Unit:3- Brand Rejuvenation & Repostioning Brand Management-II

C.P.PATEL & F.H.SHAH COMMERCE COLLEGE

(MANAGED BY SARDAR PATEL EDUCATION TRUST)
BCA, BBA (ITM) & PGDCA PROGRAMME
BBA (ITM) SEM -VIII (BRAND MANAGEMENT)
UNIT: 3 - Brand Rejuvenation & Repostioning

Unit-3 Brand Rejuvenation & Repostioning

Sr No. Topics
1. Concept of brand rejuvenation
2. Concept of brand ageing
3 Concept of brand revitalization
4. Need for rejuvenation
5. Difference between rejuvenation and new introduction of brand
6 Factor of success.
7 Concept of brand repositioning
8. Reasons for repositioning
9. Stages of repositioning
Reference Books: Strategic Brand Management by Jean Noel Kapferer, Kogen pages.
Strategic Brand Management by Kevin Kellar,pearson education.

Concept of Brand Rejuvenation

The concept of Brand Rejuvenation is gaining momentum with the increase in the number of
brands failing quickly after launch. Brands do have life cycle which may consist of a number of
phases from inception to launch, growth, maturing, decline, revitalization, and retirement.
Brand Rejuvenation is a process wherein a brand which is on the verge of retirement, is brought
back to life to regain markets.
Revitalizing a once-popular dormant brand can be a highly profitable strategy under the right
circumstances, designed for the correct target audience in the first place. The rejuvenation of
brands can often result in success for a product, which has entered the later stages of its life
cycle. Brand Rejuvenation has a more holistic perspective than repositioning. It creates wider
space in terms of market communication that includes escalated advertising and /or
repositioning.
Brand Rejuvenation or Revitalization is a major overhaul of a brand, starting with its
positioning and proceeding through creative regeneration of the brand identity.
Brands like McDonald's pursue an ideal whereby they simply peel off their old skin and relaunch
themselves as a new brand. McDonald's new look and new menu offering are methods Jagaran,
Lifebouy, Liril, Tata Salt, Thumbs Up, Yamaha and TV Today have all worked hard at trying
trying to rejuvenate their image in the consumers’ minds.

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 Unit:3- Brand Rejuvenation & Repostioning Brand Management-II

Reasons for Brand Rejuvenation

Brands can be understood in four basic stages, without using the life cycle pattern. Brands that
have made money, brands that are making money, brands that will make money and brands that
will be making money. Brand Rejuvenation can be a formula applicable to brands that are in the
first two stages. They need to be brought to level three or four. In simple terms, Brand
Rejuvenation is the effort to bring a brand which could not make money into the money making
bracket, with a new positioning or communication strategy.

• A new competitor may have taken over the category and the company is struggling to
generate revenues from the current product. A new variant has to be launched in order to
regain market share.
• The whole product or service category may be declining, and a brand could be one of many
brands that could use rejuvenation. It makes sense to build the brand while others are lying
low because this is the time when the ambience is clutter free and your message gets across
to the prospect much more clearly
• Rejuvenation may be needed in order to communicate category leadership, as well as
develop an energized new visual identity system and unify the brand's expressions across all
audiences.
• Rejuvenation may just be a need increase market share as the brand image may be
becoming less relevant to people. Customer mindshare definitely translates into market
share.
• It may be time to re-position the product or rejuvenation may be a spike in promotion activity.
• The brand develops a strong association with the offering and the brand association network
gets strengthened with more nodes.
• Perhaps, the brand has lost its unique point of differentiation and thus looking to revitalize the
product or brand with a new image.
• The target market for the brand has aged, and the brand hasn’t managed to renew its
positioning in the minds of the next generation of consumers as was the case with.
• Brand may no longer meet the consumers’ needs or desires, where in the consumer has
shifted to a different platform. Consumers’ needs have shifted from price to value.
• The lack of customer understanding of the product, the lack of customer engagement and the
lack of customer experience, which would require developing a concept that would achieve
high impact and recognition.

