“Raise your hands if you are Sure!” was a catchy tagline that the brand Sure used in the 80’s for its deodorant products. However, with the growing presence of its competitors such as Axe, Sure has been slowly priced out of the market and has switched owners in the recent years due to the low profit margins. Now the company repositioned its products and is trying to come back into the deodorant market with a more feminine design of the packaging that directly targets female consumers.

Their new design of the packaging is definitely more physically appealing to me. It gives an impression of freshness and eternity. These newly designed bottles do stand out and can probably capture the group of people that are deeply attracted by simple but powerful, bright physical features. However, people are worried about the fact that Sure will lose many loyal customers, especially the male customers whom they did target before. The risk associated with the change in target market and logo is generally perceived as high and costly.

In my perspective though, it is a smart decision for this company to reposition its brand. The image of Sure nowadays is neither strong nor well-known. It has fallen behind compared to its competitors such as Dove and Secret who have a solid presence in the market. Therefore, from a psychological point of view, changing its existing image would be the key to success for Sure, and the first step is to select a more focused target market and a better and more meaningful logo design. The new and brighter image that Sure introduced coincides with its positive ambition to recapture the market’s attention and hopefully will change customers’ impressions about the brand.

Source: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/once-gender-neutral-sure-now-going-ladies-153402