Can Rebranding be Creative and Practical?

The answer is not obvious. You might think that a rebrand has to be both creative and practical in order to achieve a desired outcome, whether that outcome is recognition or market share or increase in sales. Unfortunately, there is reluctance on the part of many top decision-makers to choose a creative solution. There is simply too much at stake to risk setting foot outside their comfort zone. They choose safe.

A study published by Cornell University probes this very paradox. Titled, “The Bias Against Creativity: Why People Desire but Reject Creative Ideas,” it explored the theory that people can hold a bias against creativity when they experience a motivation to reduce uncertainty. The researchers conducted two studies. “The results of both studies demonstrated a negative bias toward creativity (relative to practicality) when participants experienced uncertainty,” they wrote. “Furthermore, the bias against creativity interfered with participants’ ability to recognize a creative idea.”How do rebranding consultants overcome this bias? Sometimes a little history lesson is in order. Many healthcare organizations were revolutionary at the time of their founding. Doctors saw patients at home and hospitals were only for the extremely sick. Research was done in a sterile laboratory miles from the nearest hospital. All that has evolved to what we call medicine today: a combination of sick care, prevention, education and discovery. And all that is a result of taking risks.

From manufacturing to retail, food production to electronics, ours is a fluid world shaped by needs and desires and expectations. Brands have a life and must progress with the world around them or be left in its wake. Creativity and practicality should be part of every rebrand. Both work together to take a brand to a higher level.

Think of the first time someone proposed skydiving. The idea of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane just to fall through the sky was risky and, to many people, completely nuts. But that idea included something else new: a parachute. It was creative and practical.

And breathtaking.