EPISODE · Jun 13, 2026 · 11 MIN
Think Twice Before Updating Your Brand
from Harvard Business Review · host HBR
Think Twice Before Updating Your Brand 12 Oct 2022 --- Brands are constantly changing in order to “stay fresh”, but that’s a mistake. Customers stay loyal through habit, not because you've forced something new and unfamiliar on them. Roger Martin, former dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and one of the world’s leading thinkers on strategy, says brands shouldn’t be so quick to throw away their cumulative advantage. 00:00 Customer loyalty–their consciously choosing your brand–is only half the story. 01:00 What is cumulative advantage, and why is it important? 02:14 Just how fragile is this cumulative advantage? 02:45 Example: Tide laundry detergent forfeits its cumulative advantage. 04:54 Instagram redesigns a familiar icon. Why? 06:03 So, should brands never do anything new? For more from Roger Martin on this topic, read, "A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Management Effectiveness": https://www.amazon.com/New-Way-Think-Management-Effectiveness-ebook/dp/B09KHKWB7B Follow Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/ https://www.facebook.com/HBR/ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz https://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_review Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters #HarvardBusinessReview #Strategy #RogerMartin Copyright © 2022 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. #Brands #Branding #Marketing #ReBranding #Business #Explainer #Success #HowTo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What this episode covers
Think Twice Before Updating Your Brand 12 Oct 2022 --- Brands are constantly changing in order to “stay fresh”, but that’s a mistake. Customers stay loyal through habit, not because you've forced something new and unfamiliar on them. Roger Martin, former dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and one of the world’s leading thinkers on strategy, says brands shouldn’t be so quick to throw away their cumulative advantage. 00:00 Customer loyalty–their consciously choosing your brand–is only half the story. 01:00 What is cumulative advantage, and why is it important? 02:14 Just how fragile is this cumulative advantage? 02:45 Example: Tide laundry detergent forfeits its cumulative advantage. 04:54 Instagram redesigns a familiar icon. Why? 06:03 So, should brands never do anything new? For more from Roger Martin on this topic, read, "A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Management Effectiveness": https://www.amazon.com/New-Way-Think-Management-Effectiveness-ebook/dp/B09KHKWB7B Follow Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/ https://www.facebook.com/HBR/ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz https://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_review Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters #HarvardBusinessReview #Strategy #RogerMartin Copyright © 2022 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. #Brands #Branding #Marketing #ReBranding #Business #Explainer #Success #HowTo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Think Twice Before Updating Your Brand
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