Cracker Barrel, the American chain restaurant, finally rebranded its logo after decades, and the company is receiving backlash because of this massive change. The traditional logo has been replaced with a new modern design, and consumers are unhappy about just. However, this is not the first and only rebrand that has had people in an uproar.
The public’s uproar
Some people find it difficult to be flexible and adaptable; as a result, they do not handle change effectively. Over the years, many companies decided to go for a rebrand, and this may have occurred due to several different reasons. Several of these reasons might have been really good reasons as to why the company wanted to make a change.
However, the fact that consumers became so used to one thing, it difficult for them to adapt to another. So, because they find it difficult to adapt to change, they become so resistant to this new implementation. As a result, negative thinking pertaining to the new implementation occurs which often results in an uproar. On the other hand, the company’s decision to change might just backfire completely because it might have not considered all the factors.
18 Famous Company Rebrands
As aforementioned, several companies made massive changes over the years, and these changes were often met with resistance. Also, some of these companies really did not think the changes through. Many of the changes that was implemented was also offensive to some people. Therefore, the is a lot of factors to take into consideration when companies want to make the big move to rebrand.
Below is a list of 18 well-known companies that made changes, that were not well received:
- British Airways’ tailfin troubles
- Necco Wafers’ formula fiasco
- Tropicana’s packaging redesign slip-up
- SunChips’ bag bungle
- Netflix’s Qwikster nightmare
- Breyers’ frozen dairy desert-gate
- Milo’s recipe change backlash
- Patak’s Lime Pickle pickle
- Toblerone’s shrinkflation backfire
- Kraft’s Vegemite debacle
- Gap’s logo flop
- Coco Pops’ ill-judged name change
- Arnott’s Pizza Shapes backflip
- I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! UK’s wordy rebrand
- Dove UK’s ‘body positive’ packaging faux pas
- Coca-Cola’s New Coke disaster
- Marks & Spencer’s Granny Pants redesign bloomer
- Heinz’s Salad Cream name change revolt
Three rebranding mistakes made by companies
As mentioned previously, it is crucial for companies to take all factors into consideration when they want to make the big move to rebrand themselves. This is a long and difficult process to embark on because you never know how the public may perceive these changes. There are many rebranding mistakes companies can make, that could result into a “flop.”
For now, three of these major rebranding mistakes will be focused on. The reason for this is because most of the aforementioned 18 companies made themselves guilty of these mistakes. The first one is the ingredients in the product that the companies have been providing. If there was a complaint of the existing ingredients it would have been understandable.
However, to change the ingredients while the consumers loved the original ingredients is a massive mistake. Companies like Necco Wafers, Breyers, Nestle’s Milo, Arnott’s Pizza Shapes, Toblerone, Patak, and Coca Cola. These seven companies changed the ingredients in their products and received massive backlash due to it. The second mistake is the rebranding of the name of a brand that consumers love. From the list above, companies like Heinz, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, Coco Pops, and Kraft’s Vegemite, made the mistake to change a name.
Thirdly, the rebranding of containers, packaging, or outer appearance details are some of the mistakes that companies make. There is a reason why consumers purchase certain products on a specific container. For example, some consumers would prefer to purchase milk in a box rather than the one in a plastic bag because it last longer. Companies like British Airways, Breyers, Gap, Tropicana, SunChips, Dove UK, Marks & Spencer.