Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh
Are you ready to take your personal brand and business development to the next level? Then you won't want to miss the exciting new podcast dedicated to helping you tell your story in the most compelling way possible. Join me as I guide you through the process of building a magnetic personal brand, creating valuable relationships, and mastering the art of networking. With my expert tips and practical strategies, you'll be well on your way to 5-star success in both your professional and personal life. Don't wait - start building your 5-STAR BRAND TODAY!
Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh
Beyond Logos: How Strategic Rebranding Revitalized McDonald's with Jim Heininger and Grant McGaugh
Unlock the secrets of successful rebranding with branding maestro Jim Heininger! In our latest episode, we dive into the transformative power of rebranding, exploring when it becomes crucial and how it can redefine both external perceptions and internal identities. Jim’s extensive experience with iconic brands such as McDonald's, Anheuser-Busch, and Motorola offers invaluable lessons and actionable strategies to elevate any brand to new heights. Through his insightful anecdotes and expert advice, you'll learn the distinctions between personal and business branding and understand the intricacies involved in a successful rebranding effort.
What makes a brand more than just a name or logo? Jim helps us uncover the essence of branding and the strategic differences in approaches that can lead to a game-changing rebrand. Discover why sometimes a rebrand is necessary to support an organization's growth and how to balance a founder's personal brand with the corporate brand, using compelling examples like Lee Iacocca for Chrysler and Elon Musk for Tesla. Jim shares wisdom on how to ensure a founder's brand supports but doesn't overshadow the corporate identity, paving the way for sustainable success.
Rebranding isn't without its challenges. We dissect several case studies, from the Nebraska Cornhuskers' branding struggles to the Washington Football Team’s transition to the Commanders. Jim emphasizes the importance of authenticity, consistency, and the alignment of company culture with the new brand. Our discussion also highlights how brands like Southwest Airlines and Patagonia have successfully rebranded by staying true to their core promises and enhancing customer experiences. This episode is a treasure trove of insights and strategies that can help you navigate your own rebranding journey with confidence and clarity.
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest marketing trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates from us, be sure to follow us at 5starbdm.com. See you next time on Follow The Brand!
Welcome to another episode of Follow the Brand. I am your host, grant McGaughan, ceo of 5 Star BDM, a 5 Star personal branding and business development company. I want to take you on a journey that takes another deep dive into the world of personal branding and business development, using compelling personal story, business conversations and tips to improve your personal brand. By listening to the Follow the Brand podcast series, you will be able to differentiate yourself from the competition and allow you to build trust with prospective clients and employers. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Make it one that will set you apart, build trust and reflect who you are. Developing your five-star personal brand is a great way to demonstrate your skills and knowledge. If you have any questions from me or my guests, please email me. At. Grantmcgaw spelled M-C-G-A-U-G-H at 5starbdm B for brand, d for development, m for masterscom. Now let's begin with our next five-star episode on Follow the Brand. Welcome to the Follow the Brand Podcast. I am your host, grant McGaugh, ceo of Five Star BDM, where we help you build a five-star brand that people will follow, and today we are diving deep into a topic that is most relevant. It's essential for anyone looking to thrive in today's competitive market. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a small business owner or a corporate leader, this episode is packed with insights that can take your brand to the next level. And imagine this you have built a brand. It's recognized, but something is not quite right. Maybe your brand isn't connecting with your audience the way it used to, or perhaps you're looking to scale, but your current identity just isn't cutting it anymore. So what do you do? You rebrand. But rebranding isn't just about a new logo or a catchy slogan. It is about reshaping how the world sees you and, more importantly, how you see yourself. And that's where today's guest comes in. Joining us is Jim Heininger, a branding maestro who has spent over 30 years shaping and reshaping some of the world's most iconic brands. This is the man who helped steer the branding strategies for giants like McDonald's, anheuser-busch and Motorola. If you ever wondered what it takes to rebrand a company that's already a household name, you are about to find out. In fact, jim was instrumental in a major rebranding effort at McDonald's. During a challenging time for the company, faced with declining reputation scores and public scrutiny, jim led a strategic initiative that not only restored McDonald's image, but also revitalized its relationship with millions of customers worldwide, and how did he do it. You'll hear the inside story in just a few minutes. Its relationship with millions of customers worldwide, and how did he do it. You'll hear the inside story in just a few minutes. And in this episode we're also going to explore the power of rebranding when to know it's time for change and how to do it right. We're going to talk about push-no versus business branding and the inside secrets of a successful rebrand, from the internal challenges to external perceptions, and Jim is going to share his journey, the lessons he learned from working with industry titans and how you can apply these strategies to your own brand, no matter its size. So get comfortable, grab a notepad and get ready to dive into the art and science of branding with one of the best in the business. So let's get started on the Follow Brand Podcast, where we are building a five-star brand that you can follow.
