Demolishing Your Brand
It may seem extreme to imply that any business would want to demolish their brand.
In a way, that is the process when a company wants to commit to rebranding. The key is to be very clear about the essence of your brand so you don’t lose customers or clients who love what your organization, product, services and people are all about.
You may have witnessed companies who do a great job of rebranding and cover their bases when they transition into a new skin. It takes comprehensive planning, even for a micro business, to launch or unveil a new brand. Imagine what it must be like for a massive, well-known corporation.
In the case of L’Oreal, I would say they not only demolished their brand, they created serious brand confusion in the process. It may seem petty for me to complain about the rebranding of the StudioLine product, but if I am upset so are many other loyal customers.
Here’s why: I go into my local drugstore to buy my favourite hair product I have been buying for more than eight years. Guess what? I can’t find it. I see other hair styling products from L’Oreal with different labels. When I try and find one that says “dirty clean”, it is nowhere to be found. I ask one of the staff and he tells me that L’Oreal replaced all their products with new ones. He goes to his computer system to see what the new name is for the product I wanted to get. He can’t find it. The only thing I can see that is the same on both packages are the words “matte clay”. Everything else from the name of the product to colour of the label is different. Even the strength of the product has changed, downsized from 4 to 3.
In my option, this is a big mistake because this type of rebranding causes complete confusion and aggravation to its loyal fan base. L’Oreal failed to rebrand effectively and will likely see a huge dip in existing customers. What they neglected to understand while on their mission to get “more” new customers is that the loyal fans who love the brand are the most important. If you lose your loyal fans, then you have to start over. I do not see a win in this strategy.
If you are thinking of rebranding, have you fully thought out your strategy to maintain your current fans before expanding your fan base?
I experienced something similar with Clinique’s Complete Turnaround moisturizing cream. My mother used it and got me and my sister to use it to. We loved it so much, we became loyal Clinique customers. In addition to the moisturiser, we bought foundation and other make-up products from Clinique. Then , a few years ago, the three of us went to our nearest Clinique counter to buy some Complete Turn Around only to find that it had been discontinued! What did the salesperson suggest instead? A new, two-phase product. Instead of one jar, we had to buy two tubes. Moisturising became an overly elaborate two-step process. There was also less product in the two tubes combined than in the jar, and it was more expensive. I do not buy any Clinique products anymore. Nada. They lost two generations of loyal customers.
This is a great illustration of how a company demolished their brand to the point of disaster. Thanks for sharing.