The document outlines a 5-step process for refreshing a brand: 1. Define the core business issue facing the brand by analyzing factors like market changes, competition, and shifting consumer needs. 2. Get insights from "brand rejecters" to understand why they are rejecting the brand. 3. Get insights from loyal "brand lovers" to understand what still attracts them. 4. Conduct a "retain-divest-acquire" analysis to identify what to keep, remove, and add. 5. Recraft key brand elements like physique, positioning, and personality based on the analysis.

1. 1
Refresh your Brand in 5 Simple Steps
Anand Narasimha
Anand Narasimha is Professor-Marketing & Strategy and a Brand Consultant.
He teaches at some of the top Business Schools in India. An alumnus of BITS, Pilani and IIM-C, he has more
than 3 decades of global experience spanning Marketing, Advertising, Consulting and Academics.
Connect with him on anandmymail@gmail.com
We are in an ecosystem of deficit and surplus. There is deficit of trust, time, attention and
resources. There is surplus of products, goods, services and information. In this scenario,
brands often need to refresh themselves to remain relevant to changing markets and
consumers.
Many people keep asking me about how to refresh a brand. While there are plenty of models
on Brand Refreshment in both Industry and Academia, here are 5 simple steps that I would
recommend for refreshing your brand.
As we go along, I will share an example of a premium, ready-to-wear Men’s Apparel brand
as an illustration. For the purpose of discussion we will name this brand ‘Mr. X’.
Step-1: Define the Core Business Issue
Ask the question, ‘Why do I need to refresh my brand?’
 Why is the brand not growing or declining?
 Is the market changing?
 Has the competition redefined the category?
 Is the consumer changing?
 Is technology changing?
 What are the signals from the future that the brand can leverage?
The answers to these questions will help you define the business issue in the form of a
problem (Reactive Approach) or an opportunity (Proactive Approach) that your brand needs
to address.
Consistently powerful brands adopt a more Proactive Approach, like Apple, Google, etc. to
stay ahead of the curve and lead the consumers, rather than get led by consumers.
In the case of the Mr. X, once the leader in its category, sales had begun declining because
their core consumer segment of ‘Corporate Executives’ had become younger due to
demographic shifts in the population. Their market had shifted from ‘Baby Boomers’ to
‘Millenials’ and the brand had stopped connecting with the younger consumer mind-set.
Step-1
Define Core
Business Issue
Step-2
Get Insights
from Brand
Rejectors
Step-3
Get Insights
from Brand
Lovers
Step-4
Do R-D-A
Analysis
Step-5
Recraft
Brand
Elements

2. 2
Step-2: Get Insights from ‘Brand Rejecters’
Bill Gates famously said, “Your most unhappy customers are your best source of learning.”
Rejecters of your brand are a great place to begin your search. Use a combination of formal
and informal research, both qualitative and quantitative tools to analyse and draw insights.
Find out ‘Why are people rejecting my brand?’
 What do they dislike about it?
 Why do they choose other brands over yours?
 Do they like anything at all about your brand?
 Would anything make them start considering your brand?
Coming back to Mr.X, the main reason for the brand’s disconnect with ‘Millenials’
(or Rejecters) was that they saw it as their ‘Dad’s Brand’, as Mr.X had stopped resonating with
the attitudes & lifestyle of the younger audience. The brand was perceived as ‘too formal and
stiff for their liking.’
Step-3: Get Insights from ‘Brand Lovers’
Despite the changes and shifts, there will always be people who still buy and love your
brand (even if they are in a minority). After all, these loyalists of your brand are still staying
with you despite other choices. Something in the brand must be working for them.
Here again, you can use various modes of research and analytics.
Understand ‘Why are people still connecting with my brand?’
 What do they love about it?
 Why are they choosing me over other brands?
 Is there anything that makes them vulnerable to switching?
 What will make them stay with your brand?
In the Mr. X example, people who still loved and purchased the brand were attracted to the
values of pedigree, rich legacy and craftsmanship that the brand enjoyed over its 100 years
of existence. This was what they still held dear and were not lured away by the more
flamboyant and newer entrants.
Step-4: Do an ‘R-D-A Analysis’ of the Brand
The discoveries and insights from the earlier steps will enable you to develop a ‘Retain-
Divest-Acquire’ (RDA) Analysis of your Brand by applying the following framework:
RETAIN DIVEST ACQUIRE
R = Important to success +
distinctive and relevant
Reasons why people still
love the brand
D = Drag factors + true
but outmoded
Reasons why people
reject the brand
A = Lacking in the brand +
needed to overtake
competition
Reasons that will make people
reconsider the brand

3. 3
Returning back to Brand X, here is what the RDA Analysis looked like:
RETAIN DIVEST ACQUIRE
Established Brand Values:
Pedigree, Rich Legacy and
Craftsmanship
Stiff, formal image
Perception as ‘My Dad’s
Brand’
Youthful, Edgy and
Charismatic appeal to
‘Millenials’
Step-5: Re-craft Key Brand Elements
In alignment with the R-D-A Analysis the final step is to re-craft one or more of the 3 key
elements of the brand, as required:
 Brand Physique: the relevant design elements of the brand, its products and identity
 Brand Positioning: What does the brand do for me? What role does it play in my life?
 Brand Personality: What does the brand stand for? Who is it as a person?
In Brand X the re-crafting involved:
 Physique: introducing vibrant colours, trendier designs and more casual and chic
products.
 Positioning: presenting the brand as an ‘expression of the pedigreed, youthful and
ambitious achiever of today’
 Personality: portraying the brand as the ‘Voice of Authority on Winning in Life’
In Conclusion
The proposed ‘5-Step Framework’ is designed to refresh brands by going back to the basics.
To remain competitive in today’s ‘VUCA World’, brands cannot afford to remain static for
too long. They must constantly apply this framework proactively (rather than always
reacting to a problem) by leveraging opportunities to refresh themselves. As the saying
goes, “If you rest, you rust.”
Copyright: Anand Narasimha
10 December, 2015