Speaker 1:Welcome everybody to the Fun Brand Podcast. You know, this time and I don't get to do it very often, but I get to stay in the Midwest you know a lot of people don't know Some people do know I'm from Omaha, nebraska. Go Big Red, right, right, right. I do remember when we were a powerhouse football team and we used to play this other team in the other part of the state, which I could actually just cross the river and go over, and that was Iowa. And we have a gentleman from Iowa who's in Iowa City in Iowa the Hawkeye man. Tell him, guys, he's been doing very, very good from a football perspective. We're going to talk about branding today and so I've got Jim Jim's on the show. He's going to talk to us about a little bit about himself. We're going to intertwine personal branding, business branding and have a discussion around rebranding and that trifecta of the brand. How about that? So, jim, you like to introduce yourself?
Speaker 2:Hey, grant, it's great to be with you this morning. Thank you so much for inviting me. So I am in Chicago now, so still in the Midwest, but lead an organization called Rebranding Experts. So we were founded specifically to help businesses rebrand themselves and bring all the necessary talents in alignment with that. But I founded that after about 30 years in the marketing communications business and industry, so working on both agency side and corporate side and having a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:I tell you you're very modest because you cut your teeth. If I understand from a personal perspective, why would people want to get into gym? What do they know about gym? They know gym from McDonald's. Who doesn't know about McDonald's? They are, too. You're involved in the branding of McDonald's. That's pretty huge Talk to us about. First, a little bit about you. How did you get into the branding space and how did you get to working with McDonald's?
Speaker 2:So I started out in the public relations agency world and spent about 20 years there working for three different agencies on some terrific blue chip brands Anheuser-Busch, Miller Brewing Company, Wendy's competitor to McDonald's, Motorola introduced the very first cellular telephone. That's dating myself. But so grew up in that environment and then took a really interesting assignment at McDonald's, Came in as kind of a consultant, a hired gun, to help them work through some major corporate issues they had taking place that were affecting their reputation. There were things that they had to get solved because they were dragging down their reputation scores.
Speaker 2:And it was an interesting experience, mostly because I realized that all the communications work I had been doing for 20 plus years needed to be complemented by change management. That in order to really get an organization to do things differently, communications isn't enough. You need a discipline that marries up to that like change management in order to get the organization behind what you're trying to accomplish. So that was a great learning experience. I studied up quickly in that kind of nascent field as well to be able to bring that insight to McDonald's and help push through the initiatives that we were working on kind of nascent field as well, to be able to bring that insight to McDonald's and help push through the initiatives that we were working on.
Speaker 1:I think that's very insightful and, coming from a public relations background, and really get into the branding space and understanding where it takes, because we're talking about an idea. To me, when we talk about brand, brand is really the reputation that others have of you, the perception that others have of you in the market that you're trying to penetrate. What does that look like? And that probably brings us to our first question, like why would you need to rebrand? I mean, who should rebrand? What's that all about? Why should I do that? So everyone already has a brand.
Speaker 2:who should we brand? What's that all about? Why should I do that? So everyone already has a brand. It may be a brand that they're trying to manage and to grow among their customer base, or maybe one that just kind of organically was created from when they started their business, or it could be kind of the reputation that you've earned. It might not be exactly what you want, but everybody has a brand.
Speaker 2:What rebranding is about is realizing that whatever that existing brand was is not working hard enough for the organization and its growth plans, that it could be a drag.
Speaker 2:It could be limiting the way that people can look at you. It could be limiting the way that people can look at you, and you're needing to stand up a whole new brand that is going to carry you forward for years to come. And that means really going back to the core of who you are. What is your promise to customers, and making sure that that's updated and that that's ownable and unique in the marketplace so that it can differentiate you from any competitors in your space as well, too. And really getting your arms around that tightly and then figuring out does that mean that we need a new name for the organization. Does that mean we need a new visual identity? Does it mean we need new, perhaps programs or activities involving the community and so forth that we need to launch to support that new brand? So there's a lot of reasons companies rebrand. It really is that need to rebrand or the opportunity that it presents to really light themselves on fire and get that growth plan going as excitingly as possible.
