conundrum
Bert (Thomas Bertram) Lance, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in Jimmy Carter’s 1977 administration is credited with the phrase, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” The sentiment being that as long as it was working relatively well then leave it alone. While in many circumstances this can be viewed as sage advice it may not hold true for everything.
branding
When we talk about the term branding in mixed company then cattle and possibly tattoos may come to mind. In the business world branding comes hand in hand with marketing. According to https://bmgcreative.com/branding-become-buzz-word/ branding is defined as a long term, strategic method used to keep the customers brought in through marketing efforts. Branding focuses on building associations between brands and memories within the minds of customers. It’s all about creating value and trust.
I must admit that I thought that branding as a marketing tool was relatively new (somewhere during the last couple of decades) and was shocked to learn that it first was recognized in the 50’s and 60’s. Proctor and Gamble is alleged to be the first to employ this method. (check this out for a little more history)- https://brandingstrategyinsider.com/a-brief-history-of-branding/#:~:text=And%20that’s%20the%20point%3A%20When,on%20exactly%20this%3A%20functional%20benefits.
product vs. company
We all understand the concept of buying a “brand name” item. Heinz or Hunts Ketchup, Dial or Ivory soap, Apple sound familiar? Iphone, IPAD? The distinction needing to be made here is between the product and the company branding. Company (or corporate) branding is the total package. Remember our definition above? It’s the association made by all of the players between the brand being purchased, managed or manufactured and the memories that are evoked when you hear or see the name.
If you are like me I tend to take for granted the corporate branding and sort of struggled when I tried to think of a couple of examples. I got one of the biggies – Apple. Everything “I” helps us easily identify the product but this can be considered esoteric by some.
The real biggies are more obvious. How about AMAZON? Everyone is familiar and can readily associate fast delivery, competitive pricing with this mega company. (And thank goodness for all of these guys particularly in the last few years!).
My personal favorite is GOOGLE. Everyone, young and old, recognizes the ability at our fingertips to simply “Google” your question. That is corporate branding at its best. You don’t “Yahoo” it or “AOL” it. You just make that simple foray into the vast pool of knowledge known as ‘Google’.
rebranding
Now that we’ve defined and explained the concept of branding we get to the real purpose of the post. ‘Rebranding’. So we have established a company, a brand that is known. But wait! Suddenly it isn’t enough. That go to, I’m agonna choose it every time, is now threatened by…competition! 
Resting on your laurels is all fine and good. (If you’re only planning a short run). And way back when it was enough to have that name, that reputation..dare I say it? That brand. Unfortunately, despite copyright laws it is incredibly easy to mimic or ‘shadow’ another person (or company’s creation). You can make it better, bigger and if you’re foolish enough (sadly) to go out of the U.S., you can make it cheaper.
So what do we do as a business/corporation??? We RE-brand. We (hopefully) take what was good to begin with and update and enhance all the good points and come up with a new relevant way to sell it. It can be a never ending battle.
people who need people 
I know, I can’t help myself. I told you, I think in song lyrics. https://sassaleeyours.com/i-think-in-song-lyrics/
But when I first started throwing this idea around, my brain couldn’t help but go to re-branding ourselves as humans. We are so willing to accept that the products that we have known and loved can be pushed aside by the next big greatest thing.
But what about us?
I think that a perfect synonym for re-branding is reinvention. By my count, I have “reinvented” myself twice so far. Now I am only counting the adult years. I started out as a waitress (and yes, that was a career). I then became discontented thinking there was more and chose a profession and entered college. (and just so you know that path wasn’t easy but is for a later story). After multiple decades (and you don’t need to know how many) I found, fell into, (bled for) my dream job.
This job took me to where I previously had only dreamed of. It took someone believing in me. Me, believing in myself, and an incredible team of like-minded individuals who didn’t know where we would be going, only that it was good and we were the people to get us there.
In 2013 this new adventure started. I was privileged to be invited in on the ground floor. During my tenure our team morphed into many things. I was fortunate enough to work for a corporation that was constantly looking ahead and putting their “consumers” need at the forefront. During this time I learned a great deal about branding and the necessity to move with the ever changing shift and ‘rebrand’.
best lessons learned
Throughout this journey I feel like I have been lucky to hold onto a pretty solid mantra. Be true to yourself. We definitely need to always be willing to move and change with the times. Adjust to what your consumer, your tribes need.
But the greatest lesson of all is to be true to yourself. Your approach may need a facelift from time to time to adjust to that ever changing market. But when it comes to selling the original product, what you started with, that basic concept is what they came in for and really what they are counting on. Whatever face you may need to cloak it with today. Make sure that those bones are good.
After all, it wasn’t broke. So why fix it?
Sassaleeyours…