Rebranding Success and Failure: A Comparative Essay

This essay presents a comparative analysis of the rebranding processes undertaken by GAP Inc. and Tommy Hilfiger, focusing on the factors that contributed to their respective outcomes. The methodology involves a review of literature and case studies, primarily assessing customer reactions to the rebranding efforts. The research explores the effectiveness of these strategies in terms of consumer perception, market impact, and operational changes. The essay delves into the strengths and weaknesses of the chosen approach, highlighting issues such as the potential for biased interpretation and challenges in data validity. Ethical considerations related to data collection are addressed, along with recommendations for future rebranding initiatives, emphasizing the importance of consumer input, a well-planned implementation timeline, and clearly defined objectives. The essay concludes by summarizing the key insights and implications for corporate rebranding strategies, offering a framework for companies aiming to navigate the dynamic market environment effectively.

Running head REBRANDING PROCESS 1
Rebranding Process
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Methodology
The study considered companies that have re-branded within the past decade. The
purpose was to ensure that re-branding is recent and thus it was fresh in the customers
mind and hence it could be easier for them to make assessment. In this research,
review of the companies was limited to two case studies: the GAP Inc and Tommy
Hilfiger Brand and collection of data was limited to the customers in order to ensure
that the research remained within its scope. As such, the research considered only the
customers who had transacted with the two companies. According to Ballouli, Grady
and Stewart (2016), this technique is essentially important in improving reliability of
the information collected and also for ensuring that a true reflection of the companies
was portrayed (p.214). However, there are various reason as to why GAP Inc and
Tommy Hilfiger Brand were considered for the case studies. First, GAP is a popular
company which sells its products on retail basis and also on online marketing.
Bolhuis, de Jong and van den Bosch (2018) noted that it has therefore created a huge
market niche and thus owing to the large pool of customers, a lot was to be studied as
far as reactions of these customers were concerned (p.12). Secondly, the research
required to make a comparison between a company that failed in re-branding for this
case, GAP and another that succeeded in re-branding and for this case, Tommy
Hilfiger Brand. In addition to this, Tommy Hilfiger Brand is a leading designer high
life brad and it has been in the industry for the past 3 decades. Since there have been
many scholarly articles that have been published with regard to re-branding, this
research took advantage of the information available. As such, the research was
dependent on the data available from other academic materials such as journals.

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The research assessed the methods based on the following aspects:-
 Effectiveness in capturing the topic that is re-branding as the process:-
Comparative studies were made by choosing the text that provided the most
evidence-based information.
 Availability of reliable information-Here the research reported on the inter-
observer studies.
 Suitability for repeated studies or for future reference
 Costs regarding human resources and time and burden of analysis
 Effectiveness in capturing the feelings of the consumers
 Effectiveness in influencing the operations of the companies together with factors
such as profits, consumer relations with the company among others.
The research considered the qualitative analysis though it did not perform the
aggregated analysis or even the meta-analysis. In order to get the best article, and as
asserts Sancho (2016) the research produced a summary on key strengths and
limitations of each as this approach focused on the richness of the information
environment (p.482). Based on the availability of relevant data concerning re-
branding of GAP Inc and Tommy Hilfiger, the research rated the criteria from + to ++
++.
Strengths and weaknesses of the approach

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First, the technique helped in viewing of homogeneous exploration. The research
considered information available on the two companies, GAP Inc and Tommy
Hilfiger and thus it was easier to extract important information on the two and
relevant data for this research. As such, it was easier to focus on the particular issue
that is impacts on re-branding on customer without going off the scope of study.
Secondly, the technique helped in raising more issues through broad and open-ended
inquiry. Collecting data especially on the feelings on the consumers after a certain
change in the company may be expensive since there are various issues that may be
raised (Yeboah and Addaney, 2016 p.152). By considering information from other
scholars, it became easier to understand certain issues such as the situation of the
company before re-branding and also the situation after re-branding. Third, journals
are peer-reviewed and this means that any information contained in them is reliable.
This improved on the reliability of the data collected and hence it gained confidence
on trust and findings of the research (Miller,Merrilees and Yakimova,2014 p.270). As
such,it was possible to carry out cultural assessment being the ability to critically
analyze underling values, assumptions and beliefs. It was therefore possible to have a
full picture of the organization and its customers which is essential in understanding
their consumption behavior.
Weaknesses of the approach
Nevertheless, there were some limitations of this data collection technique. First,
some issues can be overlooked as different authors have different interpretations. For
instance, the authors may interpret perceptions and views of the consumers differently
(Collange, 2015 p.190). They may prematurely attribute changes in consumer