Speaker 1:I like that. I like that. Someone told me this in the public relations world that your brand is about the court of public opinion. You are in the court of public opinion and there's a judge and there's a jury and there's an audience, and your brand is constantly being judged, Whether you realize it or not. Maybe, maybe, maybe you might be penalized or perhaps maybe you get a judgment in your favor. You know something that actually elevates your brand. A lot of my audience they are small business owners. You know they're just starting out and they're trying to get in the marketplace. There's a question that constantly comes up Do I lead with my personal brand, like who I am, as the face of the company, or do I lead with more or less an image of a brand, Like what we were talking about earlier? Like Nike has the swoosh, you know, McDonald's has the arches. That's their brand. Do I lead that way? Do I lead with the face of a brand? What would you say?
Speaker 2:So a couple of thoughts to start. I think a brand is so much more than even just the name and the logo of the organization. It's the whole collection of experiences that we, as a consumer, have with a product or a service or a company. So it's that experience, it's really what you know. Do they meet your expectations? Do they when you have a problem? Do they help you solve it? Those are the things that make up your brand. Your visual identity is kind of like the icing on the cake. It's the reassurance that that experience is going to be the same every time you run into it and starting out a business.
Speaker 2:I think that it's critical that, first of all, there be a brand for the business or for the product or service. That's a very unique brand that has to be established. We actually find a lot of examples of companies that didn't spend the time or effort to do that thoughtfully when they launched, when they launched, and now they're six, eight, 10 years later and realizing you know what we need to rebrand? Because we never really built a solid brand to start and we never intentionally designed that brand, and so now they're having to rebrand because they need to bring back some rigor to that whole process. So start off from the very beginning with a strong brand and get it. Get a thought through what is that core promise to customers? What is it that differentiates you in the marketplace Then? How do you creatively package that in a way that you are going to use then to promote your product or service?
Speaker 2:Oftentimes if the company is dependent on that founder or that originator of the brand to be the face of it and to be out there actively and be very much a part of it, then you need to make sure the personal brand for that individual, that founder, marries up to the brand of the product and the service. They really need to be two different things because you want your company to be successful, because if someday your exit strategy is to sell the company and if it's too tightly intertwined with you as the founder, you're going to run into some potential challenges on that, because people are expecting you to be wherever that brand is. So make sure the brand of the product or service is solid and firm and then figure out do I need a personal brand that marries up to that and helps support it? But how deeply entrenched are they so that I can follow my growth plans the way I want to it's very important.
Speaker 1:I'm glad you said that. Even think of it like that, the exit strategy, what that's going to look like If you look at the life cycle of the business. And I got this image of Lee Iacocca. I remember Lee Iacocca and he came out I think it was for Chrysler and he did a great, great job. And I think, about Chrysler today there's no Lee Iacocca or a personal brand I would say I associate with Chrysler. When you think of Tesla, you think of Elon Musk, good or bad, but to your point, if the image is great, that's great, but if this image takes a hit, that's bad, and so there's good and bad with that. I really appreciate that now, there's good and bad with that. I really appreciate that. Now here's the question, and you I was reading through some of your material you really focus on what's the difference between a brand refresh and then brand repositioning and rebranding? Are those three different things or two different things?
Speaker 2:Great question. So every organization needs to keep up with the times and, as culture evolves and as business evolves and so forth, needs to have a nimbleness with which they can update their brand to keep it relevant to customers. So when faced with that question of our brand isn't working as hard as it relevant to customers. So when faced with you know that question of our brand isn't working as hard as it needs to, it's not representing us the way it needs to in the marketplace, you really have three kind of options and the first is that brand refresh. I think of that more as kind of a visual makeover of your brand. It's a new logo, it's a new color palette, maybe a new tagline, but it's a visual change. Now sporting teams do this all the time. They're constantly updating a new uniform and they say they're rebranding. Now they're really kind of refreshing the look and the feel of the brand. So that's number one brand refresh. Number two is repositioning, and this may be where the customer segments are changing and your product doesn't feel as relevant to your core customers anymore, or you're needing to pursue a new customer segment because of a new product or service, and so you will update that positioning of your product or service, but you don't change your name. You don't go that far. It's more the way you go to market. You would include in that a brand refresh, so the updating of the look and feel of it, but it's really how you position yourself in the market.
