CPR for Brands
One of the remarkable speeches of the Cannes Lion Festival came from Gap CEO Richard Dickson. Dickson explained how to revitalize the brand wit a beam in their eyes. Admitting that one of their mistakes in the past was "drowning" customers with too many promotions, Dickson said that they have started to implement a strategy called "fashion fun", which personalizes the brand by turning big product ideas into big campaigns.
Joining Gap in 2023, Dickson is not an unfamiliar face. He previously worked at Mattel for more than 20 years and is known for revitalizing the Barbie brand. According to Dickson, who came to this position after years of Gap's poor performance, the brand is facing "identity" issues and people can't see and wonder where the brand is "going". He says the common revitalization formula for Gap Inc.'s brands (Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta) is cultural relevance, great product, great execution and great experience.
While many brands think of "discounting" first in order to liquidate and monetize the stock they are sitting on, this is only a short-term cash flow solution. In the long run, this strategy turns into a dead investment, as the consumer, accustomed to discounts and promotions, will no longer consider buying your product without a discount. As GAP did, you can get away with anything, and the main rule of transforming brands is the "art of storytelling".
The most striking of these transformation stories is still the story of the Lego brand. In 2003, the brand was $800 million in debt, but thanks to the vision of then 36-year-old CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, the brand first went "back to basics" and increased its sales one brick at a time. Then, with its innovation and creative strategies, it managed to become the "Apple for toys" (even though Apple today is criticized for its lack of innovation). The brand, which quadrupled its profitability even during the 2008-2010 crisis, still continues its growth trend today and last broke its own turnover record in 2024 .
After creating the smiley-faced Lego people (Minifigures), which increased the brand's engagement, the Lego movie in 2014 and the subsequent Lego Batman movie won hearts and minds. The launch of series such as Lego Architecture for adults and Lego Botanicals, which now allows them to open their own flower shops, is a whole new level of creativity. While 5 years ago we couldn't even imagine walking into a store selling plastic flowers, now we see an example of a "Blue Ocean Strategy" where there is no competition at all, creating its own demand.
The value created by brands in their foundation stages and the bond they establish with customers are so important that we always come across the same concepts in the "revitalization/transformation" strategies of many brands: "back to the roots/ back to basics/ back to company origins". The basic solution is to first recover the dispersed focus by returning to the core, and then to move forward again in an innovative way about the vision, without breaking old ties but by creating new ones. We've already told the story of Jaguar, which tried to appeal to a completely new audience by adopting a completely new identity which ignored its old ties and core identity and failed with a campaign that upset its loyal audience.
Shall we make that connection too? I'm waiting for your examples of other brands that have re-connected to life with CPR in the comments.