What Old Spice teaches us

about brand repositioning

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Editors note: Dennis Crowley is president and CEO of Brand

Engineers, a Teaneck, N.J., research firm. He can be reached at
201-530-5360. This article appeared in the March 28, 2011,
edition of Quirks e-newsletter.

conic brands are in the enviable position of having developed long, meaningful emotional bonds with consumers.
However, like in any lasting relationship, you have to
constantly work on adapting to change as you grow. Every
marketer plans to have their brand and target audience evolve
together; unfortunately this is often not a reality. As in the
case of Old Spice, which I will examine shortly, the longterm survival of many brands depends on their ability to
rejuvenate itself and make themselves relevant to new target
audiences.
So, how exactly do you take a brand that most people
associate with their grandparents and reinvent it for a new,
younger audience? When considering repositioning a brand,
brand managers must ensure that the new positioning meets
three criteria: 1) it must be relevant to the customers frame
of reference; 2) the brand must have the customers permission for the new positioning; and 3) ultimately the brand must
deliver on the promise of the positioning.
Zone of credibility
To develop the most effective positioning, marketers must
first look at the functional and emotional needs of the
target customers, as well as the situation in which these
needs occur. Understanding this reference point and how
your brand is related to it is critical in determining the

viability of any positioning opportunity.

At Brand Engineers we refer to this as the zone of credibility. We believe repositioning a brand outside the zone
of credibility creates confusion for customers and ultimately
dooms the repositioning effort. To best define this zone of
credibility marketers must understand the customers perception of the brand and recognize how far the brand can be
moved while maintaining the customers belief in the brands
ability to deliver.
A logical link
Ensuring that the new position falls within the zone of credibility is essential but not the only consideration that must be
made. Equally important is to create a logical link between a
brands current and desired positions. Because marketers are,
in essence, asking customers to think about the brand in a
new way, customers must view the new position as a logical
and acceptable extension of the brand. To achieve this, marketers must build the necessary links from customers current
perceptions to the perceptions they wish to establish with the
repositioning effort.
Live up to its new promise
Finally, a repositioned brand must live up to its new promise.
To earn a permanent position in your audiences mind
and wallet, your customers must feel that your brand
achieves what they desire from it. The only real way a
brand can have a long, successful life cycle is for it to
deliver on the promise of the positioning. This is important to keep in mind when repositioning a brand since
trust is hard to earn in our over-communicated world but

Reprinted from the March 28, 2011 e-newsletter. 2011 Quirks Marketing Research Review (www.quirks.com).
This document is for Web posting and electronic distribution only. Any editing or alteration is a violation of copyright.
To purchase paper reprints, contact Ed Kane at Foster Printing at 866-879-9144 x131 or edk@fosterprinting.com.

very easy to break - and critically important when working with an already successfully positioned brand.
Old Spice: A case study
If a strategy is carefully developed, repositioning a brand can
be a key element in unlocking its full potential. An example
of a brand that has reinvented itself is Old Spice, which has
been around since 1937. The name alone was enough to
conjure up the image of the aftershave bottle in your grandfathers medicine cabinet. Certainly, brand managers at Proctor
& Gamble had their work cut out when they acquired the
brand in 1990. Nevertheless, P&G marketers recognized an
opportunity that would allow Old Spice to appeal to new
audiences, namely young men, without alienating its core.
First, they turned what many saw as the brands main
weakness - longevity - into a strength. Their new strategy
was enveloped in the slogan Experience Is Everything. It
recognized the long existence of the brand while allowing the
brand team the freedom to push the envelope in its tactics.
This very masculine brand could have tried the route of the

sports-oriented Right Guard or the womanizing of Axe Body

Spray. Instead, it acknowledged its longevity and managed to
intertwine experience and masculinity through an assertive,
straightforward and edgy manner.
The whistling sailor Old Spice featured in its previous
advertising was outdated. Its new ads featured a straightshooting, confident man who guarantees the efficacy of Old
Spice deodorant. This strategic shift has been wildly successful.
Old Spice became the leading deodorant and antiperspirant
for men and has expanded the product offering extensively.
Having successfully built market share with its new audience,
it currently uses the tagline Spice Things Up.
Stayed true
The marketers of Old Spice stayed true to the three main
considerations of repositioning a brand. Old Spice remained
relevant to the customers frame of reference; gained customer
permission to update this old-fashioned product into a new,
stylish brand; and was able to deliver on the fresh, effective
and confident promise the new positioning set out. | Q

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To purchase paper reprints of this article, contact Ed Kane at Foster Printing at 866-879-9144 x131 or edk@fosterprinting.com.