Take a second and think about how many different makeup and cosmetic brands that you know by name. Even if you’re a cosmetic enthusiast and named five to ten brands, there’s a good chance you didn’t come close to naming all 4,305 cosmetic and beauty product manufacturers in the United States. The volume of competition that modern organizations face makes branding all that more important.
In today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, organizations must understand the value of brand reputation and how a strong brand translates to more conversions, higher customer engagement, a larger market share, and an improved bottom line.
By building a unique and engaging brand, the strength of your ideas will stand on their own as they won’t be lost in the crowd.
The top of the year is always a good time to revisit and assess your current branding for strengths and weaknesses. If you’re gearing up for a rebrand and you want to be confident in your strategy, consider getting started with Impact.
LEGO
LEGO is one of the most iconic toy brands in the world, and they have been since 1932. However, in the 1990s and early 2000s, the fun and lovable brand we all know and love was in serious hot water. Nearly $800 million in debt, it seemed like the LEGO brand ship was finally sinking. That was until CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp came on board and put his turnaround plan in motion.
The massive debt was a product of overproduction, the dawn of the technological era, and ambitious overexpansion into theme parks. With new-aged toys coming to market, executives at LEGO felt pressured to start weaving more technology into their LEGO sets to compete with products like the N64, despite this being off-brand for them.
When Knudstorp took over at CEO, however, he immediately implemented a rebranding strategy to address audience engagement, overproduction, and budget mismanagement.
The plan started drastically, as Knudstorp initially cut over 1,000 jobs, sold off Legoland parks, and reduced global production by 50%. To strengthen their budget even further, he then went through company expenditures line by line to align design and manufacturing costs.
“He [Knudstorp] also analysed every single expenditure and aligned design to manufacturing cost, having discovered to his horror that some sets were being sold at a loss.”
Lastly, and maybe most importantly, the LEGO rebrand focused on bringing the company back to its core operations to best serve its audience. This meant creating new and engaging product lines and partnerships that appealed to the two main audience profiles that engage with LEGO: a new generation of kids and adult fans of LEGO (AFOLs).
Dialing in on their audience preferences and intentionally developing products and partnerships that would resonate and engage their audience led LEGO to iconic collaborations like their first LEGO Star Wars sets that were released in succession with the original trilogy.
Now, the 2003 LEGO rebrand is known as one of the most successful rebrands in corporate history as they’re the biggest toy brand in the world with a market share of over 7.6% after growing in 2023.
Old Spice
Old Spice underwent a remarkable rebranding in the 2010s, transitioning from its traditional, older demographic-focused image to a modern, dynamic, and humorous identity. The rebranding was highly successful, characterized by creative marketing campaigns that captured consumer attention and reshaped the perception.
The brand's evolution began with a shift away from its classic image towards appealing to a younger audience. This involved bold marketing strategies, exemplified by the viral "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign featuring Isaiah Mustafa.
These humorous and quick-paced commercials redefined Old Spice's image and engaged consumers effectively.
Old Spice also embraced social media, interacting with consumers in real-time through personalized videos, showcasing its humor, and increasing visibility even further. Simultaneously, the brand introduced new product lines and scents, modernizing its offerings and broadening its consumer base.
The outcome was a significant increase in market share, particularly among younger demographics. The "Old Spice Guy" commercials became cultural phenomena, garnering millions of views online and setting new standards for interactive marketing.
Overall, the rebranding successfully shifted consumer perception, transforming Old Spice into an innovative, humorous, and culturally relevant brand.
Schuetz Insurance
Schuetz Insurance began as a family-owned agency that specialized in construction. However, there was never a formalized marketing plan, and being established in the 1940s, their website was also fairly outdated.
Between the disparate marketing efforts between various agents and employees, and a website that wasn’t generating traffic, let alone conversions, Schuetz Insurance needed to make some major changes that would bring them into the modern market.
In partnering with Impact, Schuetz effectively revamped their website to meet modern standards and best practices which resulted in a much higher volume of regular web traffic. On top of that, Impact marketing experts consulted the agency on a long-term marketing strategy that would help unify their messaging across the entire organization.
To take things a step further, Impact also helped Schuetz Insurance rework their social media strategies to help them connect and engage with a more modern audience.
All-in-all, these efforts led to:
- 25% business growth
- Increased web traffic
- Increased social media engagement
- Comprehensive long-term marketing strategy