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• Rejuvenation may be to modernize the brand identity and making it more accessible.
Lackluster market success prompts the need to revitalize the positioning or package design.
• Existing package design may not have communicated a sense of natural well being which
may have prompted the company to completely revamp the package design system,
including the brand logo.
• Apart from the above reasons, neglecting the brand because of overconfidence that the
brand is established and can sustain on its own, poor consumer relationship management
and lack of appropriate response to increase in competition levels can bring in imperative for
Brand Rejuvenation.
Ageing of Brand

Just like Product life cycle, (PLC) brands have also Brand life cycle.(BLC.) In today’s competitive
world, while many brands continue to lead their markets after many years, others have short life
cycles. A brand can have a rise, and then fall out of favor, to be superceded by a new and
improved brand. A well-managed brand remains young almost indefinitely. The brand must
remain relevant in an ever-changing marketing environment. It must continue to provide
consumer value.
The concept of ageing of brand starts at the declining stage of BLC. Ageing of brand have the
following characteristics:
During this stage, sales growth has started to slow down, and the product has already reached
widespread acceptance in the market, in relative terms. The company will want to prolong this
phase so as to avoid decline, and this desire leads to new innovation and features in order to
continue to compete with the competition which, by now, has become very established,
advanced and fierce. Competitors' products will begin to cut deeply into the company's market
position and market share. Sales will peak and ultimately decline. Demand for the product
ultimately decreases due to competition and market saturation, as well as new technologies and
changes in consumer tastes. Profitability will fall, eventually to the point where it is no longer
profitable to produce, and production will stop. As a number of companies start to dominate the
market, it becomes increasingly difficult for the company in question to maintain its level of
sales. Consumer tastes also change, as do new technologies which may make the product
become ultimately obsolete (as in the case of CDs and DVDs, and now Blu-Ray).
Features of the Brand ageing :
• A decline in sales volume as competition becomes severe, and popularity of the product falls;
• A fall in prices and profitability (the latter ultimately moving in the negative zone);

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• A counter-optimal cost structure;

• Profit increasingly becomes a challenge of production/distribution efficiency rather than
increased sales.
Certain branded products may "die" from obsolescence or changing consumer tastes.., but
brands can be rejuvenated with new products and services.
For: e.g.
The drop in prices and improvements in technology made PCs more attractive to other
consumers. However, the market became saturated after 2000 and went into decline. PCs
started to become obsolete as laptops, net books, tablets, and smart phones started to enter the
market, shifting the emphasis from power to portability. The PC is still used all over the world,
but its popularity has declined dramatically.
Cause of brand ageing
Product Quality: When there is a compromise in product quality for cost-cutting reasons. When
the customers’ experience with the brand does not live up to their expectations, the brand
eventually starts to decline.
Price Increases: If a company continues to raise prices without offering a corresponding
increase in benefits, sooner or later consumers will start to abandon the brand.
Price Cuts: Conversely, when a company cuts prices in desperation to increase sales, it can also
damage the brand.
Brand Neglect: When a brand becomes popular, inaction creeps in. Even successful brands
need constant nurturing. However, management can lose sight of this, start looking at its core
brands as cash cows, and neglect to invest in them (Aaker, 1991).
Inability to Stay with the Target Market: When the target market moves away from
the brand, the brand can move into decline.
Environmental factor: Markets are dynamic in nature and can be significantly influenced by the
larger environment they operate in. They can undergo major transformations, which in turn, have
an impact on the various companies in an industry and their brands. Cigarette brands have
been affected by changes in the (legal) environment. The industry is facing an increasing
number of regulations and strong negative publicity. One brand in particular, RJ Reynold’s
Camel, has been accused of using a cartoon character called Joe Camel, and other
communication tactics, to attract children. This led to lawsuits against the company, and the
subsequent negative publicity severely dented the brand’s image, forced it to scale back its
promotions, and impacted its sales (Haig, 2003).
With well-conceived strategies, a brand can be kept relevant to consumers and last almost
indefinitely. It is important to note that Brand termination is not usually the end of the brand
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cycle; rather, it is only the end of a single entrant within the larger scope of an on-going business
program.

