Does a major rebrand ever work?

[tall_guy1]

There's been several examples over the past few years. Some are merely name changes, but sometimes companies try to change an entire image through rebranding. WBD is rebranding hbo max as simply Max. Tbs and Tnt were rebranded in 2015, but none of the new shows lasted. Things definitely change, but do "rebrands" work?

 

[Mikey Radio]

Yes. In marketing in general, there are lots of stories where repackaging an existing product or changing the marketing strategy to make it more appealing to a specific demographic or segment of the population has turned a brand around. In the case of television, certain shows weren't pulling in good ratings so the writers would make tweaks or change the direction of a show to again, try and attract a key demographic and suddenly a show that was floundering in the ratings went on to have a long and successful run.

Way outside broadcasting, but one of my business acquaintances once owned a liquor store and told me about a certain beer that his distributor was begging him to push. It was cheaply priced, it was not popular, he would stack pallets of the stuff right inside the entrance to his store, offer it on sale and do other things and no one would buy the stuff, not even college students. The brewery stopped their line, they began to sell on the long and proud history of this family-owned "USA owned and made" brewer, they re-marketed it as an upscale beer, and BOOM, suddenly this same beer that they nearly couldn't give away a few months earlier was flying off the shelves, so much so that the brewery had to open a second line to keep up with demand. Nothing changed - same recipe, same bottles, same label. All they changed was their marketing approach and branding.