| Course | MT450 Brand Management Strategy |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 6 |
| Paper type | Seminar reflection |
| Length | About 810 words, 5 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT450 Unit 6
I Argued for Gap and Ended With Tropicana: An MT450 Unit 6 Seminar Reflection on What a Rebrand Erases
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT450: Brand Management Strategy
Unit 6 Seminar Reflection
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The classmate and Tremont Pen Company's box redesign are composite; the rebrands discussed and the sources cited are real.
The Question
The instructor opened the seminar with one question: of four rebrands we had read about, which destroyed the most of what customers valued? The phrase that mattered, I realized later, was "what customers valued," and I had not read it carefully.
The Case I Made for Gap
I argued for Gap. In October 2010 the company replaced its familiar white letters in a blue box with a new logo, black letters with a small blue square in the corner. Online protest began almost at once, and within about a week Gap announced it was returning to the old logo. My argument was that Gap had damaged a mark customers had known for more than two decades, and the speed of the reversal proved how much the old logo was worth. I thought the case was strong: a famous logo, a public outcry, a company forced into retreat in days.
The Classmate Who Disagreed
A classmate who had stocked grocery shelves for six years before returning to school disagreed. She pointed to Tropicana. In January 2009 the company replaced its carton, which showed an orange pierced by a straw, with a plain design showing a glass of juice. Trade press reported that sales of the redesigned line fell about 20 percent within two months (Zmuda, 2009), and the company brought back the old carton.
Her point was not that Tropicana lost more money, although it may have. Her point was about what customers lost. She described shoppers standing in front of the juice case looking for the orange with the straw, because that image was how they found their juice among dozens of similar cartons. The redesign did not just change a picture; it removed the cue shoppers used to choose. Some bought a rival brand without noticing. Others asked her where Tropicana had gone while standing in front of it.
The Concession
I came to accept that she was right, and the reason is in the question. Gap's customers were upset by the new logo, but they could still find the store, recognize the clothes and buy what they wanted. What they lost was a familiar mark, and they got it back within a week. Tropicana's customers lost the means of finding the product at all. The orange with the straw was not decoration; it was the brand's job in the store. Walsh et al. (2010) found that logo redesigns tend to hurt attitudes most among the customers most committed to a brand, which fits Tropicana's loyal buyers, the ones who reached for the carton without reading it.
Gap's customers lost a logo they could still recognize the store without; Tropicana's lost the picture they used to find the juice.
I still think Gap's episode teaches something, about how quickly a public now reacts, but I no longer think it destroyed the most. It destroyed something people liked. Tropicana destroyed something people used.
The Lesson for Tremont
The lesson came home quickly. Tremont Pen Company, the composite fountain pen maker I have studied all term, is considering replacing its dark green box, which carries a gold drawing of a nib, with a white box and a small wordmark. The design team's argument is that the green box looks old to younger buyers.
Before the seminar I would have asked whether customers like the green box. Now I would ask what they use it for. In the stationery shops where Tremont is sold, pens sit in cases of similar boxes, and two shop owners I spoke with said customers ask for "the green one with the gold nib." The box may be how buyers find Tremont on a crowded shelf, in the same way the straw found Tropicana. Keller and Swaminathan (2020) distinguish brand elements that customers merely recognize from those that do work in choosing a product, and the green box may be the second kind.
What I Have Not Settled
I am not arguing the box should never change. I am arguing that the design team should first find out whether the green and gold are doing work in the shop, perhaps by watching buyers choose or by testing a new box in a few stores before replacing the old one everywhere. What I have not settled is how to tell, in advance and without a costly mistake, whether a familiar element is a habit customers would happily give up or a signal they rely on. The seminar gave me the question; it did not give me the method.
References
Keller, K. L., & Swaminathan, V. (2020). Strategic brand management: Building, measuring, and managing brand equity (5th ed.). Pearson.
Walsh, M. F., Winterich, K. P., & Mittal, V. (2010). Do logo redesigns help or hurt your brand? The role of brand commitment. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 19(2), 76-84. https://doi.org/10.1108/10610421011033421
Zmuda, N. (2009, April 2). Tropicana line's sales plunge 20% post-rebranding. Advertising Age.
