Rebrand / Retail / 2010
The Logo Reversal That Exposed Recognition Risk
Gap's 2010 redesign became a reference case because the failure was not visual taste alone. It was a break in recognition, memory, and control.
Archive
The Case Study Index
The full archive is organized by decision type, industry, year, and consequence. The first public file starts with failures, rebrands, comebacks, and launches.
All Current Cases
Failure / CPG / 2009
Tropicana and the Cost of Losing the Shelf Cue
The redesign case sits at the center of recognition equity: when the asset is visual memory, improvement starts by protecting what shoppers already know.
Failure / Beverage / 1985
New Coke and the Error of Replacing Memory
The product test measured preference. The market response revealed ownership, ritual, and identity sitting underneath the formula decision.
Comeback / Luxury / 2000s
Burberry's Recovery From Overexposure
The comeback required more than a new campaign. It required distribution restraint, symbol control, and a clearer boundary around the check.
Launch / Beverage / 2019
Liquid Death and Category Contrast
The brand entered a quiet category by making contrast the asset, then kept the joke disciplined enough to survive scale.
Failure / Retail / 2012
JCPenney and the Repositioning Break
The fair-and-square pricing reset changed the customer contract faster than the business could rebuild trust around it.
Rebrand / Hospitality / 2014
Airbnb and the Belo
The rebrand attempted to turn a marketplace into a shared symbol, making the logo carry community, trust, and category ambition.
Rebrand / Media / 2023
Twitter to X and the Cost of Discarding a Verb
The rebrand removed one of the rare consumer internet marks that had become language, not only a logo.
Comeback / Entertainment / 2000s
Lego's Return to Discipline
The turnaround was less a reinvention than a return to the structure that made the system valuable.
Comeback / Food & Beverage / 2009
Domino's Public Reformulation
The recovery decision converted criticism into a public operating reset, making accountability part of the brand signal.