Difference between rejuvenation and new introduction of brand

When companies introduce a new brand in the market, it knows as introduction of new brand.
New introduction of brand mean the creation of the new brand. For example, you have an idea
for a new product or service, and only the brand name still needs to be devised. New
product/brand can be introduced in two way:
• New product/brand development
• Brand extension either through Line extension or category extension from the existing brand
When marketers identifies that the decline stage for a brand has come and the concern brand is
going to die marketer injects new life in brand by adding new product features, packaging or by
changing STP strategies. This activity in whole is called Brand Rejuvenation. example: To Brand
Rejuvenation Herohonda Splendor company launched HeroHonda Splendor NXG
Introducing a rejuvenated brand is distinct from the introduction of a new brand in three
key ways.
• Brand strategists understand that it is easier to put a new idea into the mind of a customer
than it is to change one that is already there. The primary task is to manage the meaning of
your brand as you transition it from its current state to the desired future state.
• Position your rejuvenated brand in the category in which you compete by repositioning the
other brands in that category. This ‘rearrangement’ of the brands will impact both the
customer’s consideration set and their purchasing behavior.
• Leverage the heritage of the brand. Remind customers that you have made and kept your
promise in the past. Ensure them that you have the skills to do so today. If the rejuvenated
brand exists in a family of brands, its new strong and favorable associations can enhance the
equity of the other brands in that family.
Points New brand introduction Brand Rejuvenation
Meaning Introduction of new product or Process reintroducing existing brand
service with new brand name. by adding new features or value.
PLC Introduction stage if PLC Declining stage of PCL
Parent No benefits of parent brands image Benefits of parents brand image and
brand and value value
Cost Introducing a brand is costly Rejuvenation is less costly.

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process, require huge marketing

cost.
Time It is a time consuming and lengthy It is less time consuming process
process
Risky New brand is more risky as there is Rejuvenation is less risky. There is
more chances of brand failure. more chances of brand success.
Approach New future approach Looking back approach
methods Brand extention and new brand Repositioning and revitalizing or
deveplnemt rebuilding .

The concept of revitalization

Reviving a brand is not just feasible; it may very well be a more attractive strategy than
launching a new brand. As Aaker (1991) pointed out, “the revitalization of a brand is usually less
costly and risky than introducing a new brand, which can cost tens of millions and will more likely
fail than succeed” (p. 242). Sometimes dying or dead brands may still have significant brand
equity in terms of high brand awareness and a strong brand image. It was this thinking that
motivated Ford’s to revive the Taurus brand; and the brand’s equity was the driving force in this
decision. Ford realized that instead of trying to use another brand name that meant little to the
market, it would be better off using the Taurus brand name that had 90% name recognition and
a positive image (Kiley, 2007). Thus, shortly after its death, the Taurus is reborn.
Why would you need a brand revitalization?
• Adjust to changes in the marketplace in order to remain competitive and relevant
• Clarify your leadership position and business direction
• Respond to new or increasing competitive threats
• Unify separate company cultures after a merger or acquisition
• Solidify the relationship of the parent brand to its subsidiaries
• Refresh your brand to keep in step with the current cultural tastes and trends
• Respond to a name change

Factor of success for brand revitalization

Our basic premise is that a brand may be worth reviving if there is significant residual value in
one or more of the components of brand equity. Therefore, the first step in assessing if the brand

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is worth reviving is to examine all three elements of brand equity—knowledge (awareness and
image), differentiation, and customer response—to pinpoint where help is needed.
three critical questions need to be answered when deciding to revitalize a brand:
• Can the brand regain some of its former glory (brand knowledge)?
• Can its old equity be enhanced through new positioning that is relevant and will stand out
(differentiation)?
• Can the company effectively deal with logistical issues (put plans in place that will get an
appropriate customer response)?”
A brand audit can help answer these questions. However, it is equally important to determine the
amount of realistic investment that is needed to truly revive the brand (and, where appropriate,
compare that to the cost of replacing the brand with a new one). As such, this is both a
marketing and financial exercise; and it needs to be thorough.
While we feel that most brands can be revived, some brands may just not be worth the effort.
This is particularly true for brands that suffer from lack of relevant differentiation, low awareness,
and a negative image. In such a case, it may be better to kill the brand, than to invest in it.
However, most brands that were strong at one point of time tend not to fall in this unfortunate
position, and can be salvaged. It is interesting to note that many of the brands that have been
successfully revitalized were medium to high-priced, with relatively high profit margins, and had
a limited number of shelf keeping units (Wansink, 1997); in other words, brands that
commanded a premium in the recent past, and had a singular focus with a well defined
differentiation.
2. Take a Long Term Perspective
Branding is a long term exercise. Most brands take a long time to build, and a long time to die.
Reviving a brand is also a long term exercise, typically lasting more than a year or two. This is a
challenge in a corporate system that rewards managers on short term performance, often
measured on a quarterly or annual basis. However, a long term perspective is imperative, even if
that means taking losses in the interim. This long term vision then has to be followed by a well
thought-out strategy and its execution. The brand revitalization process can be kick-started by
addressing the causes of the decline, understanding the brand’s promise (and why it may have
failed to maintain its relevance), adjusting it if necessary, and educating the market about it.
Marketing research should be an integral part of this exercise to assess and track brand
awareness and brand image, as suggested earlier.
3. Carefully Differentiate and Reposition the Brand, and Educate the Market

