I saw Nigella Lawson speak at a School of Life event recently and it got me thinking about brand re-invigoration.

Anyone who has followed Nigella over the years would recognise her personal brand’s transformation. Nigella first rose to mainstream attention with the saucy persona of her early television series, where she championed indulgence through food-related innuendo and cashmere-swathed curves. However, this is vastly different from the perception of Nigella today, and indeed from the Nigella portrayed at the event I attended. Here was a forum which positions Nigella as a food philosopher with views to share on the emotional importance of food to our daily lives. As a Nigella follower over the years, I could see how the discussion aligned with Nigella’s heritage; her seminal work How to Eat, published in 1998, changed the way people thought about food.

It is a universal truth of marketing that brands that don’t keep up with the ever-changing market landscape will eventually die. Given the speed of innovation today, brands need constant reinvigoration to remain relevant.

Some recent examples of brands that failed to reinvent themselves in a changing market include:

1. Ski yoghurt, once market leader and now delisted after failing to recognise the market shift from thin, sweet, low-fat yoghurt to thicker, full fat, less sweet styles
2. Pumpkin Patch, whose bricks and mortar stores have shuttered after failing to recognise changing tastes in children’s clothing

However, like Nigella, some other brands have reinvented themselves very effectively; think of Kmart’s stratospheric success after evolving from a discount variety store to an everyday low pricing model with a focus on trend driven homewares, or Bonds’ reinvigoration from provider of staple singlets and tracksuits to multi coloured design driven loungewear.

So how did Nigella (and Bonds and Kmart) reposition themselves successfully in today’s market? We know at BrandHook that there are three key elements to re-positioning a brand:

1. A solid understanding of the new values the individual wants to represent
2. A bridge between heritage values and the new position to help transition consumers
3. Consistent delivery through all touch points

Repositioning a brand is by no means an easy feat, but it’s achievable with the right approach.

Written by Lauren.