Last week, PR News explored the nuanced challenges of reinvigorating a personal brand after a professional transition (PRN 06-09-08, "Comeback Kids: Refreshing Your
Personal Brand in the Wake of Change"). This week, we're taking this theme and applying it to consumer brands that, after a period of languishing in the marketplace, are
undergoing a hopeful revival.
With that rebranding theme in mind, think back to these products that might be archived in your memory: Tab, Brim, Clairol's Herbal Essence Shampoo, Q.T., Hydrox cookies.
Remember them? If so, you have a good memory; if not, it's likely because their shelf-life is about to expire--that is, if it hasn't already.
Technically, Clairol's Herbal Essence Shampoo and Tab are still on the market--but barely. And Q.T. (or Quick Tanning), Coppertone's indoor tanning lotion that allegedly turned
people's skin orange after application, has been long relegated to a heap with other misbegotten brands. Meanwhile, dead brands like Brim coffee or Hydrox cookies, the Oreos
rival, are currently in the process of being resuscitated by marketers because of continued consumer awareness.
But are they, along with dying or dead brands in general, really worth reviving? And, more important, can they regain their relevance? It's one thing to have Baby Boomers
waxing nostalgic about Hydrox cookies, for instance, but will Gen Yers ever care? It's a tough question for marketers, who must continue to make brands (even healthy ones)
relevant and interesting to audiences like Gen Y, especially amid the clutter caused by digital communications channels.
"What seems to be happening a lot is that Baby Boomer brands--products [this generation] grew up with [as in the case of Hydrox]--now are becoming important again," says
William Arruda, brand consultant and president of Reach.
He makes this comment in the context of the branding challenges presented by audiences that are composed of many generations, as well as in reference to the aforementioned
Hydrox cookies. The Kellogg's brand, which were discontinued in 2003 after nearly a century on store shelves, is returning as a result of an active consumer campaign that included
thousands of phone inquiries, an online petition and Internet chat sites lamenting the snack's demise. Whether or not it will be a successful revival still remains to be seen, but
it is a testament to the powers of both marketing and consumer evangelism.
Arruda personally feels that dying or dead brands can be successfully revived, but only if marketers follow these best practices:
1. The brand needs to evolve into something it wasn't in its original incarnation. If a brand faltered, there is most likely a reason; therefore, resuscitating it down the road
without any alterations is like asking history to repeat itself. Instead, acknowledge the brand's history, but emphasize improvements. For example, if Tab (the first diet soft
drink produced by the Coca-Cola Co.) were to be reenergized, marketers could advertise that it now contains Slenda, which has natural and nutritional ingredients instead of
saccharine, the artificial sweetener that, according to various studies, may be carcinogenic.
2. The brand should go back to its roots if, over time, it became something it wasn't originally. Conversely, sometimes a once-strong brand changes too drastically, losing
touch with what made it successful in the first place. Arruda cites Starbucks as a company that recently strayed from its roots when it began offering products that weren't
organic to the brand's identity. After business began to drop, execs took a number of actions to reinvigorate the coffee chain's identity, including launching a limited Pike Place
blend to commemorate the first-ever store in Seattle.
In addition to these tips, Roberto Ramos, chief marketing officer of Vox Collective, says there needs to be a feeling that the brand, along with the "inherent values and
properties that it has lost along the way," is worth saving.
Marketers interested in reviving brands need to speak to their target market to assess and gauge the level of consumer interest and awareness. Ask consumers what is it about
the brand that appeals to them. Are they trying to capture the essence of the brand during its heyday?
"To revive [a product] just for the sake of it won't be successful," Arruda says. Upfront research should always be done.
Once it's decided to resuscitate an ailing or long-dead brand, marketers should employ these steps:
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Leverage the power of the Internet. "The thing that will make it easier or more exciting is that a lot of brands now have community sites on the Web," says Arruda.
"This adds a whole new dimension to [reviving a brand], especially from a PR viewpoint." Social media users who are strong advocates of a particular brand (i.e., Hydrox) on a site
can act as brand ambassadors and play a vital role in getting people energized and excited about it again.
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Make the old brand relevant by aligning it with a contemporary brand. In the 1980s, the AT&T brand--which many Boomers and Gen Xers grew up with--was linked to
monopolies, a negative association. In the last year or so, the brand was revitalized after being partnered with Apple's iPhone.
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Look at existing trends, such as going green. "Consumers are demanding more integrity from brands they support," Ramos says. "Also, how does the brand address some of the
contradictions of today? People are busier than ever today, but they want to spend more time with family. How does your brand reconcile this?"
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Lend an air of innovation to the brand. Social media and user-generated content are great ways of making the brand come alive and interact with consumers.
When asked in a recent New York Times article, "Can a Dead Brand Live Again?" (May 18), to explain his reasons for resuscitating Brim and other languishing or dead
brands (i.e., Eagle Snacks, Salon Selectives, Nuprin, etc.) Paul Earle, the owner of Chicago marketing firm River West Brands, said that they are part of Americana and are
remembered fondly by consumers who grew up with them. Brim, the erstwhile General Foods brand, filled oodles of Styrofoam cups from 1961 to 1995, when its parent company got sold
to a conglomerate now known as Altria. As evidenced by Earle's comment, as well as the consumer campaign to revive Hydrox, nostalgia figures strongly in successful relaunches.
But when should brands not be revived? When there's a complete lack of credibility, for starters, such as what happened with Enron, the bankrupt Texas energy company that
became enshrouded in corporate fraud and corruption. In that instance, there is no going back.
Then there are the brands that were stillborn to begin with, yet linger in the public consciousness. These, too, are bad bets for revival. "New Coke versus Classic Coke is an
example of this," says Ramos. The New Coke debacle represented marketers "not having a grasp of why people wanted their Classic Coke so firmly."
Ultimately, when reviving a brand, it's important to boil it down to the basics: What is the value of reviving the brand, and when should this happen and why? If marketers
don't pose--and answer--these questions in a sensible fashion, then they risk launching an ill-thought-out scheme or, worse--an embarrassing fiasco. PRN
CONTACTS:
William Arruda, [email protected], Roberto Ramos, [email protected]