In this #tellthetruths video Rebeca explains “Symbols of Reinvention.” This is a term used in the marketing industry to refer to dramatic, symbolic gestures that brands sometimes take to signal to the world that they’re changing course.
Symbols of Reinvention
Check it out, then please weigh in, especially if you have any good examples.
This video originally appeared in LinkedIn.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, guys! It’s Rebeca with BrandTrue, and today I want to talk about this concept that we use in marketing called “symbols of reinvention.” And the idea here is that if a brand wants to reinvent itself, if it wants to really change its trajectory. And I would say especially change how it’s perceived by the people that already know it, that can be a real challenge that people are already in relationship with the brand. How do you turn the Titanic before it hits the iceberg? How do you make things change? And so this term was coined, symbols of reinvention, to show that a dramatic risk-taking move can help to shift those perceptions.
I think this term was coined specifically in response to the first example I’m going to share with you, which is the Burberry brand. It was forever a brand of trench coats and it’s reinvented itself several times. But the first time was when they went from these traditional beige trench coats with a plaid lining into being more of a fashion house. And how they signaled it, their symbol of reinvention was to hold a fashion show, and to end the fashion show with Kate Moss walking out at the height of her fame in a bikini made out of that signature plaid cloth. That becomes a picture that’s seen all over the world. This house has changed, symbol of reinvention.
There’s lots of examples. So I almost hesitate to use a second example that’s also in the realm of luxury, but it’s a great one, which is Tiffany & Co. the American jeweler. At a certain point, I’m guessing they realized that their audience was getting older. What do you do to hold onto all of that reputation for class and elegance and all of that tradition, but also let people see that it can be innovative, that it can be young, that it can be relevant? Well, you pick Lady Gaga as your spokesperson and you bridge those two worlds by having it be Lady Gaga on the one hand, but also she’s not in a meat dress, she doesn’t have extravagant makeup. She’s in a black turtleneck and very staid and elegant. She’s Stefania Germanotta, her other persona, you could say. And it sort of brings it into today and brings it into a very different mindset, a symbol of reinvention. So I think that’s something to think about if you have a dramatic change to implement, maybe you need a dramatic signal of that change. Let me know what you think of that. Thanks. Bye!
