Corporate makeovers: Can a hyena be rebranded?

Abstract

Corporate rebranding is a strategy used by companies to change their image. There may be very good reasons for doing this, the most obvious being to send a signal to stakeholders that something about the organisation has changed (for the better). Other less pressing reasons, discussed in this paper, are, however, also instigators for rebranding. To some extent, a corporate makeover appears to contradict what has long been regarded as standard marketing practice in product branding, that is, long-term investment in and commitment to a brand. Despite this, many firms are undertaking corporate rebranding exercises. The cost of corporate rebranding is very high, running into millions of dollars in many cases. In this paper, the concept of rebranding is discussed, the motivations for corporate rebranding are categorised, and the main issues in corporate rebranding in relation to rebranding the name, logo and slogan are discussed. Lastly the effectiveness of corporate rebranding as a corporate strategy is evaluated.