Why companies are de-branding: possible future of marketing
De-branding is a megatrend companies are dying to experiment with and is occurring with brands that are even relatively new. Unfortunately, not many people understand what it really is. De-branding refers to reducing or removing the branding of a product or a company. As a common form of this strategy companies may make changes in order to simplify their logos, changing the signature brand color, changing or removing the slogan or making other changes associated with the brand. It is a marketing strategy which is mostly used by companies to make their brand seem less corporate and more personal. The de-branding strategy has been embraced by many prominent brands from different industries over the years. Examples of popular companies that have de-branded their logos are Burger King, Paramount, Burberry, and Magnum.
An example of de-branding: The products sold by Nike usually consisted of a word mark of Nike and the Nike logo. In the 90’s, Nike decided to de-brand and opted for a flat-solid version of the logo on their products and nothing else. This de-branding benefitted the company and the demand for Nike products increased. Similarly, Gucci’s emphasis on logo free products increased their annual sales by 25%.
What benefits do companies achieve from de-branding? Can there be downsides as well? As mentioned earlier, most companies de-brand in order to make their brand seem less corporate and more personal. It is used to help brands reach a wider audience and is capable of modernizing an old-fashioned brand. However, in some industries a corporate identity is required for a brand to be taken seriously and attract the right type of customers. De-branding can be useful in digital branding, logos need to look good as app icons on technological devices such as phones and laptops. Logos have to be easily visible and because phone screens are small and dark, wiping away detail (de-branding) is helpful for digital marketing. De-branding can also help modernize old-fashioned brands which is the cause of implementation of this strategy for companies that have existed for a long duration. De-branding carries a risk with it, if it is executed too intensively, original brand quality can be lost and customers may not be able to recognize the brand which can decrease sales for the producers.
Since the elements of the brand have been simplified and lack complexity during de-branding, less amount of money is spent on advertisement and money can be saved by the brand which can be invested into other areas of the company. It also makes the production process easier and less costly which can increase added value for the brand. De-branding can also signify the strength and confidence a company possesses. For example, if Coca Cola was to completely de-brand and was to remove any sort of label or anything indicating identification of the brand from their glass bottles, most customers would still easily identify the brand due to their familiarity with the drink and would assume that Coca Cola manufacturers are confident about their product and not hesitant to take risks.
De-branding is a critical decision which should be thoughtfully considered and carried out only when there are strategic reasons.
