Case Studies: Successful and Unsuccessful Rebrands

A rebrand is a high-stakes endeavor. When it succeeds, it can breathe new life into a company and propel it to new heights. When it fails, it can become a costly and embarrassing public relations disaster.

By studying the case studies of both successful and unsuccessful rebrands, we can learn valuable lessons about what works, what doesn't, and why.

Successful Rebrand Case Studies

1. A Luxury Fashion House: From Dated to Luxury Icon

• The Problem: In the early 2000s, a classic check pattern from a luxury fashion house had been widely co-opted and had lost its association with luxury. The brand was seen as dated and had fallen out of favor with the high-fashion crowd.
• The Rebrand: Under the leadership of a new CEO and creative director, the brand undertook a massive rebrand. They drastically reduced the use of the classic check, focused on high-fashion outerwear, embraced digital marketing and social media, and launched a new, modern logo.
• Why it Worked: The rebrand was a bold and strategic move to completely reposition the brand in the luxury market. It was a comprehensive change that touched not just the logo, but the product, the marketing, and the entire customer experience. It successfully shed its old image and re-established itself as a modern, aspirational luxury brand.

2. A Men's Grooming Brand: From Your Grandpa's Aftershave to Viral Sensation

• The Problem: A men's grooming brand was seen as a tired, old-fashioned brand for an older generation. It had completely lost its relevance with younger consumers.
• The Rebrand: In 2010, the brand launched its now-famous "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" advertising campaign. The campaign used humor, absurdity, and a charismatic spokesman to completely change the brand's personality.
• Why it Worked: This was a rebrand of perception, not of the core product or logo. They didn't change the product; they changed the story. By using a completely unexpected and entertaining tone of voice, they made the brand cool, funny, and relevant to a whole new generation of men. It was a masterclass in understanding a new target audience.

Unsuccessful Rebrand Case Studies

1. A Major Clothing Retailer: The Six-Day Logo

• The Fiasco: In 2010, without any warning, a major clothing retailer replaced its iconic, 20-year-old logo with a new logo featuring a different font and a small blue gradient square.
• The Reaction: The public backlash on social media was immediate and overwhelming. Customers, designers, and branding experts hated the new logo, calling it cheap, generic, and soulless.
• The Result: The negative reaction was so strong that the retailer announced it was scrapping the new logo and reverting to the old one just six days after the launch.
• The Lesson: Don't discard your brand equity. The original logo had decades of recognition and trust built into it. The new logo was a generic change that threw all of that away for no clear strategic reason. They also failed to communicate the change or to understand the emotional connection their audience had with the original brand.

2. A Juice Company: The Packaging Failure

• The Fiasco: In 2009, a major juice company redesigned the packaging for its best-selling orange juice. They replaced the iconic image of an orange with a straw in it with a simple, modern image of a glass of orange juice.
• The Reaction: Loyal customers could no longer find their favorite juice on the shelf. The new packaging was generic and looked like a store brand, not the premium product they knew and trusted.
• The Result: Sales plummeted by 20% in just two months, a loss of tens of millions of dollars. The company quickly announced they were abandoning the new packaging and going back to the original design.
• The Lesson: Your packaging is a key part of your brand identity. The original design was instantly recognizable and had a strong emotional connection with consumers. The redesign ignored this brand equity in favor of a "cleaner" look, and it failed spectacularly.

Key Takeaways

• Strategy is Everything: Successful rebrands are driven by a clear business strategy. Failures are often the result of a purely cosmetic change with no "why" behind it.
• Respect Your Brand Equity: Understand what your customers value about your current brand before you change it.
• Communicate the Change: Tell a story that brings your audience along on the journey with you.
• Listen to Your Audience: In the age of social media, your customers will let you know immediately if you've made a mistake.

These case studies show that a rebrand can be a powerful tool for transformation, but it must be handled with strategic foresight, a deep understanding of your audience, and a respect for the brand you've already built.