Rebranding can make or break a brand. Here’s why you shouldn’t take it lightly! [Tuesday: Return Driven Strategy]
Miles Everson’s The Business Builder Daily speaks to the heart of what great marketers, business leaders, and other professionals need to succeed in advertising, communications, managing their investments, career strategy, and more.
A Note from Miles Everson:
Welcome to today’s “Return Driven Strategy!”
Every Tuesday, we bring you case studies, strategic insights, and actionable advice based on the tenets of Return Driven Strategy (RDS). By doing this, we aim to help you achieve true wealth and value creation.
For today’s case study, we will take a look at RDS’ sixth tenet: Brand offerings.
There’s more to branding than meets the eye. If you want to know why, continue reading below.
Miles Everson
CEO, MBO Partners
Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute
Return Driven Strategy
Branding allows customers to actively recall a business and its offerings.
Sometimes, though, branding, or in some cases, rebranding can lead to unexpected consequences.
Just take a look at the case of Twitter‘s recent rebranding to X, where questions have been raised about the outcomes of such a move.
In this article, we will explore the motivations behind Twitter’s rebranding, the lessons this move offers, and the challenges the company faces in retaining its brand value and customer base.
The Challenges of Rebranding
Rebranding involves changing the way a brand is perceived and recognized by the public.
While the process can breathe new life into a business and keep it relevant, it’s not a guaranteed success. Sometimes, rebranding can do more harm than good to a company’s image.
A recent example of this is Twitter’s rebranding to X.
Photo from Unsplash
Elon Musk’s decision to rename Twitter to X has drawn widespread attention from pundits and industry observers due to the massive drop in the social media giant’s brand value following its rebranding.
According to estimates, the drop in X’s brand value ranges from USD 4 billion to USD 20 billion.
In case you didn’t know, brand value is the estimated financial value of a company. The more recognizable a firm is, the higher its valuation.
Steve Susi, director of brand communication at Siegel & Gale, explained that “it took 15-plus years to earn that much equity worldwide, so losing Twitter as a brand name is a significant financial hit.”
The loss in brand value is concerning since Musk acquired the company for a whopping USD 44 billion in 2022.
That’s not all.
Following Twitter’s change in ownership, a spring 2023 survey by Pew Research Center revealed that 60% of U.S. adults who had used the social media app in the past year took a break from the platform after Musk’s acquisition.
In the same survey, it was also found that a quarter of current X users said they were unlikely to remain on the social media platform by 2024.
With decreasing user engagement, there is an urgent need for X to build stronger connections with its user base.
The truth is, rebranding involves more than just changing a name. If done abruptly, the process can burn “psychological bridges”—familiar brand elements that the customer base identifies with.
With the removal of the Twitter bird logo and well-known terms like “tweet” and “retweet” from the app, long-time users felt alienated and left the social media platform.
X has also faced criticism for issues such as payment for account verification and perceived double standards in banning users.
Unfavorable feedback about a firm’s offering can negatively impact rebranding efforts.
Don’t burn your “psychological bridges”
According to Professor Joel Litman and Dr. Mark L. Frigo in the book, “Driven,” a company must brand the need and the offerings, not itself.
Furthermore, they said that branding for branding’s sake can be an incredible waste of resources if other areas of the business aren’t taken into account.
The true value of branding lies in the time saved by customers who can quickly understand the offering and the need it fulfills by simply recognizing the brand.
In the case of X, the problem with its rebranding efforts lies in the fact that the move directly led to a massive loss in brand value and a decrease in users. Due to this, the ability of the firm to retain customers and advertising partners was put in question.
Being a great business isn’t just about having a memorable brand since ensuring that customers stay loyal and are satisfied with a firm’s offerings matter equally as well.
While the long-term effects of X’s brand change has yet to be discovered, its short-term results show that rebranding, when done hastily, can damage a company’s customer loyalty and profitability.
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Rebranding can give a firm a much-needed boost in sales and improve its public image. However, when done poorly, just like in the case of X, this process can set a company back financially.
Thus, rebranding efforts should be well-researched and planned with customers’ needs and the firm’s offerings always in mind.
We hope you enjoyed today’s “Return Driven Strategy!”
If you’re looking to gain a better understanding of Return Driven Strategy, we highly recommend checking out “Driven” by Professor Litman and Dr. Frigo.
Click here to get your copy and learn how this framework can help you in your business strategies and ultimately, in ethically maximizing wealth for your firm.
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In line with MBO Partners’ continuous dedication to supporting you and your business, we want to notify you about an opportunity to access potential tax credits of up to USD 32,200.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provides specific provisions for self-employed individuals, known as the Self Employed Tax Credit (SETC), for which nearly everyone with Schedule C income qualifies. This acknowledges the unique challenges faced by those who work independently especially during times of illness, caregiving responsibilities, quarantine, and other circumstances.
There are two criteria you must meet to qualify for receiving the tax credit of up to USD 32,200. Click here to see how you can obtain the SETC to know more about this.
Act NOW! This credit will expire on April 15, 2024, so we encourage you to submit early to see if your business qualifies. Also, if you know others who may qualify for the SETC, you may share these details with them.
(This article is from The Business Builder Daily, a newsletter by The I Institute in collaboration with MBO Partners.)
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Tuesdays: Return Driven Strategy”
In the book, “Driven,” authors Professor Joel Litman and Dr. Mark L. Frigo said that the goal of every long-term successful business strategy should incorporate the combined necessity of “making the world a better place” and “getting wealthy.”
That is why they created Return Driven Strategy and Career Driven Strategy―frameworks that were built to help leaders and professionals plan and evaluate businesses so they can also help others achieve their organizational goals and career goals.
The frameworks describe the plans and actions that drive returns for anyone in an organization such as independent contractors, marketers, brand managers, communicators, and other people in any field. These actions lead to the creation of wealth and value for customers, employees, shareholders, and the society.
Every Tuesday, we’ll highlight case studies, business strategies, tips, and insights related to Return Driven Strategy and Career Driven Strategy.
In planning, building, or managing brands and businesses, these strategies, case studies, and guidelines will help you choose what specific actions to take and when to take them.
Hope you found this week’s insights interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Tuesday’s “Return Driven Strategy!”
Cheers,
Kyle Yu
Head of Marketing
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
Powered by Valens Research
www.valens-research.com
