Five warning signs when rebranding

Branding is often simplistically described as a company changing its logo or colour palette. However, experienced business leaders understand that a real identity shift is one of the most complex strategic processes a company can undertake. It is not just an aesthetic intervention, but a well-thought-out response to changes in the market and the surrounding world. When it goes wrong, the consequences can be far-reaching, both for trust and for market value.

The decision to change a brand should never be made in a vacuum. Rather, it should be a response to changes either within the company or in its environment. To successfully navigate a company through an identity shift, it is important to look at the big picture and the goal of the change process. How extensive should the change be? How is it justified? And how should it be implemented?

In recent years, several high-profile examples have shown what can happen when branding efforts go wrong. In March 2025, British asset manager Aberdeen did something unusual: they put the vowels back in their name. Four years earlier, the company had changed its name from Standard Life Aberdeen to "Abrdn" in an attempt to appear modern and digital. Instead, the result was ridicule in the business press and criticism from investors. The share price rose by almost 10 per cent on the day the return to Aberdeen was announced.

In 2024, Jaguar presented a new visual identity with the slogan "Copy Nothing" and a commercial that did not feature any cars. Critics argued that the brand was abandoning its heritage and that the campaign felt alien to its existing customer base.

From facelift to total brand transformation

Branding and rebranding can involve anything from minor adjustments to radical transformations that fundamentally change a company. A minor change in the graphic profile is sometimes referred to as a facelift. The company's operations, core values and long-term business goals remain intact while the exterior is modernised. There are often underlying reasons for why this happens. It may be a matter of choosing a new font that is more suitable for digital use, or adding a new business unit and wanting to highlight this with a new colour scheme.

In the middle of the spectrum, there is strategic branding that responds to external factors. The aesthetic changes may be subtle, but the message, vision and long-term goals are redefined. This is often a response to changing market conditions or tougher competition, where brand work becomes a way for the company to gather its forces and redefine its role in the market.

At the far end of the spectrum, we can talk about total rebranding, where a company rebuilds its identity from the ground up. This can involve a new name, a new logo, a new business model and new strategic goals. It is a drastic measure with significant risks, but sometimes necessary in order to break with the past.

Warning signs to watch out for

1. The change has no commercial basis

A change of identity should be a response to a real change, either within the company or in the outside world. When Aberdeen changed to "Abrdn", the motive was to appear modern and digital, but there was no underlying business change to support the message. The market perceived the name change as cosmetic rather than strategic.

Ask yourself: Is there a specific problem that rebranding solves? Or are we chasing modernity for modernity's sake?

2. You abandon the recognition value

Brands are built over decades. Aberdeen had 200 years of history behind it when it decided to change its name beyond recognition. Similarly, Jaguar, with its rich heritage in the British luxury car industry, launched a campaign that actively distanced itself from the brand's history and immediately met with resistance.

These examples are consistent with brand surveys showing that recognition is one of the main reasons why people choose one product over another. When the recognition factor disappears, customer loyalty often disappears as well.

3. Communication creates confusion

Successful branding should make it easier for stakeholders to understand what the company stands for. HBO Max in Sweden, originally called HBO Nordic, initially took the name HBO Max in 2020. Three years later, in 2023, it changed its name to simply "Max" with the aim of broadening its target audience. However, customers continued to refer to the service as HBO, and in May 2025, the company reverted to HBO Max. In other words, a real voyage around the world in brand values, with the small detail that the boat never really left the harbour.

If your customers, investors or employees do not understand what the new brand represents, something has gone wrong.

4. There is a gap between promise and reality

Accusations of hypocrisy are particularly serious in today's information society. When Norwegian company Statoil changed its name to Equinor in 2018 to signal its focus on renewable energy, the change was met with criticism from those who believed that the company's actual operations had not changed to the same extent.

A brand change that promises more than the company can deliver risks damaging trust rather than building it. This is particularly true in the area of sustainability, where accusations of greenwashing can have far-reaching consequences.

5. The tempo is wrong

How branding is implemented plays a major role. A revolutionary strategy where everything changes overnight may make headlines, but it also risks confusing customers and employees. In Jaguar's case, the company deleted its entire social media history in connection with the launch of the new brand, a drastic move that reinforced the feeling that it had abandoned its identity.

An evolutionary strategy spanning several years preserves historical continuity and minimises shock. However, it requires management to be consistent in its decisions over a longer period.

Nordic examples of successful rebranding

Branding efforts do not have to end in disaster. There are several examples of successful changes in the Nordic region.

Alleima was spun off from Sandvik in 2022 and listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The company had previously been relatively invisible within the large group, but met with considerable investor interest in connection with the listing. Since then, the share price has more than doubled. The key was that the rebranding coincided with a real business change, an independent company with its own strategic focus.

For several years, Klarna has been working to position itself as a lifestyle brand rather than a pure technology company, including through high-profile campaigns featuring celebrities such as Paris Hilton and A$AP Rocky.

Postnord was created through the consolidation of Sweden's Posten and Denmark's Post Danmark. The merger enabled a consistent strategy, a uniform corporate culture and a common IT system. An interesting detail is that Post Danmark chose to retain both its name and brand locally, while still benefiting from the synergies. This example shows that it can be valuable to undertake brand work even if the result is simply a decision not to make any aesthetic changes. In other words, away is good, but home is best.

The importance of investor relations

Successful branding can unlock a company's hidden market value. A clear message to the outside world allows the market to re-evaluate the company. This is particularly important in connection with structural changes such as spin-offs, acquisitions or strategic shifts. Here, interdepartmental cooperation is beneficial. The marketing department, the company's IR (Investor Relations) and sales staff, for example, will all have a good idea of how their respective counterparts will react to the change. Therefore, internal collaboration provides a good idea of the possible reactions of the company's many different stakeholder groups.

In summary, brand management is more than just a marketing issue. It also concerns internal communication, external collaborations with other companies and organisations, and financial information, as analysts, investors and the media may form a new perception of the company and, by extension, its valuation.

Things to consider before taking the plunge

Rebranding is more than just changing the sign above the head office. It is a process of organisational self-examination that puts adaptability to the test. In the Nordic market, where transparency is high and businesses are deeply linked to social responsibility, branding becomes a public test of management's true intentions.

Before taking the plunge, ask yourself the following questions: Why do we need to change our brand? How extensive should the change be? What motives are we communicating to the market? How will we implement the change? And what happens if it goes wrong?

Companies that have clear answers to these questions and are cautious about the risks are best positioned to succeed.

AVA Corporate Communications assists listed companies with all stages of brand development, from strategic consulting and graphic design to communicating the change to the market.