When should a company rebrand?

Over the past few years, we have seen brands like Dunkin’ Donuts become Dunkin’, Jamba Juice become Jamba and IHOP’s infamous temporary name change to IHOB (we all remember the social media uproar). These name changes pose the question of “When or why a company should rebrand?”

Often times we see a brand wanting to rebrand itself after a tarnished reputation. We have seen this recently with Uber, who rebranded and adopted a new logo, after several sexual harassment and unethical business practice scandals.
But all rebrands do not stem from a negative situation. In the case of Dunkin’ and IHOP we see two brands wanting to rebrand themselves to be more inclusive of all menu offerings, and Jamba is evolving to keep up with the ever-changing trends in the food industry as consumers move towards a healthier lifestyle.

For whatever reason a brand decides to rebrand, it should be coming from a genuine place of change and not just for revenue-driven publicity. A proper rebrand will be backed by a strategic plan that details and supports the execution of the brand’s new identity.
When a rebrand is done correctly it can be a great way to reinvent the company like we have seen from Dunkin’ and Jamba.

Check out our previous blog post on rebranding here.