What's up brand buildersStephen Houraghan here at BrandMasterAcademy.com and in this video
you're going to learn what brand repositioning is with top strategy examples so you can understand
the opportunities behind this strategy to realign and refocus with a fresh perspective
now if you're new to the channel and you want to build brands that go beyond the visuals using
strategy psychology and creative thinking then you're in the right place hit that subscribe
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pro brand strategy blueprint it's free download and the link is in the description now brands are
built with the purpose of making businesses more memorable and appealing to a given audience now
they achieve this by clarifying the unique point of difference and then communicating
that difference through an offer and a message that resonates with that audience and that is
brand positioning 101 but what if a brand doesn't achieve that what if it doesn't resonate with its
audience or what if the conditions change and you know suddenly the market throws up an opportunity
that didn't previously exist well in this video you're going to learn what brand repositioning is
why it's so important and how brand managers can use it to refocus their brand what exactly is
repositioning well it's the process that a brand goes through to adjust or overhaul its perception
in the market to better appeal to its target audience now there are many reasons that a brand's
leadership team might decide on a strategic change which we'll dive into in a little bit later on but
ultimately the goal is the same the purpose of the repositioning is quite simply to reposition
the brand in the mind of the audience so they see the brand and its offering as a more viable option
or to put it another way to refocus the brand and change how the market perceives it so why is
repositioning an important option well the fact of the matter is markets aren't static they're
changing all the time and if brands aren't able to find first and foremost a profitable seat at the
table or they're unable to adapt to change when it comes about then the strategy needs consideration
so repositioning is such an important strategy for many brands because there are no guarantees when
it comes to strategy there are no guarantees for success and changes in the market they happen all
the time they're pretty much inevitable failure to adapt one way or another will ultimately result
in failure or at least failure to take advantage but when it comes to repositioning it's not about
risks or opportunity there are both risks and opportunity when it comes to defining a
repositioning strategy or at least deciding to go down that road so let's take a look at what
some of the advantages and disadvantages are of the repositioning strategy now look the cost of
repositioning can vary dramatically depending on the branding agency or the service provider
being used but there are many advantages to brand repositioning if the strategy is warranted in the
first place advantage number one is refocus the target audience now the repositioning process much
like the positioning process requires an in-depth analysis of the target audience so by identifying
the segments that make up the market then zeroing in on the target segments of choice the leadership
team can then drill down into the detail of the audience including you know their goals
their challenges their fears and their desires now this level of laser focused targeting enhances the
brand's ability to connect with their audience's needs number two enhanced competitive advantage
now a positioning strategy that considers more up-to-date market conditions and a better
understanding of the competitive landscape should by virtue of its purpose provide more enhanced
competitive advantage now whether the advantage highlights the outcome the benefits the meaning
or the big idea the way the advantage is delivered through the brand's messaging should strengthen
the brand's perceived edge advantage number three a fresh perception now a brand repositioning
exercise might have little or nothing at all to do with the product or service offering
now in this case the repositioning strategy is built around a better way to convey the value
of the brand and its products to the audience but many of the world's most successful brands
have completely reinvigorated the trajectory of the brand just by making those tweaks just by
creating a fresh perception in the market about what that brand means now although there are many
advantages behind repositioning or choosing to go down the repositioning road it doesn't mean that
it's the best approach for every brand considering that option in fact there are some disadvantages
of repositioning that you really should be aware of if you're considering going down
that road disadvantage number one repositioning can be expensive now brand's position in the
market is shaped by the brand's perception which ultimately stems from the brand experience now
throughout a given brand there might be upwards of 100 touch points which can include the website
social media channels physical stores printed collateral packaging traditional ads digital
ads vehicle fleets and distribution channels now the cost of work by the agency and then changing
all of these is costly in and of itself but there are also more costs which i'll get into
in a little bit disadvantage number two alienating existing customers now many rebrands happen as a
result of expansion into bigger markets and more often than not this requires the brand to adopt
a more inclusive language and communication which could well be an important factor in their success
