7 brand repositioning examples: what changed and what the companies reported

What brand repositioning means

Brand repositioning changes what a brand promises and to whom: its audience, its category or its reason to choose it. Harvard Business School's Jill Avery describes it as rewriting the brand's customer value proposition (HBS Online). A new logo can be part of it, but a logo alone is a refresh. Kevin Lane Keller's classic distinction is useful here: you reinforce a brand that still works, and you revitalize one that has lost ground by finding new sources of brand equity (California Management Review).

The examples below are real repositionings with public, primary or high-quality sources. Where a company reported results, we give them with the source; where nobody published reliable numbers, we say so.

Seven brand repositioning examples

1. Domino's: admitting the pizza was the problem (2009–2010)

• Before: a cheap, convenient delivery chain whose product had a poor reputation.
• After: a brand that publicly accepted the criticism and promised better taste. From late December 2009 it rolled out a new core recipe for crust, sauce and cheese, with a campaign that showed customers' complaints on screen.
• Reported result: in its first-quarter 2010 results, Domino's credited the new pizza for a 14.3% rise in US same-store sales (SEC filing). Its annual report shows US same-store sales falling 4.9% in 2008, rising 0.5% in 2009 and 9.9% in 2010 (Domino's 2010 10-K).
• Lesson: the repositioning worked because the product changed first. The campaign only told people about it.

2. Juan Valdez: from advertising character to coffee shop (2002)

• Before: a character created in 1959 by Colombia's coffee growers' federation to promote Colombian coffee abroad (WARC).
• After: a consumer brand of coffee shops and packaged coffee. Procafecol was created in 2002 to run it, and the first shop opened on 14 December 2002 at Bogotá's El Dorado airport (Juan Valdez).
• Reported result: Procafecol's operating revenue reached COP 807,300 million in 2024, 9.8% more than in 2023 (La República).
• Lesson: repositioning can change the category entirely, from an ingredient's ambassador to a place you visit, while keeping the symbol people already trusted.

3. Dunkin': from donut shop to beverage brand (2018–2019)

• Before: Dunkin' Donuts, a donut chain that also sold coffee.
• After: Dunkin', which announced it would become a beverage-led, on-the-go brand (Dunkin' press release). The word "Donuts" left the name, but the pink and orange colors and the familiar typeface stayed, and the menu leaned into espresso and cold brew.
• Reported result: for the fourth quarter of 2019 the company reported its highest quarterly comparable sales growth in six years and credited espresso and cold brew (SEC filing). Many other factors affect sales, so read that as a signal, not proof.
• Lesson: keep the assets people recognize when you change what you stand for.

4. BBVA: one bank instead of many local names (2019)

• Before: a group of local brands, including Bancomer in Mexico, Francés in Argentina, Continental in Peru and Compass in the United States.
• After: one global name and a new logo, adopted everywhere in 2019, so the group could present itself as one increasingly global and digital bank (BBVA).
• Reported result: none we could verify that isolates the brand change.
• Lesson: a repositioning can be about coherence. One name lets one product and digital experience travel across countries.

5. Gucci: a new creative point of view (2015)

• Before: a luxury house whose sales had stalled.
• After: a new creative director, Alessandro Michele, appointed in January 2015 with responsibility for every collection and the brand image, and a distinctly new aesthetic from his first collections.
• Reported result: Gucci's revenue went from €3,898 million in 2015 to €9,628 million in 2019 (Kering 2019 results). It didn't last: Kering reported Gucci's 2025 revenue at €6 billion, down 22% (Kering).
• Lesson: a sharp new position can transform a brand, and it still needs renewing.

6. CUPRA: from a trim level to its own brand (2018)

• Before: SEAT's sporty label, used on high-performance versions of SEAT models.
• After: a standalone brand launched in February 2018 with its own logo, its own models and its own customer (SEAT).
• Reported result: CUPRA delivered 328,800 cars in 2025, up 32.5%, more than SEAT's 257,400 (Volkswagen Group).
• Lesson: sometimes the clearest repositioning is to let one part of a brand become a brand of its own.

7. Burberry: from over-licensed to luxury again (2006–2014)

• Before: a heritage name spread across too many licences and products. Angela Ahrendts, who led the turnaround, wrote that licensing had come to threaten what made the brand distinctive (Harvard Business Review).
• After: fewer licences, design run centrally and the focus back on core heritage products such as the trench coat.
• Reported result: total revenue rose 17% to £2,330 million in the 2013/14 financial year (Burberry results announcement).
• Lesson: repositioning can mean doing less, and saying no to income that dilutes the brand.

A famous case without verified numbers

Old Spice's 2010 campaign is the most quoted repositioning in marketing classes: an old-fashioned deodorant brand that spoke to younger men, and to the women who often bought it for them. The strategy is well documented. The sales figures that circulate with it, though, come mostly from agency and award material and don't agree with each other, so we leave them out.

What these examples have in common

• The product or experience changed, not only the message. Domino's changed its recipe; Juan Valdez opened shops; Dunkin' changed its menu.
• They kept what people already recognized. Dunkin' kept its colors and type; Juan Valdez kept its character.
• They chose a specific audience and promise. CUPRA picked a customer SEAT wasn't serving; Burberry chose luxury over volume.
• Results took time and none are permanent. Gucci shows that a position has to be renewed.

Repositioning, rebranding or refresh?

How to plan a repositioning

The HBS Online article sets out four steps that match what we see in practice (HBS Online):

1. Check the brand's health. What do customers believe today, and where does that hurt you?
2. Research customers. Who do you want to win, and what do they need that you can credibly offer?
3. Define the new position. One audience, one promise, one reason to believe it.
4. Carry it out everywhere. Product, prices, service, website, sales materials and signage, in an order your team can actually deliver.

The fourth step is where most repositionings slip, which is why we wrote a rebrand launch checklist for the rollout.

How Dardo can help

We plan and design repositionings through our brand repositioning service, and handle identity changes through rebranding and brand refresh. If you're comparing studios in Colombia, our guide on choosing a rebranding agency lists what to ask. When you're ready, tell us what you want the brand to stand for.