Think Twice Before Updating Your Brand

Brands are constantly changing in order to “stay fresh”, but that’s a mistake. Customers stay loyal through habit, not because you've forced something new and unfamiliar on them. Roger Martin, former dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and one of the world’s leading thinkers on strategy, says brands shouldn’t be so quick to throw away their cumulative advantage.

00:00 Customer loyalty–their consciously choosing your brand–is only half the story.
01:00 What is cumulative advantage, and why is it important?
02:14 Just how fragile is this cumulative advantage?
02:45 Example: Tide laundry detergent forfeits its cumulative advantage.
04:54 Instagram redesigns a familiar icon. Why?
06:03 So, should brands never do anything new?

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[stefanielle]

It's a perspective piece on why brands shouldn't rebrand/update branding simply because it's the "big thing" to do and he is absolutely correct. It's not a piece on why rebranding doesn't work or that companies shouldn't rebrand. Some of these comments mentioning "XYZ updated their logo and they didnt fail" yeah because updated branding 'does' have its place.

[ranushkalakmal]

Very interesting. However, is it possible that this is only applicable to certain types of products? A product like detergent is something people do not want to experiment with (often time) or even looking forward to have disrupting changes when they are completely comfortable with current level of performance.
On the contrary a technological product that do not evolve/update often (both features and design) can easily get replaced by a new and hot app released over the weekend. Physical design of iPhone has remained very similar to the first release, however iOS has changed dramatically over the years. Though it may seem subtle, Apple has even changed their brand identity over time including the logo, fonts and colours. Therefore is it possible that this is only applicable to products that customer do not expect drastic changes? Products that customers are comfortable with current level of performance?

[somosagricultura]

It's amazing to understand how our minds work. I work on marketing and this is pure gold for me. Thanks for sharing.

[kuanjuliu]

Well, that certainly would explain conservative vs progressive political strategies. One of them, by construction, is always climbing uphill: it’s not incompetence — it’s the subconscious!

[tonychang]

Very useful brief .Do you think there are differences in product categories or market segments that should be considered when applying the Dean's thinking on rebranding?.

[allthingstoallmen]

Really interesting, I'd like to understand how habit relates with/to consumer hype. Because we see people going crazy over the latest and greatest *insert brand and gadget here*. There has to be more than just habit at play.

[sinoptik]

Thats explain why iphone SE still exist

[etnevel.naitzsirk]

This was an interesting video until I realised, this is not about re-branding being bad, it's about him not being able to catch up with change. 

The TIDE analogy was fine, but Instagram was in the position where they either die sticking to skeuomorphism, or switch to flat design and adapt to new mobile and desktop UIs. And to be honest, their new logo is good enough to stick out of the "crowd" of many apps on our phones. Which is more important than one person hating their favourite sports app's changes. 

It's obvious that the tech world adapts to newer generations, it's not about the people who want the same thing 10-15 years later, too. So he might praise iPhones being consistent, but others pull out their hair because of how they still have to rely on ancient Lightning cables. Being constant is not always an advantage. Incremental changes for years becomes boring very quickly and it means being behind while the world goes past the companies that don't want to stay relevant. Apple's advantage currently is iMessage, their new in-house hardware and that's it. I have Apple products, but that doesn't mean that I agree with all of their decisions.

New vs Improved? Improved is for Apple's disadvantage since their 2020 product line. They raised the bar so much then that they can't show anything much more impressive, but people expect exactly that. Consumers want newer and newer revolutionary products because of that year's product line. Staying fresh is hard, but on the contrary of the video, big tech HAS TO stay fresh.

[beatricet]

The original Instagram button icon was over-designed and too literal. That's why it needed updating. Also the new Instagram icon design reflects a suite of tools including Boomerang, Layout, and Hyperlapse. It's clear why the IG logo rebranded.

[yashasvitiwari]

Thank you, your vedio has helped me in getting an answers to my questions which I had faced and I experienced and now all is clearly understandable.

[soyunkim]

Hi Prof.Roger, Thank you for sharing your insight from experience and research. I don't know who were customers. I thought it would be great to see the detergent for dark blue color with a specialized scent related to shave form. The data might be different for independent adventurous millennials in USA.

[abirahmed]

I guess this only works for physical product. After updating Instagram logo it didn't fail.

[olegsmertin-learnmanage]

Great video. THANK YOU! Please, do more the same videos to advertise your other great ideas.

[sommerxu]

but how can I solve the growth problem?

[vcgallemit]

This is the same with Derek Thompson’s MAYA

[danchelltaylor]

Love your straight forward style! Lol😁

[simonmayer]

well - I guess one has to say that the "refresh" of a brand very much depends on the "how". An attentive designer changes a brands personality only with very much attention to what the old strengths were and how to enforce them. Designers who solely focus on styling accidentally destroy the habit of the customer :)