Speaker 2:Perfect examples of that are and we've seen it a lot in the retail environment are Abercrombie Fitch. You know they used to be the, you know the hot young, you know teenage models, bare chested, you know all that kind of stuff. And people grew out of that and it didn't fit anymore. So they had to change their positioning in terms of how they went to market. Same thing with Victoria's Secret. You know it used to be the fashion shows with the angel models, scantily clad, you know, and that was very much their imagery. Well, it was very limiting, you know, to a certain select group of women who looked like that, and we know that nobody looks like that. And so women protested and they said you know you're not relevant to us. You're not. You know we want to be a part of this, but you're making us feel out of it. And so they had to change their kind of positioning, their product lines. You know sizes and styles of a product that they sold and so forth.
Speaker 2:That's a repositioning. That's a repositioning. A rebrand is when you do all those things the refresh and the repositioning and you change your brand name as well too, and with that the whole promise and the metasphere, and wanted to get in the virtual reality segment and so forth. They couldn't do that with Facebook to meta and then defined it as the meta universe and owned that whole new unique space so that they could go after new business in that particular area. We see a lot of spinoffs of companies that are rebranding and coming up with a whole new positioning for a company. So, like Kellogg's, just kind of splintered into different groups and they created Kelenova, which Nova has to do with star and future and forward and all that kind of stuff. So that was the rebranding of their cereal and snack business so that they could focus on that particular market segment and move forward. So you know, those are your three choices Refresh, reposition, rebrand and each one is a much more comprehensive kind of strategy and activation that you need to do to make it successful.
Speaker 1:This is interesting stuff as I think about it, because I have my own framework when I do personal branding. I call it the brave framework and we're really talking about, you know, brand identity. You've got to do your research. You call it the brave framework. We're really talking about brand identity. You've got to do your research. You've got to look at your assets, your aesthetics, then your value, your visibility. I call it now your evolution, your engagement, your energy. But your evolution, what you just talked about, you might start out a certain way and that way fits your audience and your customer base and your clientele and things are happening. But things change, they evolve. There's different seasons, there's different things, like I talked about very, very early on in this conversation. Yes, I am a Nebraska Cornhusker fan. Woo, you know 30 years. I was on top of the football rankings from the 1970s to around you know the 2000s. You couldn't go wrong. Nebraska, golden Bay, redwood they're top 10.
Speaker 1:Guess what? It's 2024. We haven't been relevant in 25 years. You know most of the kids that are even playing the game don't even remember this heyday of our high school. You know court Oscars and you say, why do they keep selling out these stadiums? I don't even get it because there's an older base of people that still remember, like myself. I remember, but my kids don't remember. They remember us being a really average and sub-average team to some average team, the positioning and the branding and the messaging. If you really still use that from those heydays, you're probably not a lot. It's not going to work In your case. Let's take that as a use case. I'm from Nebraska. I'm coming to you, jim. I'm like Jim. Here's my story.
Speaker 2:Should I consider a rebrand? So if it's no longer relevant, if it no longer has that kind of future-facing, forward-facing feel to it, yeah, you might want to consider it. Now Nebraska's not going to change the name of the university or the name of the mascot and so forth. Go to a football game and create a new, unique buzz about what that experience is like, that they can start to catch on and rebuild that sense of pride and that kind of powerhouse feeling of really good football. Now they need to make sure that they also have a strong recruiting program to bring in the right kind of talent to, you know, build that team. But there are things you can do to kind of reposition what football means in Nebraska and how it's different than any other place on the planet. That gives you the opportunity to differentiate yourself and that's what you're looking for.
Speaker 1:Ready to elevate your brand with five-star impact? Welcome to the Foul Brand Podcast, your gateway to exceptional personal growth and innovative business strategies. Join me as I unveil the insider strategies of industry pioneers and branding experts. Discover how to supercharge your business development. Harness the power of AI for growth and sculpt a personal brand that stands out in the crowd. Transform ambition into achievement. Explore more at FirestarBDMcom for a wealth of resources. Ignite your journey with our brave brand blueprint and begin crafting your standout Firestar teacher today. I look for that. I like that because I still love the team, but I want my kids, my grandkids, to love the team. I like a rebranded that. I like that because I still love the team. I want my kids, my grandkids, to love the team. I like a rebranded experience. I like that. Let's talk about something you brought up. That's the greatest challenge in rebranding. Facebook went out on a ledge. They risked, they put billions of dollars into the metaverse in which didn't really take off. Next thing, we'll take off here in the future.
