Indicators your brand is ready for change
Incredibly, some brands seem to never really need to change. For example, since 1994, candy maker Cadbury has been running the same campaign every Easter season, even the same Cadbury Bunny Tryout commercial.
Nostalgia is a powerful drug for nearly everyone, and it’s a primary reason some brands can get away with maintaining the status quo. But never changing, evolving, and adapting your brand isn’t an option for the rest of us.
Here are some common drivers of rebranding and examples of pivotal moments that drove necessary change:
Structural Drivers
Mergers and acquisitions are familiar drivers of brand change. For example, when United Airlines merged with Continental Airlines, they needed to decide their shared identity. Ultimately it resulted in them keeping the name United but still maintaining some of the look of Continental’s logo. They determined that the more recognizable name should stay in place but still saw the importance of leaving in identity elements of the less dominant brand to honor its history, customers and success.
A merger like that drives change, whether a merger of two equals or a new vision that inspires leadership to leave the past behind.
Cultural Drivers
A change in company culture can often be a catalyst for a brand change. When three prominent Omaha-area healthcare entities, The Nebraska Medical Center, Bellevue Medical Center, and UNMC Physicians, formally joined forces as Nebraska Medicine, the culture change was dramatic as they brought together nearly 10,000 people under one brand.
What they needed, at that moment, was a unifying emblem that both Nebraska Medicine and its long-standing partner, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, could adopt—one that could unite the culture across the company.
Functional Drivers
Occasionally, the time comes to repair a weakness in the brand design, satisfy a legal requirement, or clear up a name confusion in the market. Or it may just be that the company finds itself in a moment where it’s clear that its visual identity is no longer communicating who they are or want to be.
A functional driver can also be an unforeseen moment that redefines people’s awareness of a brand and creates an opportunity that must be capitalized on.
Had anyone heard of Aflac supplemental insurance before introducing the Aflac duck? Not many. That duck and that advertising breakthrough changed everything for that company. Four years after the first commercial debuted, the Aflac duck was inducted into the Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame. There was no duck in the middle of the Aflac logo before that campaign started, but there sure is now.
Think it’s time for a rebrand? Are you in a pivotal moment? Get our Strategic Rebranding Worksheet to self-assess and determine what drivers most influence your brand.