in the first place with their core audience now adjusting the brand's positioning strategy
too much can leave that group of people that group of loyal customers feeling
alienated or abandoned if the brand really changes the position with less specificity
to that core audience and speaks to them with less specificity is less relevant to who that audience
is and disadvantage number three is risking brand equity now brands that go through a repositioning
strategy they put the existing brand equity at risk if they've built that up over time so if a
brand has been around for many years and they've built up a reputation in the market the value of
that reputation and their customers willingness to purchase the brand over the competition based
on that reputation that is a valuable asset so repositioning could dent that reputation in their
customers mind and their customers willingness to purchase that brand which ultimately destroys
that valuable equity now repositioning success stories are a big motivator to pull the trigger to
change or enhance the fortunes of the brand now this could be to reclaim lost market share or to
expand into bigger markets so let's take a look at some of the most successful repositioning examples
example number one taco bell now taco bell is a mexican fast food restaurant
that carried the cheap perception and reputation for quite a while which was hampering its growth
now with increased competition in the market and healthier options such as chipotles stealing their
market share taco bell needed a new approach so it's repositioning took on a fresh young approach
and instead of competing on nutritional value of their food which the likes of chipotle was doing
they gave their customers more freedom they gave them the lifestyle choice that worked for them
so their live mass tagline which is live more in english points to the idea that living more
means not always having to be on your best behavior and giving yourself the freedom to
live life on your own terms now along with the refresh of their messaging and their identity
their introduction of higher end canteen and venues really revamped the interior designs and
helped them to shake that cheap perception to give their customers a more modern lifestyle choice
example number two is old spice now i created an entire article and video of the old spice rebrand
where i go into a lot more detail about the brand heritage and the repositioning strategy now if
you haven't seen that yet i'll leave a link in the description below you can check that out
but after decades of allowing their aging brand their old man's brand to become stale and outdated
png who was the parent brand they knew something was up they knew the writing was on the wall and
they needed to change their approach so they ditched their outdated slippers and cardigan
approach and they stripped down and they built up and they mounted a white horse and smashed
that old man brand's perception with bags of personality and humor their manual man can smell
like campaign was a youtube sensation and that helped to catapult the brand and really changed
the trajectory of this struggling brand to make it the number one men's body wash brand in the world
inside 12 months now what i love about this repositioning is that there was no change in the
product here there's no change to the product formula it was the same products it was just
a change in their positioning in terms of how they approach their audience in terms of who they
approach and the way they approach them and they just load it up with a truck full of character
and laugh out loud humor to connect an example number three is mailchimp now in contrast to
the two previous examples mailchimp wasn't a struggling brand reacting to per performance
mailchimp was a very healthy brand and they had built a solid reputation as a small business
email provider with a loyal fan base now their brand identity was outdated at the time of the
repositioning but that wasn't the reason for their repositioning they probably would have gotten away
with that brand identity for many more years because the brand personality was so quirky but
the reason the repositioning strategy came about was because mailchimp saw an opportunity in the
market to expand and to become more of a marketing solutions platform than just an email platform so
they left that email only reputation at the door that had catapulted them to success by that stage
the repositioning strategy included a bold brand identity revamp and along with a subtle shift
in their messaging it really positioned mailchimp to enable them to guide small business owners and
their small business audience with their evolving market needs as they grew over time now when it
comes to repositioning there are many potential advantages to the strategy if the brand strategy
is warranted in the first place it does provide a brand with an opportunity to take stock of
where they are and if it needs to reinvigorate or refocus the brand to reconnect with that audience
now whether you're approaching a new market or giving an existing market a new perspective it's
always important to keep a close eye on what your customers are looking for now if the brand
has already managed to stake a claim in a valuable place in the audience's mind then the brand is set
but if not it might be time to identify and then go after a valuable place in that mind now when
it comes to positioning or repositioning your brand one of the first ports of call is raising
brand awareness if you want to understand what brand awareness is and how to raise it then this
video will help you out until next time brand like a master and I'll see you in the next video
you