Speaker 1:But you know, I think they just rolled out. They probably thought, hey, we're getting out of COVID. People are used to these communication devices and interactive communications. Shoot, we can do this, Not realizing. Remember, you're marketing to a group of individuals, people and people like you know what. I've been cooped up two years. I don't want to sit in front of you know another screen. I want to get outside. I'm going to do things. I'm not sure I'm going to do that consistently. I might do it for a use case. Maybe it's for training or this or whatever. There are risks and rebranding and challenge. How do you talk to your clients about that?
Speaker 2:Well, and the research that we've done and other organizations as well as two is the biggest challenges to rebranding are internal. They're not externally facing and getting your customers on board with your new brand. It's internal. It's things like getting the right people at the table and the design of the new brand so that it can be represented across the company and that new promise and expectation of experience gets throughout the entire organization. One of the other top challenges is changing the culture of the company to be able to deliver on that new brand experience. So that's and we built a model in the work that we do is to make sure those things are addressed before a company ever launches their new brand.
Speaker 2:So we built a pretty disciplined process where we really challenge clients to say you know, how is this brand going to be experienced differently, you know, than what people saw yesterday? How are your people going to act differently? How are they going to be able to tell the story? What's new and unique? What new things are you doing that illustrate this new brand promise to customers and so forth, so that there's a remarkably different experience from old brand to new brand. So that's where most companies go wrong is they think it's just going to be slapping a new name and logo on all their materials and then their marketing and so forth and then not changing anything else. And customers are pretty good at saying that's the same old company, same old shtick, just a new name. And so that's the discipline that we've tried to bring to the process for our clients to help them take advantage of this opportunity.
Speaker 2:So you're going to put a lot of time and energy and money behind rebranding. Make it work for you. You know, have a measurable outcome in terms of sales growth as a result of the rebranding, so that you can feel like everything that you're doing is propelling you more into the future.
Speaker 1:I got a question for you. This just happened here recently. I got a question for you. This just happened here recently. Southwest Airlines for years I remember the commercials. A lot of things are like you know, you don't have to wait in line, you can pick your own seat, you go in there. You just you know what lounge you get in At the time that you actually board the plane. You can pick wherever you want and just sit down. They just stopped that and to me, that would be the whole reason I would pick Southwest is because I like that flexibility, especially if I'm a frequent flyer. I kind of like that. You're different from Delta, you're different from United. You're different from your competitors. That was your thing. Now you're just I'm not sure what your differentiation is. Is that a? Do you think this is going to be potentially a horror story outcome for you, or could it be a success? What do you?
Speaker 2:think, well, this is a great example. I think one of the things that they need to do as they make this change is they really need to help customers and the flying public understand why they're doing it, and the snippet I heard from the CEO was that, you know, it's like 70 or 80 percent of the customers who leave Southwest and don't book on Southwest was because of that seating approach and they didn't like it. And so by telling customers you know, you told us that you didn't like it and that, therefore, you wanted us to make this change. That brings people into the process. You know, as opposed to being done to them all of a sudden, it's being done for them, and so that's a key thing of what they're going to have done to them, all of a sudden, it's being done for them and and so that's a key thing of what they're going to have to do.
Speaker 2:But you made a really important point, grant, is you know, branding is about differentiation and and you know they Southwest has always had a brand that stood for you know this it was not about the traveling from point A to point B, it was the experience, it was the. You know the. It was not about the traveling from point A to point B. It was the experience, it was the you know, the flight attendants who would tell interesting jokes and make it comfortable and a little bit more casual kind of experience, and so forth. If you lose one of your key differentiators, you got to double down on what else makes you different, because you know, if it's low fares, not sure, southwest is necessarily the low fare carrier anymore, you know. So what is it that they're going to hang their hat on? They're going to have to really get that thought through and make sure that they double down on what their new you know, their fewer differentiators are, as their seating you know approach becomes the same to every other airline.
