The Ultimate Guide to Rebranding: 
Tips from 
11 Companies 
Who Got It Right

Reading Time: 10 minutes

What are the most successful rebranding examples?

The most successful rebranding examples share one trait: they refused to accept their product category as a limitation. Dollar Shave Club was just a razor company until it raised $1 billion by making grooming irreverent. Warby Parker was just an eyewear retailer until it hit a $3 billion valuation by making glasses affordable and human. Airbnb was just a hotel alternative until it raised $4.4 billion in its IPO by selling belonging, not beds. Tesla was just an electric car company until it became the most valuable automaker on earth by making sustainability feel like luxury.

Below are 11 documented rebranding examples – companies that broke their category’s conventions completely – and the framework behind every one of them.

I have a simple metric. Getting paid compliments is nice. Getting paid by happy customers is better.

And the glut of BS thrown around offering “ultimate guides” is tiring.

Too many are shallow tips that lack any insight into why something works. And in our world of everyone wanting things faster, quicker, and with no understanding or effort (notice the amazing number of “AI experts” all of a sudden?), I have this to say:

“Insight is the ultimate shortcut.”

This is why I wrote this “ultimate guide to rebranding” for the many companies told that changing their logo, altering their colors, hiring a web firm to “change the skin” of their site and other bits of superficial BS, all pawned off as “rebranding.”

This is why I’ve written this guide. To set the record straight.

What inspired this is that I wrote a very popular tweet about Liquid Death water that argued on behalf of the immense power of branding.

The argument was compelling and struck a nerve amongst CEOs, founders, entrepreneurs, business owners, and startups.

How The Ultimate Guide to Rebranding Got Started

Here’s what I originally tweeted:

Anyone who says branding isn't important, remind them of this:

Liquid Death raised $125 million.

A brand built on a rebellious attitude, fun, and having an unmistakable voice in the water space.

Then remind them of this:

Liquid Death is just "canned water."

— David Brier | The Brandfather (@davidbrier) January 10, 2023

Differentiation Is Your Weapon. Attention Is Your Target

The problem that Differentiation solves is two things:

1. It gives you something distinctive, so that you do not look, sound, or are perceived the same as others, and
2. It allows you to avoid the worst problem in business. The worst problem is not lack of engagement or lack of followers.

The worst problem is indifference.

Disruption Is Your Business Advantage

The first thing to disrupt is your own view of the world.

Know this: the mere idea “We’re just an XYZ company” is your nemesis, your Achilles heel, your undoing.

And your competition’s greatest hope is that you give up that early on your brand’s ability to disrupt and attract buyers away from them.

The 3 Skills to Dominate Your Industry

1. You need to disrupt
2. You need to reframe
3. You cannot use the language of the old to introduce the new

After pulling back the curtain on how to really disrupt an industry as crowded and commoditized as water, I realized there were a number of companies out there that showed the world how this is done.

11 Companies That Showed The World How the Game is Played

Here are 11 companies that crushed the “commodity mentality” to become global leaders.

For anyone who thinks branding isn’t important, remind them of this:

1. Dollar Shave Club

Dollar Shave Club, a brand built on irreverent humor, total convenience, and insane affordability offered monthly subscriptions for razors and other grooming products raising $1 billion after its acquisition by Unilever.

Then remind those who think branding isn’t important of this:

Dollar Shave Club is just “a razor company.”

2. Warby Parker

Warby Parker reached a valuation of $3 billion.

A brand built on affordability, style, and social responsibility, disrupting the eyewear industry by offering online shopping, home try-ons, and built-in philanthropy to third-world countries with every purchase.

Then remind those who roll their eyes when you mention branding of this:

Warby Parker is just “an eyewear retailer.”

3. Airbnb

Airbnb raised $4.4 billion in its IPO.

A brand built on authenticity, community, and travel, disrupting the hotel industry by offering home-sharing experiences.

Then remind the naysayers of this:

Airbnb is just a “hotel alternative.”

4. Impossible Foods

Impossible Foods raised $700 million in its latest funding round.

A brand built on disrupting the food industry by offering plant-based meat alternatives.

Then remind “marketing purists” of this:

Impossible Foods is just “a food company” for non-carnivores.