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behavior to re-branding and this may affect the conclusion of the research. Second,
selection of the articles possess challenges since full text reading was required which
was time consuming. Secondly, validity of the information was still a matter of
concern. This technique is different from other methods of data collection as such as
interviewing, observation which provides first-hand information. According to Curtis
et al. (2017), comparisons sometimes may bring out different aspects of consumers
and due to this, the research focused more on the effectiveness of the article other than
the validity of the data (p.105). Third, the data collection method could not be used
for large scale research since it lacked human direct human perceptions.
However there are approaches that were not used in this research such as
interviewing yet it would have brought some strengths in the research and
Makarychev and Yatsyk (2015) note some of them including first-hand information,
creation of room for clarification and it would also enhanced recording of accurate
information (p.150). Nevertheless, this method would have come along with
limitation such as costs constraints, time consuming and geographical barriers as the
researcher had to travel to different places where customers were.
Ethical issues
It is always important to ensure that highest ethical standards must be observed
when collecting data. There were however, various ethical issues that emerged during
the collection of information in this research. Although, the research acknowledged
some of the findings of the authors, it was without their consent that this research used
their data. However, during the preparatory phase, the necessary authorities were

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consulted and this helped in validating the process and giving it a green light. As
Tsai,Dev and Chintagunta(2015) noted confidentiality is an important aspect to
consider in any research and in this case, it was assumed that the previous researchers
had taken this issue into consideration (p.868).
Recommendations
Through evaluation of the failures of re-branding and success of the same, the
following are the aspects that need to be considered. First, when re-branding
consumers should be the first thing to consider. Re-branding in GAP failed because
the brand did not appeal to the loyal customers. With regard to this, it would be
important to hold interviews with customers and other stakeholders. This implies that
re-branding should not just emerge from the minds of the management and it should
be include other stakeholders (Herstein, Berger and Jaffe, 2014 p.400). Secondly, re-
branding in GAP Inc was held abruptly and this created discontent from the
customers. It is therefore important to note that re-branding process should not be
done in a hurry. As such, market research will help in identifying competitors and
what they offer in the market. Moro and Rita (2018) note that market research will
provide a good framework on how a company should stand out from the rest (p.350).
This will also help in determining the response from the various aspects; gender, age,
income, interests among others. Lastly, setting objectives will ensure that the whole
practice of re-branding is result-oriented. Zhao, Calantone and Voorhees(2018)
asserts that such process should therefore led to increased brand recall, increased
market share as well as the increase in sales and hence increase in profit margin (15).

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Thesis of essay
Re-branding is one of the ways of positioning and representation of the brand of a
company as a means of coping with the ever changing market environment. However,
the process should be undertaken with close considerations to ensure that re-branding
achieves its success. The purpose of the essay is to have comparative study where two
cases are compared; with one case of how the company was unable to achieve its
objectives and how another company successfully incorporated re-branding in its
operations. As a means of analyzing the two scenarios, the essay gives reasons as to
why re-branding was a success on one company but it failed on the other. The essay is
therefore relevant to corporates that may decide to rebrand themselves by discussing
some of the important factors that should be taken into place. In addition to this, the
essay shows how consumer behavior may be affected by re-branding on thus it gives a
good framework on which companies may decide to carry out the process. Through
comparative analysis, it will therefore be easy for the reader to understand some of the
dynamics that are involved in the whole process.

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References
Bolhuis, W., de Jong, M.D. and van den Bosch, A.L., 2018. Corporate re-branding:
effects of corporate visual identity changes on employees and consumers.
Journal of marketing communications, 24(1), pp.3-16.
Ballouli, K., Grady, J. and Stewart, R., 2016. The delicate art of re-branding a minor
league baseball franchise: Practices, pitfalls, and payoffs of re-branding the
Winston-Salem Warthogs. Sport Management Review, 19(2), pp.211-226.
Collange, V., 2015. Consumer reaction to service re-branding. Journal of Retailing
and Consumer Services, 22, pp.178-186.
Curtis, N., Corapi, J., Roberts, R. and Devlin, J.W., 2017. re-branding of generic
parenteral vasopressin: effect on clinician practices and perceptions. American
Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 74(3), pp.105-106.
Herstein, R.A.M., Berger, R.O.N. and Jaffe, E., 2014. Five typical city branding
mistakes: Why cities tend to fail in implementation of re-branding strategies. Journal
of Brand Strategy, 2(4), pp.392-402.
Makarychev, A. and Yatsyk, A., 2015. Brands, cities and (post-) politics: A
comparative analysis of urban strategies for the Universiade 2013 and the World
Football Cup 2018 in Russia. European Urban and Regional Studies, 22(2),
pp.143-160.

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Moro, S. and Rita, P., 2018. Brand strategies in social media in hospitality and
tourism. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 30(1),
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Miller, D., Merrilees, B. and Yakimova, R., 2014. Corporate re-branding: An
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Tsai, Y.L., Dev, C.S. and Chintagunta, P., 2015. What’s in a brand name? Assessing
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Yeboah, P.O. and Addaney, M., 2016. Corporate re-branding and performance of
financial institutions in Ghana. Asian Economic and Social Society, 6(7), pp.150-166.
Zhao, Y., Calantone, R.J. and Voorhees, C.M., 2018. Identity change vs. strategy
change: the effects of re-branding announcements on stock returns. Journal of
the Academy of Marketing Science, pp.1-18.