Speaker 1:Thank you, I love how you just put that, and I don't know what that is yet. No, so that's off the table and maybe people because it's a different era don't care about that. So what do they care about? So, yeah, you should be coming back with some better messaging what it is that you're still doing as well. Yeah, I like that. So that's that inside perspective. How to rebrand, cause I've seen some brands that came out and, like you said the brand promise and they came out in a certain way. You said, all right, I'm going to have it. Let's take McDonald's in case and point, and I think they have a great success story, because I don't, I can go to any McDonald's. I feel confident, I can go to any McDonald's at any location, in any city or state or possibly country, and I'm going to have a similar experience. I know pretty much what's going to happen and I know those fries are going to taste just like they did when I was at home.
Speaker 1:You know, I know that it's a very consistent brand experience that's been successful for many generations. How do people and McDonald's has reiterated they've come out with some different things I remember at McRib and some other. These are just different services that they would have, but their core was always there Talk to us about rebranding successfully.
Speaker 2:Well, and so you know, their brand promise is very much around simple enjoyment. You know it's not heavily about the food. The food is satisfying, flavorful, fills you up, but it's, you know, they're not, you know, heavily marketing the food. It's more that consistency of experience and simple enjoyment that you'll have, you know, by coming here. Experience and simple enjoyment that you'll have, you know, by coming here, and all the kind of brand activations that they do with celebrities and so forth, just kind of put a little glow and glitz on that as well too. So it's, you know you can't stretch beyond what your promises, you know, because if you do, people can tell They'll call you out on it.
Speaker 2:And you see a lot of companies who try to go beyond what their original core promise is and customers don't want it. Then they're having to retreat and back off on a major kind of effort or expansion or new product line that they wanted to do. That customers aren't really going for it. So be true to who you are, you know, and today's generation, it's all about authenticity. It's all about, you know, you've got to be real. You can't make up, you know, your brand or your imagery or how you want to be perceived. It has to be real in today's marketplace and you have to deliver on it.
Speaker 1:Talk to me about that change that you just alluded to, the social messaging, the social impact. I've talked to a couple other people that people aren't always just buying the product because, let's say, it tastes good or it looks good, because it has a message that it's doing something, whether it's's green, it's helping the planet or it's helping some other social cause. You know what I'm gonna? People talk about patagonia, right? Patagonia like wow, well, think about 10 years ago. Patagonia 15 like what? But they don't they, they, they, they got it right and they market it to a certain demographic. They're like, yeah, man, I, I'm buying this, because not only am I buying this and I'm going to go backpacking and I'm going hiking, that's all great. At the same time, I'm helping feed people, like in Guinea, or something to that effect. There's a social impact cause. Do you see that now, when people come to you for branding or rebranding, is that part of that core?
Speaker 2:message. I think it needs to be factored into what your new brand is. So it is a time, or an opportunity, as you kind of reset your brand is to figure out what is that social responsibility piece that we're going to stand up and deliver on and can be woven into that new brand promise. We had a company that was involved in the construction industry. That would be the folks that would go into new buildings and put up the blinds and the acoustic panels and so forth. Well, a big part of their rebrand was that they were going to commit to sustainable products and really try to reduce construction waste as much as possible. It's a huge piece of overall waste is construction, and so they were going to do their part in it. Use of their products, from blinds and window shades and so forth could be used to manage the energy costs in a building. By the way, they could automatically be lowered when the sun came pouring in and was heating up the internal temperature. Well, that was going to help reduce energy costs.
Speaker 2:So very much part of the positioning that we came up with to move them forward with a new brand was that sustainability piece, because it still is, and especially among younger generations, is people want to feel good about the products or services that they buy. They want to know that there's something good about that company and what they're doing to you know, in a global perspective, to help make things better. So rebranding is a great opportunity to you know, if you haven't done much in that area, to now introduce it and make it a meaningful differentiator as you go forward this is great we're getting toward the end of our discussion.
Speaker 1:This is great we're getting toward the end of our discussion, but I want to make sure that people truly understand how you're different. What's?
Speaker 2:your differentiator. Why would I want to choose your company for rebranding work? This is now about eight years ago. We studied the marketplace and you know and looked at who was doing rebranding and what the customers needed. You know the clients needed lot of folks that do branding work that can be called in to create a new brand and can do the. You know the strategy behind what the new brand will be and the visual identity and so forth. What they were missing was the execution piece of that new brand within the organization, and so we designed a end-to-end rebranding process that we lead companies through, that makes sure that leadership is engaged in the right way in making the decision of what the new brand is and then carrying the flag behind that new brand and how it was inculcated into the organization, and that we made sure that employees are trained on what that new brand is. First of all, they have to understand what a brand is. You got to get everybody on the same page of what a brand is. If you're saying we're rebranding, well, you got to make, you got to pull all those you know different thoughts into the same page so that now your new brand can make sense to them and what's their role in the brand, how are they going to deliver on that brand with customers? And so, discerning what are the new on-brand behaviors that you're going to be teaching people, and realizing that rebranding signals change within an organization. Rebranding signals change within an organization and it means that there's going to be a new set of expectations that people have of a company. So how are you going to deliver against those and how are you going to get it woven through the culture, woven through your customer experience, so that on day one you are different one. You are different. You're not just slapping a new name and a new logo on a company, but you're really a different company that's better designed to capture growth opportunities for the future.
