The gap

In an ideal world, brand and business begin in sync.

The strategy is clear and the brand expression—the style, the story—reflects where the company is now, or where it's genuinely headed.

Then the business changes.

It grows, pivots, acquires, expands into new markets. Adds capabilities, and sheds old ones. The people, the offer and the ambition all move, but the brand doesn't always move with them.

A gap forms between what the business has become and what the brand is communicating about it.

Sometimes gradually, sometimes suddenly. Either way, by the time the word 'rebrand' gets mentioned, the gap has usually been there for a while.

Understanding the business-brand misalignment starts with two connected questions:

• What has changed, or is changing, in the business?
• What message does the brand need to send as a result?

These questions reveal the scale and direction of the gap, which state the brand is currently in and how it needs to shift: Lag, Leap or Led.

Lag Most commonly, the business has already moved and the brand is lagging behind. It needs to catch up, accurately representing capabilities, positioning or value that already exist in the business but aren’t yet visible externally.

Leap Other times, the opposite is true. The brand is a leap ahead of the business, making promises the business can’t yet fulfil. The gap between perception and reality becomes too wide.

Led The sweet spot is being brand–led. Positioning the brand slightly ahead of the business, pulling it toward a future state it’s genuinely capable of growing into. Staking out the position before the business has fully arrived there.

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Read more about Brand Transformations