This statement is extraordinary for too many reasons to name them all here, not the least of which is the bold connection drawn by Ben & Jerry’s of White Supremacy and the underlying culture which can occur in law enforcement, causing brutality.
But Twitter had a mixed reaction on Tuesday, June 3rd, with Twitter citizens reactions raging from strong skepticism, to declarations to buy ice cream, to ‘OK for a corporation’….and many statements with a disclaimer like this…..
And here’s the first call to the Ben & Jerry’s rebrand, they are ‘expensive’. That’s bad. They need to get back to a narrative of value, which they may think they have always had, but it needs a refresh because the world never stops changing.
Wake up, Your Time to Rebrand is Now
Your time to rebrand is now, because the last 3+ years have taught us that the time to be careful in your messaging is over. Your time to make a stand is now, because if you don’t, an ever-growing audience of socially-minded consumers and prospects will choose a side for you. And if you fail all the requirements of executing a strong rebrand, listed below, the side the audience chooses for your brand will stick and it will always be the evil side. Silence = Death.
In the 20th century, brands used broadcast to control the narrative while also, sadly, developing some banal habits of making limp and insincere statements about our society and culture, or they jsut avoided conversation altogether. The 21st century has empowered the audience so much that they now have the power to rebrand you, and they do, sometimes posting brand assassination with the glee of a virtual blood sport. Your rebrand is now, because if your brand has been online for more than 4 years, the wild audience of the cruel internet has shaped your narrative more than you have, even if you have engaged in some pretty savvy context marketing and AI, which you probably haven’t.
Your Rebrand is a Path Forward, if You Own Your Narrative
In 2000, Landor executed a classic, rebrand for BP, sounding off a bright future where green energy would be valued. Then, in 2010, this happened:
image courtesy of Eric Vendervegt
In reaction to the reaction to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP decided that a $500 million PR makeover was the necessary solution. They have also changed CEOs a few times, paid billions in fines, and have slowly rebounded to a place with some growth 10 years later. But the brand still engages in many traditional ad and marketing tactics, which does nothing to reconnect with an audience. That requires fundamental, new-ish to most, strategies. Arguably, BP’s stockholders may be happy, but the broader audience just sees them as ‘less evil’, by attrition. BP clearly needed to rebrand again, but they didn’t need to abandon all the good ideas they developed with Landor, they just had to do a more strategic rather than just a tactical job of recommitting to the values which birthed their green mandala in the first place.
Your Rebrand Strategy First Requires a Strong Brand Narrative
Unlike many tone-deaf brands in these extraordinary times, Ben & Jerry’s has joined the conversation, very clearly. Ben & Jerry’s is into the fray, but without a rebrand to support this brave move, they are rudderless as the audience on Twitter immediately reacted with the predictable purity tests of a socially-aware, hyper-savvy, currently-enraged, and normally critical audience. Ben & Jerry’s would be smart to line up the narrative to a strong and consistent new platform to keep things where they intended. Once a brand codifies it’s values, attributes, promises, etc., in the here-and-now, there are 4 basic requirements to follow to make it real for even the most skeptical audience. A 21st century rebrand needs sound, fury, and the backup to their position to signify something valuable.
Rebrand Requirement #1: Authenticity
As a Brand, be who you are, tell your truth. If Twitter tells you your fries suck, own that, make the changes, and engage your critics to broadcast the improvement. Be brave like KFC. When you don’t join the conversation, the conversation is had without you, and your audience creates your narrative. You’ll never like the way the audience does that.
Rebrand Requirement #2: Accessibility
Brand Accessibility ranges from ADA compliance on your website, to both listening and engaging on social media, to intelligent context marketing — it’s all about meeting the audience where they are physically, emotionally and technologically. That starts with the actionable insights of your data and wild truth from market data. It also includes taking responsibility for how you collect data, and prioritizes listening through social media, user research and advertising.
Rebrand Requirement #3: Own the Narrative
Own your narrative and make it a story people wanted to hear (see listening in #2). Your Brand probably has a very safe mission statement that everyone finally agreed to disagree on after an expensive off-site and some cocktails. In this, your call to your very overdue rebrand, seize the opportunity to craft a message which will train your audiences to know you and organize their behaviors at scale by getting out there to hear and see what everyone cares about. Then deploy, deploy, deploy your narrative, inspire followers and promote their devotion with the consistency and vigor of an evangelical cult leader, internally and externally, to maintain your new-found ownership, no matter what the wild audience would or will say about your brand.
Rebrand Requirement #4: Visibility
Show up! Digital channels, especially social media, are not window dressing. Your brand doesn’t even have a pulse if you don’t communicate, (that’s a two-way thing), visually and verbally in the digital channel your audiences are citizens of. They can’t see you if you aren’t there.
Scared? Great.
We are great at rebranding, strategically and tactically, to help you survive these extraordinary times. Contact C&C, today.