My Two Favorite & Greatest Rebrands

Japan and Darius Rucker

Japan and Darius Rucker do not have much in common. One is an island nation with more than 120 million people. The other used to be Hootie.

But both managed remarkable transformations. Japan went from feared imperial power to a country known for bullet trains, Toyotas, anime, and dream vacations. Darius Rucker went from baggy-shirted '90s rock star to cowboy country singer.

Japan: From Imperial Power to Itinerary Priority

If you talked to a person from today about Japan and someone from the 1950s, you might think they were not talking about the same country. Japan in the 1950s—or Imperial Japan—had a bit of a "reputation problem." It was an Axis power whose military swept across Asia and the Pacific.

I remember playing "Heroes of the Pacific" on the PS2 and choosing the Zero as my plane in the various missions. To me, it was just a fun game to play after school, but in general, Japan was remembered for Zero fighters, kamikaze attacks, and the horrific treatment of prisoners of war.

Then came one of the best rebrands in modern history: "Tokyo Drift."

Just kidding—partly. After doing more online reading, I think it was the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The Games presented a rebuilt, peaceful, technologically ambitious Japan to the world. That same year, the Shinkansen began carrying passengers between Tokyo and Osaka. Japan treated the Olympics like a press conference and its shiny silver train as the product demo.

Over the following decades, the popular image of Japan shifted from military machinery to reliable cars, clever electronics, anime, sushi, and spotless public services. Today, many people do not picture an imperial army when they hear "Japan." They picture Toyotas, Pokémon, ramen, cherry blossoms, and the vacation they have been saving on Instagram for three years.

I would love to visit—which proves that the rebrand has worked on at least one more customer.

Darius Rucker: From Hootie to Honky-Tonk

Darius Rucker accomplished something similar, although he required fewer surrender documents. He first became famous as the lead singer of Hootie & the Blowfish: four college friends making comfortable '90s rock in baggy shirts and cargo pants. The main song I remember is "Only Wanna Be with You." The band became enormously successful, selling more than 25 million records worldwide.

Then Rucker walked into country music, put on a cowboy hat, and behaved as though this had been the plan all along. He released hits including "Come Back Song" and "Wagon Wheel," joined the Grand Ole Opry, and won a Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance!

The transformation was so complete that Key & Peele built an entire sketch around it. In "What Every Darius Rucker Concert Must Be Like," Rucker is trying to perform his country songs while one determined fan keeps demanding Hootie.

I think it is the perfect summary of every great rebrand where the new audience has arrived, but someone in the back still remembers the old logo.

The Rebranding Hall of Fame

These two made my rebranding hall of fame partly because the transformations are genuinely impressive and partly because they came up in recent conversations and made me laugh.

I suppose the lesson is that anyone—or anything—can change. But I am not trying to make some grand point. I mostly had fun writing this.

That is something I had been missing. Some of my recent posts were about topics I thought other people might want to read, rather than things I genuinely wanted to explore. This one was different.

This one was just for fun, and I think that is reason enough to write it.