Brand Evolution vs. Brand Repositioning: Reevaluating Your Brand Strategy

So, you’re considering going on the adventure that is updating your brand. Where to start? Updating your brand is a big investment in time and resources. Many companies know they need to adapt but are unsure whether they need to evolve their brand or completely reposition it. Breathe! You aren’t alone.

Before you start updating your brand, it’s crucial to understand just how far you need to go. You may have a gut feeling a brand update is needed, but do you know what aspects and why? That’s where data and market research both come into play to provide clear direction. 

Let’s start with the first step: Are you sticking to much-needed touch-up paint and polish, or are you making waves? Essentially, is this a brand evolution or a brand repositioning? Discover the difference between the two, how to make your decision, and what critical next steps you’ll need to take.  

The Difference Between Brand Evolution & Brand Repositioning

A brand evolution involves updates to your existing brand platform, which will impact brand identity and the look and feel of any associated campaign. A brand repositioning is a complete shift in the market space your brand seeks to own. A brand evolution is appropriate if your brand has gotten stale, which often happens over time, while a brand repositioning is best when you need a major shift in your brand identity and market.

Determining the Best Option for Your Brand

Figuring out which option is right for your brand can’t be done in a vacuum—it requires data. This can take the form of formal market research, business metrics, or even anecdotal feedback from employees and customers. The goal is to understand the nature of your brand’s challenges.

• When Should You Evolve Your Brand?
  The heart of your brand is its promise—that is, what the brand promises to deliver to customers. If the benefit you provide to customers is relevant and desired, and it’s just your language or look that need to be updated, a brand evolution is what you need.

• When Should You Reposition Your Brand?
  Sometimes, though, once you dig into the research and data, you determine you need more. Maybe your core customer segments are aging out and sales are dwindling, your brand promise doesn’t resonate with the growth segments you need to target, or the industry is bogged down with new competitors. Sometimes, it’s all of the above! This is when it’s time for a more considerable change. You’ll need to alter your brand identity or architecture for a better fit and more success in the market.

The key here is to truly understand brand challenges before investing time and money to fix them. A small investment in research to identify pain points and opportunities will empower you to choose the most effective solution.

Evolving vs. Repositioning Your Brand

• What Are the Results of a Brand Evolution?
  A brand evolution will impact your key messages, proof points, and look and feel, but it shouldn’t alter what your brand ultimately stands for and promises to deliver. The result is a brand that’s better aligned with the language your customers use or how your products or services have changed. Small but significant improvements create a better, more appealing brand for your audience.

• What Are the Results of a Brand Repositioning?
  A brand repositioning requires a complete reevaluation of the brand, category, and target audiences to identify white space in the market that you can own to set your company apart from competitors and resonate with customers. This can significantly impact your brand promise and how it’s communicated and delivered, but it also ensures your brand is designed to appeal to a modern customer base.

Choosing the appropriate route depends on your unique challenges, which is why the first step before moving into brand strategy development is always research.

Creating Successful Brands with Campos

Many of our clients come to us knowing they need to update their brand but not knowing how far to go or how to get there. We work closely with them to understand their current business context and goals for rebranding. We then design custom projects that ultimately deliver a research-informed brand strategy based on those goals.

As your strategic partner, it’s our job to get to know your brand and your industry and seek new ways to grow your business by better serving your customers and understanding prospects. Our brand strategy projects are designed to uncover how to align the vision and culture of your organization with target customers’ needs and motivations in a way that’s distinct from the competition. But don’t just take our word for it—here are real-world examples.

• Brand Evolution: HarbisonWalker International (HWI)
  A nearly-billion-dollar manufacturer formed from the merger of several steel and manufacturing companies needed to understand its legacy brands’ value and develop a strategy for moving forward.
  We conducted a series of research engagements to understand the landscape, including stakeholder interviews, customer data analyses, in-depth interviews, and a quantitative telephone survey with customers. Our strategists charted a path forward that built on the legacy brand with the greatest equity rather than investing in a new brand. We then helped select agency partners to ensure the research insights were translated seamlessly into creative execution.

• Brand Repositioning: Pittsburgh Regional Transit
  Pittsburgh’s public transportation provider commissioned Campos to assess its brand and develop a new strategy as the starting point for a major rebranding effort.
  This process involved multiple research methodologies aimed at uncovering pain points and opportunities for the brand, including discovery sessions, secondary research, analyses of transactional rider data, focus groups, and a market survey on brand perceptions and drivers of public transit use. Synthesizing the data and insight, Campos developed a detailed brand strategy, including a recommended positioning statement, values, and desired image for the brand. We then worked hand-in-hand with an agency to translate this into a new logo and other creative assets. 

Whether a brand evolution or a brand repositioning is right for your brand, Campos is here to help you revitalize your brand and develop research-informed brand strategies. Not sure where to start? Contact us today and we’ll figure it out together.