| Summary: | The strategy when you change the visual part of the brand identity is often referred to as Corporate rebranding and is seen as a good way to show that a company has undergone a change. Despite high risks and high costs, this strategy has become more common and there are companies today who make the choice to change an already well-known graphic profile. This phenomenon is what underlies this essay’s problem statement: Why does a company with an already well-known graphic profile choose to change it and how does the process behind the change occur? In what way have the company’s customers recognized the change and how has the company’s image changed in this context? The purpose of this essay is therefore to explore the process that occurs when a company in the sport and fashion industry changes its visual identity and to explore how the company’s customers have perceived the change. To fulfil the purpose of the essay a case study was carried out on a company’s Corporate rebranding process. The company that was chosen was the Swedish sports retail chain Stadium Sweden AB who decided to change its graphic profile even though their logo was one of the two most recognized in their field. With the help of existing theories on brands and Corporate rebranding two interviews and a survey was conducted for this study. After this case study we have come to the following conclusions; The reason for the brand change was primarily the need to modernize the graphic profile in context of a larger reorganization of the company. The process can be described in four main phases: Initiation phase, Planning phase, Development phase and Launch and implementation phase. The study also showed that most of the customers had noticed the change and that the company’s image had changed for the better as they managed to maintain the core values of the brand while making it more contemporary and unique. We have also come up with three propositions that can be used in future research on this subject: 1. A reason for a brand change might be that the old graphic profile needs to be modernized to practically suit new media, 2. The choice of the Phase in/Phase out strategy is controlled by the availability of various resources and 3. To distance the brand from its heritage doesn’t need to be a pitfall for a brand change.
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