Bring Back a Brand: The reactivation challenge

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The votes are in and our quest to Bring Back a Brand is down to three finalists. Now, we’ve asked experts how they would bring your favorite brands up to date.

The public vote is in. And it’s clear the nation’s hunger for old, retired brands has not been satisfied: The Grocer’s Bring Back a Brand Facebook page, launched in October, has attracted more than 10,000 followers and 8,500 votes cast.

We’ve now whittled down the 10-strong list of finalists (from more than 100 originally nominated) to the three brands consumers seem to miss the most. In alphabetical order: Funny Feet, Toffo and Trio.

But our campaign is more than just a popularity contest: in the final phase of our year-long campaign, we asked brand agency partner Elmwood to update the original packaging and profile of these defunct brands for the modern retail environment. Getting the balance right between old and new is vitally important, says Elliot Wilson, MD of Elmwood London.

“The marketplace these brands once ruled has changed completely, as consumers demand increasing sophistication in return for their loyalty”, says Wilson. “But whatever people recall loving about a brand must be retained as it evolves for the 21st century.”

And we haven’t limited our makeover plans to the packaging. We wanted the works: a brand activation plan to recreate and reignite the brand using all of the tools in a modern marketer’s armoury, to ensure maximum impact from minimal cost.

Central to all three brand reactivations is social media. “New product launches via social channels can be up to 90 times more effective than using traditional forms of media, whilst at the same time saving brand marketing departments thousands of pounds of marketing investment,” explains Duncan Walters, MD of Brand Engage (part of the Brandwidth Group).

“The nostalgia that comes with old brands makes social platforms perfect for relaunches, as they encourage the sharing of user stories and memories,” he adds.

We’ve presented two alternative proposals, as well as a brand reactivation, for each brand. Please vote for your favourites, and tell us what you think. We’re also going to ask Facebook fans to see which concept they prefer (facebook.com/bringbackabrand) before presenting the findings to the brand owners.