By: Ron Farnum
After decades in business, leaders develop instincts that help them move quickly, spot patterns, and avoid obvious mistakes. But there’s a growing—and costly—problem in the industry: when gut instinct replaces customer insight, brand innovation becomes incredibly risky.
Today, brands aren’t failing because they refuse to evolve, they’re often failing because they opt for big changes without fully understanding who their customer is, why they buy, and what the brand means to them.
Before diving in further, let’s state the obvious: none of us were in the room when the decisions listed below were made. Every rebrand or repositioning comes with constraints—financial, cultural, operational, and political. Still, when outcomes miss the mark, there are valuable lessons to be learned, particularly about the importance of being well-informed before making significant brand changes.
A couple of recent high-profile brand evolutions make that lesson clear.
Cracker Barrel: Modernizing Without Permission
Here’s an example that made a lot of noise recently. Cracker Barrel set out to modernize its brand language to attract younger diners in an attempt to stay culturally relevant. The intent made solid business sense. The execution didn’t. Visual and experiential updates stripped away the nostalgia and sense of rural Americana that loyal customers deeply associated with the brand, replacing it with a cleaner, more modern look.
The reaction was immediate and nearly a full-scale revolt—social backlash, declining sentiment, reduced visits/sales and visible anger from the core audience that had sustained the brand for decades.
The biggest issue wasn’t simply the speed of change; it was underestimating the emotional equity of comfort and familiarity the original brand provided its customers. Cracker Barrel’s leadership had a new vision for the brand but didn’t fully account for the emotional connection customers feared losing.
Jaguar: Too Much, Too Fast, Too Extreme
Let’s be honest—Jaguar needed to do something to make people under 70 pay attention to the brand. Its recent reinvention was designed to signal a bold, electric-first future, an aspirational positioning for an aging luxury marque. The new visual language leaned heavily into abstraction and high-concept storytelling.
While internally confident, the rebrand left many longtime customers confused and questioning what Jaguar now stood for.
Here, the issue wasn’t ambition. It was extreme confidence and clarity—dare we say overconfidence–for where the brand was headed. By failing to anchor such a dramatic transformation in validated customer insight, the shift felt disconnected from the timeless styling, heritage, and performance cues buyers valued.
The result was difficult to interpret. Who was the brand trying to align itself with? Who was its future audience? The edgy, fashion-forward execution appeared aimed at ultra-wealthy tastemakers—a very small market for a brand that needs scale to succeed.
To be clear, I remain a fan of the bold creative work itself. The execution was edgy, exciting, and suggested a potentially powerful new position for a tired, stuffy brand. But I’m a lover of change—and often the exception. Most consumers prefer evolution over revolution.
A Familiar Lesson from Gap
This challenge isn’t new. Gap’s short-lived 2010 logo redesign remains a cautionary tale that shows how quickly brand trust can erode when customers feel blindsided. A sudden visual shift, introduced without sufficient context or validation, triggered backlash so intense the company reversed course within days of launching a multimillion-dollar rebranding effort.
The Real Risk Isn’t Intuition
Intuition isn’t the enemy. Unchallenged intuition is. Brands get into trouble when confidence replaces curiosity—when internal alignment is mistaken for market alignment.
Insight doesn’t slow innovation; it increases the likelihood of a successful outcome. Insight helps brands evolve with their customers, not ahead of them or away from them. Don’t blindside your audience—bring them into the conversation.
When Change Actually Pays Off
The most successful brand evolutions are built on disciplined insight:
- Investigating the emotional and functional drivers of your audience
- Pressure-testing design and messaging before launch
- Clearly defining which brand equities are sacred—and which are flexible
This is how change drives growth instead of regret.
So even if you feel confident in your vision, before you redesign, reposition, or relaunch, ask yourself:
“Are we leading with insight—or just instinct?”
Damen Jackson is committed to helping CPG brands deliver innovation that resonates in both the market and the boardroom.
Contact us to learn how our insight-led brand strategy can protect your investment and drive smarter growth—because in today’s market, the cost of getting it wrong is far greater than the cost of getting informed.