Reading the MT 450 Unit 6 instructions
Unit 6 in MT450 follows a seminar on rebranding and calls for a short first-person reflection on how the discussion tested your view. Quote or paraphrase the question that framed the session, since the argument usually turns on its wording. Present your original position at full strength, with dates and facts, because conceding a weak case shows nothing. Describe the classmate's or instructor's point that challenged it, by role rather than by name. Make the concession precise: say exactly which difference changed your mind. Facts about real rebrands should be accurate and modest, with any sales figure attributed to its source. Then apply the lesson to the brand you have studied all term. End with something you have not settled. Around 600 to 700 words suits the live seminar or its written alternative, and first person is expected throughout.
How the MT 450 Unit 6 example is put together
The reflection opens with the instructor's question and flags the phrase that mattered, what customers valued. The writer's Gap argument comes next at full strength: the October 2010 logo, the online protest, the reversal within a week. The classmate's Tropicana case follows, the January 2009 carton change and the sales drop reported by Zmuda, told through what she saw at the juice case. The concession names the difference, a liked mark against a used cue, with Walsh and colleagues on committed customers and a highlighted line stating the contrast. Two short sentences compress the new view. The lesson is then applied to Tremont's proposed white box, with shop owners reporting that customers ask for the green one with the gold nib, and Keller and Swaminathan on elements that do work in choice. An unsettled question about method closes it.
Where the points sit in the MT450 Unit 6 rubric
Seminar reflections in MT450 are judged on whether a change of view is visible and earned. Instructors look for the original position stated fairly and fully, because the concession means little otherwise. Credit goes to identifying the exact point that changed the writer's mind rather than a vague claim that the session broadened their thinking. Accuracy matters: dates and responses should be right, and sales effects should be attributed rather than exaggerated. Applying the lesson to the course brand shows transfer, which graders reward in reflective work. A closing question that the writer genuinely cannot answer yet shows honesty. Concise, first-person writing organized around the turn in thinking reads well. Even in a reflection, any outside source, such as trade press or research on logo changes, belongs in an APA reference list, trade press included.
Common MT450 Unit 6 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Weak Unit 6 reflections summarize the seminar in order without saying what changed. Some state the writer's original view so briefly that the concession has nothing to overturn. Others concede to be polite, without naming the argument that persuaded them. Facts about famous rebrands are often inflated, especially sales losses, or given without a source. Many reflections stop at the real cases and never apply the lesson to the brand studied in earlier units. Endings tend to resolve everything neatly. Before submitting, underline the sentence that explains why you changed your mind. If that sentence could apply to any rebrand, it is not yet precise enough. Then check that your application to the course brand asks a question the company could actually answer with evidence, such as how customers use a package on the shelf.
Get an MT450 Unit 6 example written to your instructions
Seminar went a different way? List the cases your Unit 6 session compared and the opinion you brought before someone moved it, whether the exchange was live or on the written board. Add the rubric. The free first sample, delivered in 24-48h, speaks in your voice and turns on that one shift. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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MT450 Unit 6 questions, answered
Can I use a rebrand the seminar did not cover?
Usually, if it serves the argument and the prompt allows it. Many reflections stick to the session's cases because the change of mind happened there. If you bring in another example, keep it short and accurate, with a date and the basic facts, and make clear it supports what you learned in the discussion rather than replacing it.
How exact do facts about famous rebrands need to be?
Accurate but modest. The year, what changed and roughly how the company responded are usually enough. Sales effects and costs are often exaggerated in retellings, so include a figure only if you can cite where it came from, and say reported when the number comes from trade press rather than the company itself.
What if my opinion did not change in the seminar?
A position that held under pressure still makes a reflection, provided the pressure is on the page. Set out the strongest counterargument from the session, say which part of it you could answer and which you could not, and note any qualification it forced. Graders generally accept a view that survived when the reflection shows it was genuinely at risk.
Where can I find a free MT450 Unit 6 sample paper?
This page prints the complete MT450 Unit 6 reflection comparing Gap's 2010 logo with Tropicana's 2009 carton and applying the lesson to a composite pen maker's box.
What changed the writer's mind in the MT450 Unit 6 sample?
A classmate showed that Tropicana's redesign removed the image shoppers used to find their juice, while Gap's customers lost only a logo they liked and could still shop as before.