I was in a cab racing across Manhattan when I spotted him: A pale, disheveled figure lurching across East 23rd Street. His hair was a messy tangle that looked like it hadn’t been combed in weeks. His clothes were rumpled and stained as though he had spent the night on a park bench.
This would be the last time I saw my old college friend for quite some time. Daniel W. was one of the brightest people I knew, but he was beset by internal demons that strained our relationship. We were growing apart. His dark side was crushing the promise of his many talents and I seriously worried about his future.
Fast-forward 10 years. I was walking through Grand Central Station when I bumped into a familiar figure. It was Daniel W. again, only this time well-dressed, immaculately groomed and carrying an air of success. He was with a colleague, who he introduced as “my protégé.” Incredibly, Dan had managed to transform himself into a high-powered CTO at a leading technology company.
My old friend is the personification of successful re-branding. He didn’t just put on some nice clothes and get a fancy haircut. He looked inside. He faced the demons within and addressed the things that were holding him back. It’s a lesson medical device companies who are trying to shake off a damaged brand should take to heart.
Throughout my career, I’ve worked on many re-branding assignments. It’s difficult enough to change perceptions when the company or product is well-known but has accumulated a lot of baggage. But it’s impossible when management resists taking a hard look at internal issues and making the necessary changes.
One of our assignments several years ago was to reconnect with a certain market that had been rubbed the wrong way by aggressive and arrogant sales tactics. We were challenged to create and brand a program designed to win over this customer. The result was a campaign that intrigued customers and even won a few industry awards. But because the company in question didn’t back it up with meaningful change, customer perceptions didn’t change.
Compare that to another client who had just emerged from bankruptcy. Serious quality issues had nearly driven the company out of business. But it did what it took to reinvent its brand. The company put a sharp new management team in place and strengthened its quality control measures. And only then did it come to us. We created a compelling new look and feel that worked because it reflected something real — real change.
So if you want to change how people think about your brand, remember this: Real change starts from within.
Tod Brubaker is an associate creative director / copywriter at Seidler Bernstein. He has extensive experience in general consumer and medical B2B advertising and communications. Tod’s work has won numerous industry awards, including Cannes, Addy, Rx Club, and top honors for print from the Johnson & Johnson James E. Burke Marketing Excellence Awards.