Speaker 2:And when we started the firm, we didn't see anybody that was doing that. We saw people that were creating brands, you know, but not carrying it through an organization in the way it needed to be done to be truly impactful. So we brought together all the different kind of experiences or expertise that was needed to be able to do that. So everything from your traditional brand strategy and you know, the graphics and the visual identity, people, but change management, but change management. And we bring in HR people who know how to work with HR folks to make sure that the culture can be changed behind the organization Operations expertise, you know. So how is it going to be reflected there and make sure that we have all those kind of expertises built into the process to have the desired outcome that is really going to move the organization forward.
Speaker 2:So when we stood up the company too, we said what are people looking for when they decide they want to rebrand? Well, they're looking for a rebranding expert. And we're like, ok, well, there's our name, so let's go with that. That's going to have great SEO appeal and we're going to soar to the top of page rankings when people type in I'm looking for a rebranding expert. So it's kind of a kind of a you know a little bit of a name that some people would say, well, aren't you putting it out there a little hard? That's what people are looking for.
Speaker 2:So design the name, design everything to be able to reassure people. We can lead you through that process. And our sweet spot is really organizations up to about 500 million who don't have, you know, a large and you know very sophisticated marketing department that could lead them through this kind of process. They, you know they have a marketing team, but they don't have any experience in rebranding, and so our methodology leads them right through. That makes sure all the right people are involved and gets to the desired outcome that everybody wants. If you're going to make this kind of expensive investment in your future, sure.
Speaker 1:Man, I got the vision on that First man, you really articulated the gap. There's got to be a gap there. What does that look like? And then the other image that came to my mind. I'm in sports. Right, I'm thinking about this NFL football team that just rebranded, and did they do that successfully? I'm talking about Washington. Right, they were the Washington Redskins for I don't know 50, 100 years or something like that. I don't know what you used to do, but I understood why they changed it. Hey, you know what? This is the operatory for a certain group of people. We really need to grow up a little bit, kind of change it. Then they went to just the football team. I don't like that. We're the football, okay, but I'm not feeling the message in that. But I don't know if they carry that through the organization. Maybe it's a big buzz in Washington.
Speaker 2:I'm not sure, but I hear what you're saying and a couple thoughts on that is, first of all, anytime you change the name of your company or your organization, there are going to be some people that don't like it.
Speaker 2:There are going to be some haters out there who are going to create the memes and make fun of it and all that kind of stuff. And if you've done your, you know, if you've done good work and you've come up with a good name and you have a good new story, you want to manage them, you want to try to mitigate those risks and so forth, but do not let that distract you from your big goal of introducing it. Really, you know, when you go out to tell people the name of your new company and we've, you know, our methodology has designed this you've got to first of all tell them why you're doing it, because you've got to get over that hump of why would we change our name? Why would we go through this whole effort? Why would we change our name? Why would we go through this whole effort? So the people that you've satisfied their understanding for that, before you tell them what your new name is, if you come out and say here's our new name and they're like, what you know, why are you doing this? First of all, you've lost them.
Speaker 2:So go through that process, take the time, tell them why, tell them the new name, tell them the story behind the new name. What does it mean? What's you know what? What is it promised to you? You know the commanders you know I think of in Washington DC. It's commander in chief. That's where you know he or she is based. You know well, that's a unique, ownable thing for the District of Columbia in Washington. So it's kind of an interesting thing. But you got to make sure people understand what that means now and how is that relevant to football and the way we're going to play football and the way we're going to create a fan experience. I didn't watch closely enough to see how well they did that, but that's what's important when you go through that big announcement, that big bang, that you're wanting people to get excited about your new brand.
