Opportunities and Challenges of Rebranding in the Digital Era: The Elica Case

In contemporary competitive environments, rebranding has become an increasingly important strategic tool for firms seeking to redefine their identity and support business evolution. In the digital era, rebranding has acquired greater complexity, as it no longer concerns only visual brand elements but also involves omnichannel communication, stakeholder relationships, and market positioning. The growing importance of digital touchpoints and social media requires companies to develop integrated branding strategies capable of aligning corporate identity, communication, and organisational culture. The growing number of corporate rebranding initiatives reflects the increasing strategic importance of brand renewal in contemporary markets. Recent reports by Interbrand (2025) and Brand Finance (2025) highlight the growing role of brand transformation in supporting business renewal, strengthening competitive positioning, and creating long-term value in increasingly digital environments. Recent rebranding initiatives undertaken by companies such as Meta, Kia, Jaguar, and TotalEnergies further illustrate how brand renewal has become a strategic response to digital transformation and business repositioning. Within this context, rebranding should not be interpreted as a purely aesthetic intervention but rather as a strategic and organisational process reflecting deeper organizational transformation. This paper analyses the case of Elica, a leading company in the cooker hood and air purification industry, with the aim of understanding how firms redefine their identity when expanding their business in increasingly digitalised environments. In particular, the study focuses on Elica’s transition from a positioning primarily associated with cooker hoods to a brand centred on cooking systems, design, innovation, and contemporary living experiences. A qualitative methodology based on participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis was adopted. The findings show that Elica’s rebranding can be interpreted as an evolutionary and gradual process aimed at realigning external brand perception with the company’s internal strategic transformation. The analysis identifies six key stages of the rebranding process: strategic vision redefinition, visual identity revision, communication language evolution, digital presence enhancement, internal stakeholder engagement, and consolidation of the new positioning. The results suggest that successful digital rebranding depends on the ability to ensure consistency across multiple touchpoints while balancing innovation and continuity. The Elica case also highlights how rebranding can act as a strategic lever to strengthen competitive positioning and support business evolution, provided that it remains coherent with the company’s values, heritage, and organisational identity.