RIT or Re-Invent-Thing as I like to call it, is for marketeers one of the most difficult things in the world.
I like to take Jaguar as an example. I remember when I first saw a new Jaguar (designed by someone who came from Aston Martin), it blew my mind away. A new era was there for the English brand, it had a new owner and a new face. Jaguar stood for English quality, finesse and “mise au point”, never for astonishingly beautiful
The precision of the interior was far more important than the outside, the English philosophy was “you sit in a car after all”. In Germany the status symbol of having the best looking car is like having the best antique in Britain. Different cultures indeed, so it was difficult to leave all off that behind.
Jaguar earlier years
Jaguar 75 years later
Let me insure you that the Jaguar nowadays is more a “joie de vivre” then looking back at “the good old days”. They are targeting a new group, the businessman from around the globe not the niche market anymore of the men that sell antique.
They reinvented themselves but with small touches from the past here and there. Reinvent doesn’t mean new.
Red Bull on the other hand doesn’t do direct marketing anymore (off course they still do but not in a big way). They have their events, the events themselves are marketing tools. This way it becomes more than a drink or a can. It becomes a way of life.
A good example is Red Bull space, a dynamic young talented peoples program that lasts 3 weekends, here they can express themselves. For instance take this talented photographer Natalie Giulia Wynants: