Learning from Rebranding Flops
Branding is one of the most powerful ways to communicate change. But, it can also be a damaging process giving your competition a boost in market share.
So, how can you avoid a disaster? Let’s look at three recent examples and see what we can learn.
Tropicana
Tropicana used the recognizable ‘straw in orange’ for years to communicate its new, straight-from-the-orange juice message. It was easily identifiable and effectively communicated its brand and values. So why did Tropicana choose to do away with it? That question was on the mind of many consumers when the new packaging hit shelves at the beginning of 2009.
The iconic orange in straw was replaced by a generic glass of orange juice, prompting many confused consumers to comment that Tropicana had lost its identity—it now looked more like an uninspiring, generic store brand rather than the premium brand it was. An attempt to modernize a slightly dated look stripped the brand of its pure, natural, and fresh personality.
Sales plummeted 20% between January 1 and February 22. On February 23, less than two months after the new packaging had been on the market, Tropicana announced it would scrap it.
What can we learn?
Focus on how you’re different. How does the image of an orange-colored liquid differentiate Tropicana from all the other juices in the market? You’re right; it doesn’t.
A complete overhaul isn’t always necessary. There was considerable brand equity in the ‘straw in orange’ mark. Instead of scrapping it, it should have been leveraged.
Gap
Fast forward to the latter part of 2010, where—without much fanfare—Gap released a new logo on their website. While the new logo attempted to keep an element of the iconic logo that has defined the brand for 20 years, the uninspired execution looked very ‘Microsoft Word Art-Esque.’
Not surprisingly, the new logo received negative public outcry on the social media circuit. Customers on Gap’s Facebook page even went as far as to say that they would no longer buy clothes at the store if they kept the new look.
Gap’s overall brand equity took another hit when they quickly and shoddily asked the online community to submit alternative logo suggestions. It was not perceived as genuine or credible. Gap confirmed this when they reverted to the old logo within a week. As a result, they appeared amateurish and reactionary.
What can we learn:
Trust the experts. When things went south, Gap reacted by haphazardly throwing the door open to crowdsourcing, weakening its brand and image.
Stand behind your work. When you’re ready to unveil that new branding, ensure it’s paired with an announcement supporting it. Give the public the reasoning behind it instead of letting them have the first word.
Netflix/Qwikster
In the latest branding gone awry, CEO Reed Hastings took to the Netflix blog Sunday night to try and save face from their pricing and services debacle with the announcement that their new company Qwikster will handle the DVD-by-mail service. At the same time, Netflix will remain for streaming content only. Unfortunately, the proposed changes create too much separation between the companies, forcing customers to update profiles, rate movies, maintain queues and search for information on separate sites. As judged by the 15,826 comments in less than 24 hours, his plan backfired…big time.
Additionally, Netflix neglected to pin down the @Qwikster (or any) Twitter handle before launch. The account is currently owned by somebody who chooses to represent themself as Elmo smoking a joint and whose latest tweets include such pearls of wisdom as “Don’t bother telling me who my ex is now dating! Cuzz now I feel bad for the ****** that has my sloppy seconds.” Real classy.
What can we learn:
Talk with partners, staff, and most importantly—customers After all, these are the groups who will interact with this brand for years to come.
Obtain social media profiles and actively use them to enhance communication. Don’t leave this critical communication channel out!
Rebranding is an ongoing effort that requires planning, focus, and perseverance. There are no quick fixes. Tropicana and Gap have worked tirelessly to pull themselves back from the depths of a disaster—and hopefully Netflix will, too.
This originally appeared on the Pivot Marketing blog.