Brand Makeovers

As mentioned above, building an entirely new brand or doing a wholesale remake is expensive and time-consuming. You have to develop ideas, test them, make changes and re-test. Following are some things to watch out for during a brand-makeover process:

• Stay focused: Don’t lose all focus on the old brand and minimize your efforts with it to the point that it declines even faster. Remember, you’re using the old venture to fund the new—if there aren’t profits from the old brand, there may not be a new one. Keep your top staff involved in the old effort and be sure all of management’s energy isn’t poured strictly into the new effort.