Hello there! Curious to know how rebranding works? Allow me to take you on an adventure.
As marketing and brand management students, we have been exposed to a plethora of new brands. Usually, each assignment begins by deep-diving the web to look for a brand that is in trouble. Last term we were asked to present a strategic marketing solution for a theatre, this term we are asked to present a strategic solution as well as design upgrades for any brand in trouble. The assignment is to create branding guidelines that will mitigate the issues and take the brand in a new direction. This was a group task. We began by scouring new paper articles to see if any brand had a rough quarter. For ease of finding relevant data, we limited our search to brands in the UK, either UK-origin or based largely in the UK. The first brand that we pitched was Wilko. It was certainly in trouble and could use a brand refresh (Butler 2022; Mintel, 2022). Since we had done only strategizing assignments, our first instinct was to develop a plan to resolve their issues. We weren’t thinking in terms of design, yet. Quick feedback from our professor helped us further understand the expectations of the assignment. We then pitched a different brand - Oatly (Butler, 2021; Terazono, 2022), which has recently seen a decline in sales. Although it was the right choice in terms of selecting a brand in trouble, we failed to realize that changing the iconic Oatly design would be a risky move. The reasoning behind picking Oatly was that it’s a brand that had more scope in terms of design unlike Wilko, but changing the entire appearance of Oatly could’ve backfired and landed it into deeper trouble. At this stage, we had gone through an exhaustive list of brands and discarded the majority of them because they had recently undergone brand rejuvenation. After much deliberation, we narrowed down Co-op and Paula’s Choice as the two brands were facing issues and a brand re-design would prove to be effective (Butler 2021; Statista 2022; Statista 2023). Little did we know that this was not the end. The following week, in class, we sat down with our professor to understand what we were doing wrong, fully prepared for her to assign a brand since we had all but given up. During the discussion, one of the brands that were thrown out was a British-based squash brand - Ribena. Most of us on the table were unaware of the brand’s existence since we weren’t from the UK. Recently Ribena decided to “future-proof” the brand by taking a heritage stance (Fleming, 2019). Considering Ribena's present sales curve (Mattinson, 2022), the heritage position was not the best solution. They need to re-focus and make some serious upgrades to the brand if they wish to survive in the juice market. A kid's beverage brand, with a misaligned position and experiencing a slump in sales, was perfect for this task.
Now, it's make-over time!
Hope you are excited... Let’s go.
Img. 1.1: Thinking exercise to get us started
Source: Author's work
References
Butler, S. (2021) 'Co-op warns about food supplies and inflation as profits fall 57%’, The Guardian, 07 April. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/apr/07/co-op-warns-food-supplies-inflation-profits-fall-57-per-cent-2021 (Accessed: 16 March 2023).
Butler, S. (2021) 'Oatly shares fall 20% after ‘quality issue’ warning and delivery delays', The Guardian, 15 November. Available at: https://rb.gy/bg0zuy (Accessed: 16 March 2023).
Butler, S. (2021) 'Oatly shares tumble as plant-milk maker plans job cuts', The Financial Times, 15 November. Available at: https://rb.gy/z1snqm (Accessed: 16 March 2023).
Butler, S. (2022) 'Wilko owners took £3m in dividends despite £37m losses', The Guardian, 29 November. Available at: https://rb.gy/wslcj1 (Accessed: 16 March 2023).
Fleming, M. (2019) Ribena pins hopes on heritage to 'future proof' the Brand, Marketing Week. Available at: https://www.marketingweek.com/ribena-pins-hopes-on-heritage-to-future-proof-the-brand/ (Accessed: March 5, 2023).
Grocery Trader (2020) 'Ribena rolls out major packaging redesign its most sustainable bottle yet –100% recyclable, still made from 100% recycled plastic', The Grocery Trader, 10 November. Available at: https://grocerytrader.co.uk/ribena-rolls-out-major-packaging-redesignto-its-most-sustainable-bottle-yet-100-recyclable-still-made-from-100-recycled-plastic/ (Accessed: 16 March 2023).
Mattinson, A.(2022) 'Lucozade Ribena Suntory sales rebound as on-the-go recovers', The Grocery Trader, 12 August. Available at: https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/results/lucozade-ribena-suntory-sales-rebound-as-on-the-go-recovers/670451.article (Accessed: 16 March 2023).
Mintel (2022) Wilko reports a £36.6 million loss. Available at: https://rb.gy/mbuzbr (Accessed: 16 March 2023).
Statista (2022) Oatly brand profile in the UK 2022. Available at: https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1352696/oatly-oat-milk-brand-profile-in-the-uk (Accessed: 16 March 2023).
Statista (2022) Paula's Choice brand profile in the UK 2022. Available at: https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1340081/paula-s-choice-face-care-brand-profile-in-the-uk (Accessed: 16 March 2023).
Statista (2023) Most well-known face care brands in the UK 2022. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1343681/most-well-known-face-care-brands-in-the-uk/ (Accessed: 16 March 2023).
Terazono, E. (2022) 'Oatly shares tumble as plant-milk maker plans job cuts', The Financial Times, 14 November. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/815f66fa-b35c-4d0c-876d-d12b461fedea (Accessed: March 16, 2023).