Rebranding in Action: A Strategic Approach to Transferring Brand Equity in FMCG Markets

Bridging the Gap Between Legacy and Innovation: Insights into Product Rebranding Success

The master thesis, Transferring Brand👉 A distinctive identity that differentiates a product, service, or entity. Equity Through Rebranding👉 The process of reshaping a brand’s identity to reflect new goals or values.: A Case Study of the Brand Fun One, explores the intricate process of rebranding a product while maintaining and enhancing its brand equity. Authored by Lars-Petter Fossheim and Christian Kalland as part of their master’s thesis at Copenhagen Business School, the study focuses on the acquisition and rebranding of the Danish squash beverage brand Fun One by Orkla Foods. The authors aim to fill a gap in existing branding literature, which has predominantly focused on corporate branding, by addressing product-level rebranding and its impact on brand equity.

Theoretical Foundations

The study begins by establishing a theoretical framework rooted in branding, brand equity, and rebranding concepts. Branding is defined as the process of creating a unique identity for a product or company to differentiate it from competitors. The authors emphasize the distinction between corporate and product branding, noting that corporate branding involves long-term strategies addressing multiple stakeholders, whereas product branding is customer-focused and often tied to short-term marketing goals.

Brand equity is explored through Keller’s Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model, which serves as the cornerstone of the research. This model outlines four key steps for building strong brand equity: establishing brand identity, creating brand meaning, eliciting positive brand responses, and forging strong customer-brand relationships. Each step involves specific components such as brand salience, performance, imagery, judgments, feelings, and resonance.

Rebranding is presented as a continuum ranging from minor evolutionary changes to major revolutionary transformations. The authors outline triggers for rebranding, including changes in ownership structure, corporate strategy, competitive positioning, or external environments. They also highlight the risks associated with rebranding, such as alienating existing customers or losing established goodwill.

Keller’s Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) concept

Keller’s Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) concept is a comprehensive framework designed to help marketers build, measure, and manage brand equity from the perspective of the customer. At its core, the model emphasizes that the power of a brand lies in the perceptions, feelings, and experiences that customers associate with it over time. Keller organizes this process into four sequential steps, each supported by specific brand-building blocks.

Four Steps of Brand Building

1. Establishing Brand Identity: The first step involves creating brand salience, which refers to the depth and breadth of brand awareness among consumers. Depth measures how easily customers can recall or recognize the brand, while breadth assesses the range of situations in which the brand comes to mind. This foundational step ensures that consumers understand what the brand stands for and which needs it satisfies.
2. Creating Brand Meaning: Once awareness is established, the focus shifts to defining what the brand represents through strong, favorable, and unique associations. Brand meaning is divided into two categories:
   • Brand Performance: This pertains to functional attributes such as reliability, durability, and design that meet consumer needs.
   • Brand Imagery: This addresses emotional and social aspects, including user profiles, purchase situations, personality traits, and historical associations.
3. Eliciting Positive Brand Responses: At this stage, consumers form judgments and feelings about the brand based on its performance and imagery. Judgments involve evaluations of quality, credibility, consideration, and superiority. Feelings include emotional reactions such as warmth, excitement, security, or self-respect.
4. Forging Brand Relationships: The final step is achieving brand resonance, where customers develop intense loyalty and active engagement with the brand. This involves behavioral loyalty (frequent purchases), attitudinal attachment (emotional connection), sense of community (shared identity among users), and active engagement (willingness to invest time or resources in the brand).

Six Brand-Building Blocks

These steps are supported by six key building blocks:

• Brand Salience: How well consumers recognize or recall the brand.
• Brand Performance: Functional benefits that meet consumer needs.
• Brand Imagery: Emotional associations tied to psychological or social needs.
• Brand Judgments: Consumer evaluations of quality, credibility, and uniqueness.
• Brand Feelings: Emotional responses elicited by the brand.
• Brand Resonance: The depth of consumer-brand relationships characterized by loyalty and engagement.

Key Insights from Keller’s CBBE Model

The CBBE model operates as a pyramid where each step builds upon the previous one. For example, meaningful associations cannot be established without first creating awareness. Similarly, strong relationships cannot be forged unless positive judgments and feelings are elicited. Keller emphasizes that successful brands achieve resonance by combining rational considerations (performance) with emotional connections (imagery).

This model provides marketers with a structured approach to understanding how customers perceive their brands and offers actionable insights for enhancing brand equity through targeted strategies at each stage of the pyramid.

Research Context

The case study centers on Orkla Foods’ acquisition of O.Kavli A/S and its Fun One brand. Orkla Foods is a leading supplier of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in Scandinavia. Fun One is a sugar-free squash beverage with a strong presence in Denmark but lacks alignment with Orkla’s existing Fun Light product line in other Nordic countries. The acquisition presented an opportunity to unify the brand across markets while addressing Fun One’s branding challenges.

