Revitalized Icons: 5 Of The Best Rebrand Examples

1. What Separates a Successful Rebrand From an Expensive Logo Swap

Most rebrands fail because companies treat symptoms instead of causes. A new logo won’t fix a positioning problem. Fresh colors won’t solve a relevance crisis. The best rebrand examples in business history succeeded because leadership diagnosed the actual problem before touching any visual assets.

Strategic rebranding is the process of redefining a company’s market position, value proposition, and visual identity to address a specific business challenge, resulting in measurable improvements to revenue, market share, or brand perception.

The five rebrands below each faced different problems:

• Burberry: Brand dilution from over-licensing and cultural misappropriation
• Dunkin’: Category perception limiting growth potential
• Nike: Commoditization in a crowded athletic shoe market
• Abercrombie & Fitch: Toxic brand associations driving away target customers
• Apple: Existential crisis with 90 days of cash remaining

Each solution was tailored to the diagnosis. That’s why they worked.

2. Burberry Rebuilt Luxury Status Through Controlled Scarcity

Burberry has reinvented itself multiple times, but the 2018 rebrand under creative director Riccardo Tisci stands out for its strategic clarity. The problem wasn’t aesthetics. Burberry’s signature check pattern had become so widely counterfeited and over-licensed that it no longer signaled luxury.

Tisci, previously of Givenchy, partnered with legendary graphic designer Peter Saville to create a new visual identity. The approach included:

• Replacing the 1999 logo with a sans-serif wordmark for the first time in nearly 20 years
• Introducing a new TB monogram honoring founder Thomas Burberry
• Adopting streetwear-inspired “drop” release models to build scarcity
• Launching B Series capsule collections available only through Instagram and WeChat

CEO Marco Gobbetti’s five-year plan aimed to reposition Burberry as a “genuine luxury player” after years of lagging behind LVMH and Kering rivals. The announcement alone sent Burberry’s share price up more than 5%.

Why did Burberry choose streetwear positioning?

High-end streetwear was driving luxury growth. According to Bain & Company, the sector helped boost global luxury goods sales by 5% in 2018 to an estimated €263 billion. Burberry already had unexpected credibility in this space from its 1990s association with UK street culture. Rather than running from that history, Tisci leaned into it with partnerships like the Vivienne Westwood collaboration.

3. Dunkin’ Dropped “Donuts” to Signal Strategic Ambition

In September 2018, Dunkin’ Donuts officially became just “Dunkin’.” The name change wasn’t cosmetic. It signaled a fundamental shift in how the company wanted to compete.

The problem: Dunkin’ was losing ground in the $69 billion U.S. coffee market. While Starbucks posted 5-7% comparable store sales growth annually, Dunkin’ managed only about 1.5% over the same period. The “Donuts” in the name reinforced a category perception that limited growth.

The rebrand included:

• $100 million investment in store modernization
• New next-generation store designs emphasizing speed and mobile ordering
• Eight-headed tap systems for faster beverage service
• Expanded menu featuring espresso drinks, cold brew, and Nitro coffee
• Retention of the iconic pink and orange color palette

Results came quickly. YouGov data showed Dunkin’s “Buzz” score climbed from 12 to 21 following the announcement. By Q2 2019, the company reported “double-digit” growth in sales of their new espresso drinks.

What made this rebrand feel like an upgrade rather than a loss?

Dunkin’ kept everything that was working. The Frankfurter font, the pink and orange colors, and the playful brand voice all remained intact. The change felt like a nickname becoming official. Customers had been calling it “Dunkin'” for years through campaigns like “America Runs on Dunkin’.” The rebrand simply acknowledged reality while creating room for the beverage-led strategy.

4. Nike’s “Just Do It” Transformed Athletic Shoes Into a Movement

Nike’s 1988 “Just Do It” campaign is the most financially successful rebrand in history by the numbers. Over the following decade, Nike increased its North American market share from 18% to 43%, growing worldwide sales from $877 million to $9.2 billion.

The context matters. In 1987, Reebok had overtaken Nike by capitalizing on the aerobics craze with shoes designed specifically for women. Nike was losing the positioning battle, seen as just another athletic shoe manufacturer in a crowded market.

