Brands have an ever-present need to change and adapt to be able to compete, grow and stay relevant in the eyes of consumers. Pressures from the outside environment, new, more agile market entrants, and consumers shifting their preferences mean that disruption is a part of strategy for every business today.
Euromonitor International’s Renovation, Innovation and Disruption framework helps businesses understand how to respond and execute change with a varying impact on their markets. Here we focus on renovation, and analyse how brands globally are turning this into an opportunity for growth.
Renovation occurs when a company improves existing products to steal share. When done right, it helps re-establish a brand within a category, ensuring relevance in the minds of consumers, and protecting share or stealing share from competitors. We analyse a few outstanding examples of how brands were able to have a huge impact on sales and market share through incremental change.
Bottega Veneta puts a fresh spin on heritage designs
In 2021, Bottega Veneta’s revenue grew by 25% to exceed EUR1.5 billion
In 2019, Bottega Veneta walked out of the Fashion Awards with four wins – Brand of the Year, Womenswear Designer of the Year, Accessories Designer of the Year, and Designer of the Year.
Only a few years before, its designs – albeit classic and understated – were lacking freshness and desirability among the affluent youth. It was evident that the heritage Italian luxury label was ready for change.
A new creative director, Daniel Lee, was appointed as the new head of the luxury fashion house in 2018, and was key to the brand’s revival. The designer was able to open a new chapter and brand identity for Bottega by keeping the core business – leather goods – at the centre. The new identity of the brand was appealing to young people, with bold colours and details, architectural structures and items that could easily be paired with more casual outfits.
In 2021, Daniel Lee stepped down and a new creative director was appointed, leaving brand lovers and followers anticipating another renovation.
Snap creates new use-cases to extend application of its products from face to body
Snap is taking what it does best – augmented reality – and extending the application of augmented reality lenses from consumers’ faces to their bodies.
In 2021, the business invested in researching new technologies, such as body tracking, cloth simulation and object simulation, to make trying on clothes and accessories in augmented reality look and feel as close to the physical experience as possible.
Snap has more than 200 million users, who play with over 6 billion augmented reality filters every day
Snap has also added new features, such as voice recognition and gesture controls, to turn users’ phones into virtual mirrors with remote controls. This has allowed consumers to be able to see the drape and fit of a particular garment, and try on different styles of clothes, shoes and accessories in the comfort of their own homes.
The business is reportedly already seeing success with its new business strategy, reporting up to 2.4 times higher likelihood of purchase by consumers with augmented reality try-on than without it.
Multiple approaches to renovation
Repositioning and expanding use-cases of an existing product are a few of, but not the only ways in which brands can successfully renovate to stay relevant and steal share from competitors. Other successful strategies include:
- Changing formulations
- Launching new pack sizes or types
- Repositioning or owning a niche with consumers, including premiumisation
- Rebranding – new name, new logo, new packaging
Renovation allows brands to stay on top of their game whilst adapting to ever-changing consumer needs and occasions, and to beat competitors.
This is the second blog in our Renovation, Innovation, Disruption series. Read our article on disruptive brands or download our white paper for more on how brands are innovating within or disrupting their industries.