During WWI, the German U-Boat revolutionized sea warfare. For the first time, battleships had a hidden enemy beneath the surface of the water. And these battleships were being sunk at an alarming rate. In open water, traditional wartime camouflage was ineffective. The sea and sky were constantly changing a ship’s “natural” environment as weather fluctuated.

So what was to be done? Rethink camouflage, obviously. British naval officer and artist Norman Wilkinson pioneered a new camouflaging technique based not on blending in, but on standing out. Blending in was impossible. Standing out was possible, but why was it useful?

Torpedoes were slower back then, and radar and sonar weren’t as advanced. U-Boats had to fire torpedoes based on where they thought a ship was headed. This involved determining a ship’s bearing and speed. Anything that disrupted these two metrics was also effective at camouflaging a battleship in the open sea. Thus was born a form of camouflage termed “Razzle Dazzle.”

Norman Wilkinson used bright, loud colors and contrasting diagonal patterns painted on boats to confuse U-Boat captains and make their bearing and speed less apparent. Examples of this Razzle Dazzle are below, but try imagining them in bright colors like purple, orange, and yellow.

Camouflage is often thought of as a way to conceal an object. However, if the object cannot be hidden, as in the case with a WWI ship on the open sea, the purpose of camouflage then becomes to disrupt those trying to find the object. Case in point: zebras. Alternating black and white stripes doesn’t seem like an ideal camouflage, but when a bunch of zebras are hanging out, the stripes all blend together in a predator’s vision. This makes it difficult for the zebra’s primary predator, the lion, to hone in on one particular zebra, increasing safety for all.

Razzle Dazzle camouflage is a prime example of innovation through design research. Design research is an investigation into the process of product design. In the case of Razzle Dazzle, coming up with an effective means of camouflage meant revisiting the goals of camouflage and the constraints on an enemy’s weapons. In commercial examples of new product innovation, many times this means revisiting how consumers are actually using your products.

Consider the Whirlpool Duet front-loading washers and dryers. Whirlpool observed one woman who had placed her front-loading dryer on cinderblocks to make loading and unloading easier. This kind of design research led to the pedestal and storage unit, which is now prevalent with front-loading washers and dryers. New innovation opportunities can often be uncovered by going back to the basics:

•   What problem are we trying to solve?
•   What are the parameters?
•   How are products currently being used to solve this problem?

As Microsoft Ethnographer Tracey Lovejoy said, “In today’s competitive and global market, companies are finding it necessary to deeply understand their customer and build their product accordingly.” Though in the case of Razzle Dazzle, one could easily substitute “customer” for “enemy” and “product” for “battleship.”

In the 1980s and 1990s, Circuit City was the leading electronics retailer in the United States with about 400 stores nationwide. From 1982 to 1999, Circuit City generated cumulative stock returns 22 times better than the market, beating out Intel, Wal-Mart, and GE. Circuit City’s future looked bright. However, when the dynamics of the market changed, Circuit City rested on their existing brand equity.

In the 1990s, Best Buy entered the market with an innovative retail strategy. In an effort to gain market share, Best Buy secured prime real estate positions and invested in gaming, the creation of an e-commerce website, and viral marketing. But even though Best Buy had changed the retail electronics game, Circuit City stayed the course.

Circuit City laid off their highest paid sales personnel to reduce costs, which negatively impacted customer service. And while Best Buy was paying a premium for the best retail locations and opening new stores, Circuit City stayed with their current stores and failed to update their design. In 2009, Circuit City went bankrupt. Could bankruptcy have been prevented? Perhaps not, but a brand repositioning may have helped.

Brand repositioning is different from rebranding. Rebranding is essentially re-skinning a brand, focused on brand identity and the perceptions and associations of that brand.  Repositioning delves deeper than the skin, and involves changes to some or all aspects of a brand’s positioning strategy, including:

•    Target market
•    Frame of reference (space in which the brand competes)
•    Core benefit the brand provides
•    Reason to believe the brand can deliver on this benefit

Companies should consider repositioning their brand when they need to alter their strategic direction, adapt to changing consumer preferences, bring in new customers, and/or differentiate from other brands.

As in any major corporate change, not every repositioning effort is successful. Several best practices can be employed to avoid common pitfalls and mitigate some of the risk involved.

Secure CEO buy-in

CEO commitment is essential in a brand repositioning effort. The CEO brings credibility to the effort and shows the company’s commitment to change. Furthermore, the CEO is the only person within an organization who can drive change in all functional areas within the company, create a vision, and gain support from key stakeholders.

Engage the whole company

A company’s greatest asset is its people. If a brand repositioning initiative only involves the marketing department without support from sales, finance, engineering, consumer service, and manufacturing, it is likely to fail. Since repositioning is more than “re-skinning” the company, it must go deeper than marketing.

Remember your history

An excavation into a company’s history can lead to new insights and illuminations and reveal core competencies and what differentiates the brand from their competitors. Looking back can help a company move forward and gain inspiration from the company’s founders.

Understand your target market and consumer needs

It is important to listen to your consumers and ask for their feedback. By speaking to current users and non-users of the product or service in question, a company can better understand what resonates with their target market, and what might resonate with ancillary target markets.

Make the new branding believable

When a company repositions their brand, they may say, “We have the best consumer service and we offer the lowest prices. We are fun, reliable, and innovative. We are the best.” However, if it isn’t true, consumers will not trust the brand. The brand’s message should be uplifting and positive, but it must also be honest and believable.

Consistently project and reinforce the branding

Communication of any positioning needs to be clear and consistent so that consumers can easily understand the brand’s benefit to them.

Image source: jakerome