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A brand’s promise plays a major role in differentiating the brand from the competitors. If a brand
is not viewed as different from others in the market, then its future growth is likely to be in
question. However, it is encouraging to know that strong brand differentiation can be re-
established with a focus on the right positioning, and then emphasizing that consistently in its
communication.
4. Correct the Mismanagement of the Brand
As discussed earlier, managerial actions are probably the most common cause of brand decline
and this manifests itself in a variety of ways. Following are ways to address some consistent
themes that have emerged in declining brands.
a. Rebuild Quality: In the short run, compromises on quality may go unnoticed, and customers
may stick to the brand out of fondness or loyalty. However, poor quality rarely goes
unnoticed, and at some point customers start to abandon the brand. If poor quality is a
problem, it needs to be fixed. The management will have to determine if it is a worthwhile
exercise. However, once the decision is made to revive the brand, expensive as it may be,
quality issues have to be addressed.
b. Resist the Temptation to “Milk” the Brand: Once again, if a brand is to be revived, the
management has to invest in the brand. Consider Apple which, by the turn of the century,
had a positive image, but was losing top-of-mind awareness after its struggles in the PC
market. The company made significant investments in the MP3 technology and launched the
iPod. The sleek design and features of the iPod struck a chord with younger Americans and
the Apple brand name came to the forefront once more.
c. Have a Carefully Defined Target Market: This is particularly challenging. Target markets
can mature or shrink over time. When that happens, managers have a very difficult choice.
Moving with the target market that is shrinking is not appealing, nor is switching to another
target market, because of the risk of alienating the core customer base.
In this way we can conclude that Many brands in today’s market have been referred to as
“ghost brands” because they were once strong, but are now almost non-existent (Wansink,
1997). Given the high costs of launching new brands, companies are increasingly looking to
revitalize dying or dead brands in their portfolio. History shows that this is possible.
Numerous brands includingHarley-Davidson, Ovaltine, Puma, and Cadillac have
demonstrated that brand death can be prevented.
Managers need to constantly watch for signs of brand decline, in the form of problems with
brand knowledge, brand differentiation, and customer response. Using a brand equity
framework, we suggest that most brands with high levels of awareness or positive brand

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image are candidates for revival; and we have provided guidelines that should be helpful for
managers in evaluating and revitalizing their invaluable brands.

Brand Repositioning

According to Kotler (1996) there are three positioning alternatives to be considered: either to
strengthen brands present position, to search new still unexploited position or as a third
alternative to reposition. when company is repositioning then it wants customers to see their
brand with other eyes, in other words company wish to change the image of the brand but as
mentioned before, image cannot be changed, the only thing firm can actually change is its
identity. Brand repositioning is an attempt to change consumer perceptions of a particular brand.
It is changing appeal of a brand in order to attract new market segments. It may or may not
involve modification of the product.

It is difficult for a brand to sustain a long time as the market and technology is moving ahead like
anything. It is becoming a task for the organizations to rethink on their branding strategies. But
what does really happen if a brand gets failure, Do It needs to stop or is there anything that can
make it survive? Yes, if something is going wrong in the branding then for sure you can really
think on "Brand Repositioning".
Brand Repositioning helps the company to reposition its brand image in the mind-set of the
consumer with a different identity. Companies go ahead with brand repositioning for various
reasons a few of it may be Changing consumer needs, Competition and decline in sales
numbers, quality, pricing, approach and etc. Let's go ahead with few examples, when Dettol
launched its soap in the market it was positioned as beauty soap but whereas it has positioned
itself as an anti-septic solution in the market earlier in consumers mind set. Hence it was bit
difficult for a consumer to accept as beauty soap and for a company to penetrate in the market
of beauty soap segment. Then Dettol repositioned itself as antiseptic soap to penetrate the
market .The consumers accepted well.

