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International House of (Re) Branding

June 20, 2018

Rebranding Case Study

As you may have heard, IHOP announced on June 5 that the restaurant chain would be rebranding and would change its name to IHOB. However, they had not yet released what the new letter in their acronym would stand for. Most people thought the company would be changing their name to International House of Bacon or Breakfast. This assumption is based off the foods usually associated with IHOP. But to nearly everyone’s surprise, the company announced June 11 that the ‘B’ stood for something completely different—burgers.

Although the public is pretty split on whether they love or hate the new name, there is no denying the temporary name change got people’s attention. The day of the announcement, IHOB was the second-highest trending term on Twitter globally. Additionally, all those tweets turned into serious mass media attention. Even if some of the articles or comments were not in favor of the rebrand, they furthered the conversation and gave the company even more press.

Was it worth it?

There is no guarantee all this press will increase IHOP’s revenue. It will likely take at least a year to know if the bold move has actually paid off. But, well-planned and well-executed rebrands are far less risky than one may think. IHOP’s foot traffic has declined the past 10 quarters. Between 2013 and 2018, their Twitter following decreased by 66 percent. Surprisingly, IHOP has offered burgers since the 1950s, but they have never been a menu staple. By rebranding to the International House of Burgers, the restaurant chain hopes to change public opinion. They want people to see IHOP as a lunch and dinner place, not just a breakfast joint.

Rebranding comes with benefits

There are many reasons a company may decide to rebrand, and there are even more different rebranding strategies. The goal of a rebrand is to reshape public views of your business by building a brand identity. This identity should reflect your business’s mission. In the case of IHOP, the restaurant chain temporarily changed their name, and logo on social media and at one store location in Hollywood, to reflect their mission to increase lunch and dinner sales. Other ways to rebrand include increasing online presence. Companies may also change website content or layout or utilize research data to expand their market.

At Cork Tree Creative, our team creates rebranding strategies for our clients based on their needs. Our personalized approach includes

  • face-to-face meetings with our clients
  • regular brainstorming sessions with our team
  • curating individualized content for each client

We offer short and long-term rebranding services, including logo and website design, as well as social media management. If you are ready to take your brand to the next level and set your business apart from the others, give us a call at (618) 656-7333! 

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