Brand Makeovers: Three Lessons in Reinvention

By Emma Johnson of Entrepreneur.com



Brands are like beauty queens: even the most illustrious need makeovers from time to time.

Big names overhaul their brands to boost sales by getting back in touch with their original identity, or forging a new and improved one. Not so long ago, Target (TGT Quote) competed directly with other discount big-box stores. Today, it has a distinct image, affluent customers and powerful market share.

Apple (AAPL Quote) was once pigeonholed as appealing to only artists and designers -- now the consumers of iTunes, iPods and iBooks crisscross age, income and professional demographics.

Following a fatal E. coli outbreak, fast-food chain Jack in the Box's (JBX Quote) sales slipped faster than a greasy hamburger wrapper down a garbage chute. Since the brand's makeover more than a decade ago, revenue has soared.

Brand makeovers needn't be only in response to dire circumstances. In fact, successful companies of all sizes should revamp their image periodically, says Allen Adamson, managing director of the New York office of Landor Associates and author of BrandDigital: Simple Ways Top Brands Succeed in the Digital World.

"You need a brand makeover when the marketplace tells you so directly: Sales are slowing and market share is shrinking," Adamson says. "But it's often too late to change things when they are really off. You have to catch it just at the tipping point when things are going great, but the increases are diminishing and momentum is giving out."

Entrepreneurs can learn from the big guys who successfully overcame such challenges.

Apple: Broaden Appeal

Apple may get credit for bringing the personal computer to the masses, but for many years, its high prices and hodgepodge of software and operating systems meant the brand was accessible to few outside the design world. A hip clientele, to be sure, but a limited one. Easy-to-use and affordable PCs, meanwhile, were accessible to the masses.

Apple's brand makeover resulted in broadening its potential market share, Adamson says. "Apple got back to its core DNA, which wasn't about a piece of technology or a piece of software. It was about ease and elegance of use. Ease of use became the lens through which they put everything."