposition statement, which is a clear, concise, and compelling statement about the outcomes your customers can achieve by using your product, service, or solution, is part of developing your brand messaging. Your strategic messaging should emphasize your core values and differentiate your key products and services in the market.

While some of your ideas for the future can be implemented later, by thinking about how you want the business to grow is a great way to plan for the future.

Rebranding Process

Step 1 - Analysis

An in-depth analysis is required before embarking on a rebranding strategy. Concrete planning and achieving a satisfactory result will be difficult if you are unsure of what you want to change through rebranding. Of course, this includes the issues that prompted your desire to rebrand in the first place.

You should consider your market positioning, current and future product lines, and current branding. In addition to focusing on your own business, you should investigate the interests of your target market and potential partners. You should also research your industry and competitors to ensure that your new rebranding makes you stand out.

Step 2 - Planning

You can begin planning your rebranding once you have created a conceptual framework through in-depth analysis. This step is heavily influenced by the scope of your rebranding; a design relaunch necessitates less planning than a complete brand reorientation.

The core of this step is to define your brand's identity following the rebranding process. How should the brand look after it has been rebranded? It can be useful to work out your brand's DNA after rebranding and then consider the steps to take to achieve that goal. You may need to develop new claims and advertising copy, hire new employees to strengthen specific areas, or change your product portfolio.

Step 3 - Design

Rebranding almost always includes a change in the corporate design of the brand. Even if the logo remains the same, rebranding frequently includes changes to the website, marketing materials, or products. So, once your rebranding strategy is in place, you can hire internal or external designers to create the visual implementation of your rebranding.

Step 4 - Briefing

Before you reveal the results of your rebranding to the general public, make sure to notify all employees who were not involved in the process. Rebranding is an important redesign of your brand, and employees must continue to identify with it. Employees with customer and partner contact, in particular, contribute significantly to the representation of your brand and carry the changed brand to the outside world, so they must be onboarded.

Step 5 - Rollout

Finally, there is probably the most involved, but also the most exciting, step in your rebranding process: the rebranding rollout and public presentation. You can share your new designs and ideas with customers and partners through social media, newsletters, and your website. However, keep in mind that after the rebranding comes the next rebranding. You should closely monitor and analyze the results of your rebranding process, and make adjustments as needed.

3 Most Common Types Rebranding Strategies

Brand Refresh Strategy

To refresh brand messaging following a business reorientation, or to make the brand more relevant to new markets and audiences.

Brand Merger Strategy

To combine the brand under a new parent company following a merger or acquisition.

Brand Reinvention Strategy

To relaunch a brand following a damaging crisis or to overcome a bad business reputation.

A strategy can assist you in rolling out a rebrand and ensuring your goals are met, whether they include retaining your brand's legacy in the event of a shift in market focus or introducing a completely new brand to the market in response to crisis recovery.

People Ask

How Much Does A Full Rebrand Cost?

Most small businesses should budget $100,000 to $180,000 and six to eight months to transform their brand.

According to studies, the average B2B company spends about 5% of its revenue on marketing. Keeping this in mind, an average rebrand will cost between 10% and 20% of your marketing budget.

What Brands Should Be Rebranded?

Businesses frequently need to rebrand for a variety of reasons, including international expansion, new management, a bad reputation, or an outdated image. Whatever the reason, it's critical to build a memorable brand.

What To Do After Rebranding?

A good rebranding or brand refresh should aim to accomplish something, whether it's to target a different demographic, connect more with your customers, or change your business proposition. With this in mind, you should revisit your goals on a regular basis to ensure you're on track. This is also related to keeping in touch with your team on a regular basis.

Why Is Rebranding Not Always Successful?

How do you weave your brand values into everything, from the way your brand looks to how your employees interact with customers and each other?

In short, a rebrand is not a one-time fix; it must be maintained over time to be effective.

A variety of factors can contribute to rebranding failure. The most common issue we've seen is a lack of research: companies are so focused on the design and promotion of the new brand that they cut corners, or even ignore, market research.

Conclusion

A successful rebranding can be a difficult journey. You may need to spend years and millions of dollars conducting research and developing a foolproof rebranding strategy. But, in the end, it's worth it because you'll avoid all of the above mistakes, which would have cost you much more otherwise.

Companies must be aware of their current market position, brand loyalty, and customer perception early on, in order to gain valuable insights that can help steer or, if necessary, abort a rebrand. Hearing opposing viewpoints can be painful—but not as painful as rebranding that confuses loyal customers or produces no positive results at all.

About The Authors

Keith Peterson - I'm an expert IT marketing professional with over 10 years of experience in various Digital Marketing channels such as SEO (search engine optimization), SEM (search engine marketing), SMO (social media optimization), ORM (online reputation management), PPC (Google Adwords, Bing Adwords), Lead Generation, Adwords campaign management, Blogging (Corporate and Personal), and so on. Web development and design are unquestionably another of my passions. In fast-paced, high-pressure environments, I excel as an SEO Executive, SEO Analyst, SR SEO Analyst, team leader, and digital marketing strategist, efficiently managing multiple projects, prioritizing and meeting tight deadlines, analyzing and solving problems.