There can be several deciding factors that go into why a company will rebrand their identity. Perhaps the company wants to reposition the brand with a whole new demographic. Or, the company has shifted their focus in some manner, rendering their previous identity obsolete. But a very common reason companies deploy a top to bottom rebranding is that their public profile has been tarnished and they simply need a reboot, so to speak. For a company in this position, a rebranding can be the first step towards distancing themselves from whatever negative connotations are associated with the previous brand.
The Detroit Lions are in just such a position. During the 2008 season, the team became the first NFL franchise to lose all 16 regular season games (the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 0-14 during the 1976 regular season). They also hold the esteemed honor of not winning a championship since 1957, which is the second longest drought behind the Arizona Cardinals, who at least made it to the Super Bowl last year.
How do you save the profile of a franchise that is mired in mediocrity?
The obvious first answer is winning. But, before the team can take the field, you have to demonstrate to your fan base that this is a different Detroit Lions football team. And, when the team unveiled their new logo on April 20, 2009, they took a conscious step towards that goal.
The new logo and type treatment is a subtle, yet effective upgrade of a logo that has been relatively unchanged since 1970. The mark, or emblem in this case, has been updated to give the mascot a fiercer look and feel while the type treatment has been modernized. And, though steeped in tradition, this new logo subtly reinforces that the 2009 Detroit Lions should be viewed as a new team with a new attitude and culture.
Is there precedent here?
I thought it would be interesting to look at another team who has successfully rebranded themselves over the past decade or so. I, by no means, believe that the Lions can expect the same outcome as this team, but did find the end result interesting.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers entered the NFL as a franchise expansion team in 1976, which historically doesn’t bode well for any team. Their inaugural season, the team posted a win less 0-14 regular season record.
Granted, the team lacked depth of talent at all the positions, which is typical of an expansion team. But to make matters worse for the fans, you have to question the branding decisions made by the organization from the onset. The original logo, designed by Lamar Sparkman, is a picture of a pirate, who resembles Errol Flynn more than Captain Jack Sparrow, with a dagger between his teeth. Combined with the colors of orange and white, the team resembled a creamsicle more than a professional football team with a pirate macsot. The team would only post one winning season, out of 19, from 1976-1995 and was widely regarded as a team to not fear when on your schedule.
Sound familiar? At the end of the 1995 season, the Bucs would hire a new Head Coach, Tony Dungy, and ditch the old brand identity in an effort to reinvigorate the team, the franchise and its fan base. The redesigned logo, crafted by Eric Rickabaugh, features a tattered pirates flag with a skull and football mounted on a sword. The color palette was changed from orange and white (muted and passive) to red, black, orange, white and pewter (bright and aggressive). You have to agree that both the updated logo and color palette are befitting of an NFL franchise.
The season following the rebranding, the team’s record did not improve from the previous season’s 7-9. But the team would slowly improve until the 2001-2 season where they ultimately won the Super Bowl. Of course, this feat should be credited solely to the team’s play on the field and the coaches behind them. But, as a football fan, I didn’t begin to remotely take them seriously until the season they introduced the rebranded identity. As far as I was concerned, the team, and the brand, was a joke.
Will rebranding a team identity = winning season
… and what can this teach us about rebranding?
There is no way to say whether changing the brand of the Detroit Lions will change the culture of the team, or the attitude the fans have about the team, until they start winning games. And the formula for a winning team is comprised of great players and coaches, not stylish uniforms and logos. But, the Lions have made a statement, whether you believe it is emphatic or not, that they are moving the organization in a new direction. Hopefully that new direction will be a successful one.
A brand is a set of differentiating promises that link a product to its customers.
This is such an appropriate quote from Stuart Agres. When your brand is suffering from poor public perception, it is imperative that you use every tool at your disposal to turn this around. A great way to inject new confidence from the inside out is to “reinvent” yourselves through a new brand identity. A properly redesigned brand can start you on the path of recovery, but know that it won’t fix your problems.
