Rebranding - Beastie Boys to Men
Is it possible to change your corporate image? Yes. It is possible, but it requires focus, commitment and sustained action.
The Beastie Boys are a lesson in re-branding. Their first album Licensed to Ill was a raunchy party boy bash. Fight for Your Right, Girls and Brass Monkey were the kinds of songs you’d expect teenagers to write, which makes sense because it released in ‘86 when the Boys were just that - boys. Brash, unapologetic and many times offensive, the album is chalk full of songs that do not age well. It could’ve been worse, the Beastie Boys originally wanted the album to be called “Don't Be a F@_ _ _ t” (my adjustment to formatting).
But Boys become men, and by their second album the music composition had started to mature, but the fingerprints of misogyny lingered. But by their third, they started to check their head and mindset.
A re-branding is more than new and innovative products. Re-branding is most effective when the mission and values change. The Beastie Boys did just that.
”I would like to… formally apologize to the entire gay and lesbian community for the s—ty and ignorant things we said on our first record,” Horovitz wrote. ”There are no excuses. But time has healed our stupidity…. We have learned and sincerely changed since the ’80s…. We hope that you’ll accept this long overdue apology.”
The Beastie Boys continue to deliver proof points on this new set of mission and values at public forums like the MTV music awards. They used the platform to denounce racism against muslims. The examples stack up, there was the Tibetan Freedom Concert and rallying against anti-semitism.
They weren't revolutionary, as Chuck D said, they were evolutionary. That’s what a brand should be. Keep it moving. Your brand identity today doesn’t have to be what your brand identity is tomorrow. But it does require you to do more than launch new products.