The strategic shift changed everything:

• Repositioning from product company to lifestyle brand
• Partnering with athletes who embodied determination (Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson)
• Creating a message universal enough to resonate beyond professional sports
• Doubling the advertising budget from $5 million (1987) to $10 million (1988)

The brilliance was in the simplicity. “Just Do It” applied equally to an Olympic sprinter and someone taking their first jog around the block. Nike stopped competing on product features and started owning the emotional territory of personal achievement.

5. Abercrombie & Fitch Went From Most Hated to Best Performing

In 2016, Abercrombie & Fitch was voted America’s most hated retailer. By 2023, it was the best-performing stock on the S&P 500, gaining 285% and outpacing even Nvidia.

The transformation required confronting toxic brand baggage head-on. Former CEO Mike Jeffries had built the brand on exclusivity that alienated more customers than it attracted. The dark stores, overwhelming cologne, and sexualized marketing had become liabilities as Gen Z consumers prioritized inclusivity.

CEO Fran Horowitz, who took over in 2017, systematically dismantled everything that wasn’t working:

• Brighter, more welcoming store environments
• Expanded size ranges and body-positive campaigns
• Shift from teenagers to 21-24 year olds starting their careers
• New product lines including workwear, wedding attire, and activewear
• Heavy investment in digital sales and influencer partnerships

The financial turnaround was dramatic. Stock price climbed from around $22 per share in May 2023 to $196 by May 2024. Revenue reached $4.95 billion in fiscal 2024, with operating margins improving from 2.5% in 2022 to 15% by 2024.

How did Abercrombie rebuild trust without a splashy campaign?

They didn’t announce the rebrand. According to Chief Marketing Officer Carey Krug, the strategy was to let consumers discover the changes organically. Product quality led, supported by influencer partnerships rather than traditional advertising. TikTok hashtags like #AbercrombieIsBack emerged naturally as shoppers noticed the transformation.

6. Apple’s “Think Different” Saved a Company 90 Days From Bankruptcy

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the company had 90 days of operating cash remaining. Market share had collapsed from 14% in 1993 to below 3%. Apple had posted consecutive losses of $816 million (1996) and $1.04 billion (1997).

The $90 million “Think Different” campaign, created with agency TBWA\Chiat\Day, launched on September 28, 1997 during the TV premiere of Toy Story. The approach was radical: no product shots, no feature comparisons, just black-and-white portraits of “the crazy ones” like Einstein, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Jobs understood that Apple’s problem wasn’t products. It was that customers and employees had forgotten what Apple stood for. The campaign rebuilt that foundation:

• Internal alignment around innovation and unconventional thinking
• External repositioning from “struggling computer company” to “brand for visionaries”
• Permission structure for the design-forward products that followed

Within 12 months, Apple’s stock price tripled. The company posted a $309 million profit in 1998 after the billion-dollar loss the year before. Market capitalization grew from $1.6 billion in late 1997 to $15.6 billion by 1999.

The campaign created runway for the jellybean-colored iMac launch in 1998. Without “Think Different” establishing Apple as a brand for creative outsiders, those unconventional designs might have been dismissed as more “toys” from a failing company.

7. The Pattern Behind Every Successful Rebrand

These five companies had different problems and different solutions. But the pattern is consistent:

• Accurate diagnosis: Each leadership team identified the real problem, not the obvious one
• Strategic patience: None of these rebrands were overnight transformations
• Selective preservation: All kept elements that were working (Dunkin’s colors, Burberry’s heritage, Nike’s Swoosh)
• Internal alignment: Employees understood and bought into the new direction
• Measurable outcomes: Success was defined by business metrics, not just design awards

A rebrand that doesn’t connect to business strategy is just expensive decoration. These examples succeeded because the visual changes reflected deeper strategic shifts that addressed real market problems.

If you’re considering a rebrand, the question isn’t “what should our new logo look like?” The question is “what business problem are we actually trying to solve?” Start there, and the visual identity will follow.

Ready to explore whether a strategic rebrand is right for your company? Let’s discuss what’s driving the need for change and whether the timing is right.