5. Tesla

Tesla became the most valuable car company in the world with a market cap of over $800 billion.

A brand built on innovation, sustainability, and luxury, disrupting the automotive industry by offering electric cars with long ranges and cutting-edge technology.

Then remind those who think branding isn’t important of this:

Tesla is just “an electric car company.”

6. Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola has been a dominant player in the beverage industry for over a century, with a brand built on happiness, refreshment, and nostalgia.

Then remind the “mentally dehydrated” of this:

Coca-Cola is just “a soft drink company.”

7. Nike

Nike is one of the most recognizable brands in the world, with a market cap of over $200 billion.

A brand built on innovation, inspiration, and athleticism, disrupting the sportswear industry by “portraying the story we all held in our hearts” long before we decided what athletic wear we might choose.

Then remind them of this:

Nike is just “a sportswear company.”

8. Apple

Apple is one of the most valuable companies in the world, with a market cap of over $2 trillion.

A brand built on design, innovation, and simplicity, disrupting the technology industry by making computers that thought like people instead of demanding people think like computers.

Then remind those who think branding isn’t important of this little detail:

Apple is just “a technology company.”

9. Kind Snacks

Kind Snacks became a leader in the healthy snack industry with a market share of over 18%.

A brand built on health, transparency, and kindness, disrupting the snack industry by offering snacks made with whole ingredients and no artificial sweeteners or preservatives.

Then remind those who think you’re nuts of this:

Kind Snacks is just “a snack company.”

10. Slack

Slack went public with a valuation of $20 billion.

A brand built on collaboration, efficiency, and communication, disrupting the workplace communication industry by offering a messaging platform that replaces email and helps teams work together more effectively.

Then remind them (in your Slack channel) of this:

Slack is just “a messaging platform.”

11. Lulu Lemon

Lululemon is a popular athletic apparel brand with a market cap of nearly $50 billion.

A brand built on innovation, style, and community, disrupting the athletic apparel industry by offering high-quality yoga and workout clothing that is both functional and fashionable.

Then remind them (looking buff and sweaty) of this:

Lululemon is just “an athletic apparel company.”

You Can Do This. To Hell With Anyone Who Thinks Otherwise

Liquid Death’s success is one example of the power of rebranding, yet it’s just one point in a much larger story.

As I discussed in this post, there are many examples of companies that have gotten this right. (And considerably more who have gotten it wrong.)

They all shared the same traits: a rebellious attitude, street smarts, professionalism, and an unmistakable voice that resonated within their space.

Here’s a brief overview how this is achieved:

Now that you have seen 11 companies who got it right and understand their story, I invite you to take those learnings into your own space – whatever that might be.

To master your market and own the competition, there are three essential skills you must master:

1. You need to disrupt

2. You need to reframe

3. You cannot use the language of the old to introduce the new

How to Apply This to Your Own Rebrand

Every company in this list started with one honest question: what are we actually fighting for?

Not what do we sell. Not what is our product category. What do we stand for that makes someone choose us over every other option – including doing nothing?

Dollar Shave Club fought the overpriced, over-engineered razor racket. Warby Parker fought the idea that stylish eyewear had to cost a fortune. Airbnb fought the sterile, transactional hotel experience. Tesla fought the assumption that sustainable had to mean compromise.

None of them started with a logo. They started with a conviction.

Here is how to apply the same thinking to your rebrand:

Step 1 – Name your enemy. Not a competitor. A condition. The way things are done in your industry that nobody has been willing to call out. That is your starting point.

Step 2 – Reject the category you were handed. You are not “just an XYZ company.” The moment you accept that label, you accept commodity status. Reframe what you do in terms of the transformation you create, not the product you sell.

Step 3 – Find your unmistakable voice. Every brand in this list sounds like no one else. Liquid Death sounds nothing like a water company. Slack sounds nothing like enterprise software. Your brand should be immediately recognizable – in writing, in design, in how your team talks about what you do.

Step 4 – Use new language. You cannot introduce a new brand using the same words your competitors use. New positioning requires new vocabulary. If your rebrand sounds like everyone else in your category, it is not a rebrand. It is a repaint.

The 11 companies above did not get it right because they had bigger budgets or better agencies. They got it right because they refused to think small about what they were building.

That option is available to every company willing to do the same.