Speaker 1:I've seen a lot of sporting organizations that I wonder do they think it through? Yeah, I really do. I remember when the basketball team, I think in New Orleans was it New Orleans, I think? Yeah, they were in New Orleans and they said, hey, we're going to be called the Pelicans, pelicans Basketball, pelicans, Pelicans. I didn't get the alignment there. There's a lot of Pelicans out there. This is a big deal. I don't know, they don't live there. There are a lot of Cornhuskers in Nebraska there is a lot of pelicans out there.
Speaker 2:This is a big deal. I don't know. They don't live there. There are a lot of corn huskers in Nebraska. There is a lot of corn in Nebraska.
Speaker 1:I mean there's a direct correlation as to why they're called the corn husker. They used to be called the buggy before and they kind of rebranded that. A lot of people didn't know that and then they kind of went to the huskers right, huskers right. So Cornell's got the rule of law Huskers. People know that Even today. This is a good thing. Think about that. As far as that consistency, even 25 years of really not having a great football team, we're still on television, people still talk about it, people still. There's still a following for it because it's like. I know they can do it. I want them because they believe in that there's a passion for that type of football Right, right, all tradition.
Speaker 1:Yeah, tradition, all of that. They want us to do it. So maybe because we've got a new coach now, maybe we'll get back there, we'll be competitive, we'll do something and it's there. So I'm not suggesting that Nebraska changes their name, no, but I do hear what you're saying. Sometimes a rebrand is a great thing. That really elevates who you are and what you do. And then sometimes, and maybe it's because of what you talked about, did you really think this through in your internal organization, in your internal manager, or was it just five guys got together and said, yeah, we're going to do this and not thinking about the other 50,000 to 100,000 people? Like, do they really understand the story?
Speaker 2:The repercussions of yeah, yeah, but yeah. There has to be such a compelling story behind the new name and how you're positioning yourself, and you have to spend a lot of time repeating that story over and over again. We all know that our attention spans are short and people don't pay attention to things. Got to keep telling it over and over again for a long time to let it sink in and for people to then start to own it themselves as well too.
Speaker 1:Maybe that's what I need to do. I need to understand the pelican story, I need to understand the uh commander story and then, and then I'll get it and I'll, you know, get their gear and I'll get their merch and I'll be right on board. But I have to admit, right now don't have that story, but I'm sure it's probably. But I have your story and your story is is exciting. I love it. I know my audience is going to love it.
Speaker 1:You got to rethink, because when I do branding for individuals and small businesses, I have to have to do some reflection. You've got to really step back away from the business, so to speak, and understand what it is that you are looking to do. What are you trying to accomplish, what is the goal and the passion to reach that goal? And truly see that and then get that multidimensional view, not just from yourself but then from the business, from your client, your customer base. Who wins in all of this and what's the potential of losing in all of this? And then you can come up with some kind type of brand that actually makes sense.
Speaker 1:Like you asked me what Patagonia means. I have no idea, but I do know what it stands for. I know what they're about. I know their story Right, so it's not all in the name, like you just said. Commanders yeah, I know what a commander is, but I don't know the story, and maybe that's what we need to do is tell stories more. You've been telling a great story and, before I let you go, tell us how to get in contact with you, because I know a lot of people are going to be like you know what I need to talk to Jim about my rebrand.
Speaker 2:Well, you can visit the website, which is rebrandingexpertscom. If you type in rebranding experts, it will pop to the top, and then LinkedIn is really probably the best social tool. We share a lot of content on things you need to think about rebranding in advance how to do it successfully, what are the best practices of rebranding. I write for Forbes, so I have almost every month, a new story that kind of dives deep into things you need to know to rebrand successfully, so look for us there.
Speaker 1:Well, I look forward to it. I will definitely be tuning in and I want your entire audience to tune in to all the episodes of Paula Brand. To tune in at 5 Star BDM. That is the number 5 Star S-T-A-R, d for Brand, d for Development and for Masterscom. This has been wonderful, jim, thank you so much for being on the show. You're welcome. Thanks for joining us on the Follow Brand Podcast. Big thanks to Full Effect Productions for their incredible support on each and every episode. Now the journey continues on our YouTube channel. Follow Brand TV Series. On our YouTube channel, follow Brand TV Series Dive into exclusive interviews, extended content and bonus insights that will fuel your success. Subscribe now and be a part of our growing community sharing and learning together. Explore, engage and elevate. At Follow Brand TV Series on YouTube. Stay connected, stay inspired. Till next time, we will continue building a five-star brand that you can follow.