Mars, Inc. recently unveiled some tweaks to their Iconic M&M mascots. And people had…. feelings.
When a brand has been around for decades, a company may decide it’s time to modernize or refresh their look or strategy. Understandable! Whether or not it goes over well can be another story… And that story sometimes flies entirely out of the hands of the designers and into the finicky hands of the consumer.
Let’s take a look at some rebrands that rocked it, and one that tanked.
Rebrands that rocked it:
Old Spice
Old Spice had been in business for nearly 75 years when they realized they needed to stop being associated with “smelling like your grandfather” if they wanted to stick around. Their new body wash for men was being inched out of the market by other brands, so they needed to act fast. They came up with the now famous “Smell like a man, man” campaign.
One unconventional move that paid off was to “not” air their commercial at the upcoming Superbowl. Instead they released it onto Facebook and began airing it on television in the days leading up to the game to build buzz. They also relied on people’s inclination to look up funny ads online around the time of every Superbowl.
It worked so beautifully that now you only hear Isaiah Mustafa’s voice when you hear the words I’m on a horse. His voice and only his voice, for the rest of time. Try it.
Starbucks
When your logo is so recognizable that it no longer requires the name of your company to be worked into the design, you have officially reached the Lady Gaga of your Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta existence.
Starbucks was willing to test those waters when they released their updated logo in 2011. Being able to drop words and a company name from a logo adds to its global accessibility and appeal. And it’s the pinnacle of logo cachet.
The rebrand that tanked:
Gap
You know that feeling when you spend $100 million on a logo update and then change your mind six days later? Hopefully not because that is one big bummer of a feeling.
But Gap knows it very well. In 2010 they dropped a logo that was so venomously despised that it couldn’t outlast the week.
So what went wrong? This seems like a case of “change for change’s sake.” Both Starbucks and Old Spice had an objective in mind when they set out to rebrand. Gap wasn’t really sure why it was doing this, and it showed.
Gap also underestimated their customers’ emotional bond to the logo. Gap made a quick u-turn and hasn’t budged since. Nice and steady there, Gap. Nice and steady.
It should come as no surprise…
As always, it should come as no surprise that we are here to help. If you need a logo (whether it’s a refresh or from scratch), we have the best here at The YEAH YEAH Agency.
We love our logo! We aren’t planning on changing our logo anytime soon. It’s vibrant, fun, and feels alive. It’s a happy logo and we like to think we are a happy bunch.
We hope you love your branding, and if not, we would love to put you on that road to branding bliss.