Reasons to Reposition a Brand

Brand repositioning is necessary when one or more of the following conditions exist:
(1) In order to increase relevance of brand to the customer.
(2) In order to increase the occasions for the usage of brand.
(3) To search for a viable position for the brand.

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(4) For making the brand serious.

(5) To prevent the fall of sales.
(6) To bring in new customers.
(7) In order to make brand contemporary.
(8) To differentiate the brand from other brands.
(9) To fit with the changing conditions of market

Stages of Repositioning

The implication with the term “repositioning” is that a company modifies something that is
already present in the market and in the customer’s mind .the definition of repositioning changes
different individual and profession. To view the different definition and perceive a greater
understanding about this concept, three example of repositioning given by individual in different
profession is stated below.

1.4 Figure 1: Stages in brand strategy development

The implication with the term” repositioning” is that a company modifies something that is
already present in the market and in the consumer’s mind.
“Repositioning is built upon the change unique and differentiated associations with the brand in
some kind of direction, it is about having a balance between the category party and
differentiation when using reposition strategies”
Figure 1: The principle of repositioning
New Position, Price, Previous Position, Experienced quality when striving towards a new
position in the market, it is important to understand that consumer’s minds are limited. People’s
minds select what to remember and it is therefore significant to convince the consumers with

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great arguments. The market demand changes rapidly and therefore reposition can be
necessary to meet these demands, newer and stronger arguments have to be established to
convince them to stay as loyal customers.
As repositioning is a very complicated matter and therefore there are no detailed theories or
models. The aim with repositioning differ from person to person, and the only connection
between all the different theories is that repositioning is moving something from somewhere
towards a greater position at the market.
Three types of repositioning strategies:
(1) zero repositioning, which is not a repositioning at all since the firm maintains its initial
strategy in the face of a changing environment;
(2) Gradual repositioning, where the firm performs incremental, continuous adjustments to its
positioning strategy to reflect the evolution of its environment;
(3) Radical repositioning that corresponds to a discontinuous shift towards a new target market
and/or a new competitive advantage.
Phase I. Determining the Current Status of the Brand
The purpose of this phase is to understand the company and brand, including exploring key
issues, opportunities, and challenges. The reason is to obtain a clear snapshot of the company
and brand in present terms, which will offer a clear insight to opportunity identification and
assessment.
Phase II. What Does the Brand Stand for Today?
We now need to understand how consumers feel about your company and brand today. In
consumer packaged goods (CPG), this might mean talking to kids and moms, as well as other
user groups, to determine what your company and brand stand for.
Phase III. Developing the Brand Positioning Platforms
The purpose of Phase III is to utilize all marketing research, brand, industry, and consumer
information to reposition what your brand should and can stand for. The key reasoning is that
determining effective and successful brand repositioning will help retain existing customers and
acquire new ones. As we look to begin brand repositioning, we need to keep in mind that it
needs to capture "How we want consumers to think and feel about your brand."
Phase IV. Refining the Brand Positioning and Management Presentation
Now we have a great start, a new thinking, and (most important) the beginnings of the new
brand positioning for your company, business, and brand. The purpose now is to review and
refine the new brand positioning and communicate to all function departments in order to align
efforts.

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As part of this final and very important phase in brand repositioning, we need to refine the
positioning. This includes finalizing the brand by incorporating all feedback from consumers,
customers, vendors and agencies, as well as the brand group, to ensure achievable positioning
vs. aspirational positioning.

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Disclaimer: The study material is compiled by Ashok Gaur. The basic objective of this
material is to supplement teaching and discussion in the classroom in the subject.
Students are required to go for extra reading in the subject through Library books
recommended by Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar.

QUESTION BANK
(Use Ready Made QB provided by Department/ University (For Semester Programs)
Use probable questions (For Yearly Programs, Also refer latest question papers from library))

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