The authors identify several issues with Fun One’s current brand equity. While it enjoys high awareness in Denmark’s squash category, it suffers from unclear identity and misperceptions about its unique selling points. The product’s design and personality are described as average, failing to generate significant consumer loyalty or engagement.

Methodology

The study employs a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative and quantitative research. Data collection includes focus groups with Danish consumers and marketing professionals, in-depth interviews with branding experts and Orkla representatives, and a consumer survey. This triangulated methodology ensures a comprehensive understanding of Fun One’s existing brand equity and consumer perceptions.

The analysis leverages Keller’s CBBE model to evaluate Fun One’s strengths and weaknesses across various dimensions. For instance, while the brand has strong salience (high recognition), its performance (functional attributes) and imagery (emotional associations) are less compelling. These insights inform the proposed rebranding strategy.

Proposed Rebranding Strategy

The authors propose a four-stage rebranding process: repositioning, renaming, redesigning, and relaunching.

• Repositioning
  The repositioning of Fun One as a summer thirst-quencher marks a significant shift in its branding strategy, moving away from its previous perception as a sports beverage. This change aligns with consumer preferences, emphasizing the product’s suitability for leisure and seasonal consumption. By focusing on summer refreshment, the brand aims to resonate more deeply with its target audience and gain relevance during peak consumption periods.
• Renaming
  The renaming of Fun One to Fun Light serves as a strategic move to unify the brand across Nordic markets under Orkla Foods’ existing product line. This consistency strengthens brand recognition and leverages the equity of Fun Light, which is already established in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The new name also reflects the product’s sugar-free attribute while positioning it as a healthier choice for consumers.
• Redesigning
  The redesign of Fun One includes updates to both the logo and bottle design, ensuring alignment with its new positioning as a summer thirst-quencher. These aesthetic changes aim to enhance visual appeal and create a more modern and cohesive look that resonates with consumers. The redesign also serves as an opportunity to differentiate the product from competitors while maintaining familiarity for existing customers.
• Relaunching
  The relaunching phase involves a comprehensive marketing campaign designed to introduce the rebranded product effectively to consumers. This campaign focuses on communicating the new positioning, name, and design while retaining elements of the brand’s previous identity to minimize confusion among loyal customers. By leveraging multiple channels, including digital platforms and in-store promotions, the relaunch seeks to maximize visibility and drive engagement with both existing and new audiences.

These changes aim to retain elements of Fun One’s existing equity—such as its sugar-free attribute—while addressing its weaknesses in identity and engagement.

Managerial Implications

The managerial implications of the study on rebranding Fun One provide a nuanced roadmap for brand managers in the FMCG sector, emphasizing strategic alignment and consumer-centric approaches. The research underscores that understanding existing brand equity is a prerequisite for effective rebranding. Managers must identify and preserve valuable attributes of the current brand, such as consumer loyalty and positive associations, while addressing weaknesses like unclear identity or lack of engagement. This ensures that the rebranding process builds on the strengths of the existing brand rather than alienating its established customer base.

Clear communication emerges as a critical factor during the relaunch phase. The study highlights the risks of consumer confusion and resistance if changes are not adequately explained. Managers are advised to deploy comprehensive marketing campaigns that articulate the rationale behind the rebranding, focusing on how it enhances the product’s relevance and appeal. Such communication strategies should aim to reassure loyal customers while attracting new ones, ensuring a smooth transition from the old brand to its new identity.

Moreover, the authors emphasize the importance of aligning product-level branding with broader corporate strategies. This approach facilitates economies of scale in packaging and advertising while creating a unified market presence across diverse regions. For global brands operating in multiple markets, this alignment helps maintain consistency while allowing for localized adaptations to meet specific consumer preferences. By integrating product branding into corporate objectives, managers can enhance operational efficiency and strengthen the brand’s overall equity.

Conclusion

The thesis concludes that successful product rebranding requires a delicate balance between retaining valuable aspects of existing brand equity and introducing changes that enhance relevance and appeal. By applying Keller’s CBBE model to Fun One’s case, the authors demonstrate how theoretical frameworks can guide practical decision-making in real-world scenarios.

Their work contributes to branding literature by addressing the underexplored area of product-level rebranding and providing a structured approach for transferring brand equity effectively. It also serves as a valuable resource for practitioners seeking to navigate the complexities of rebranding in competitive markets.

In summary, this study not only sheds light on the challenges of rebranding but also provides a roadmap for leveraging it as a strategic tool for growth and differentiation in the FMCG industry.

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