As the world is understanding and rejecting the ills of junk food, the biggest poster child of this junk food is seeking to revamp its image. McDonald’s first introduced salads to its menu. Then came McCafes and now a futuristic menu and environment in their Hong Kong franchise!

The McDonald’s golden arches are iconic. They have been the symbol of Americana (who can forget the image of serpentine lines of people in Moscow waiting for the first McDonald’s to open its doors in the post-Glasnost ’90s!) and a strong part of our collective conscious, across the globe.

The arches have stood for fun, families and friendship. It has been an iconic entity – and there is so much meaning imbued in this brand that it cannot simply create a new menu or store to suddenly be perceived differently. McDonald’s, simply, has too much baggage.

There is no question that the imperative to change is compelling. It is my strong belief, however, that till such time as the face of the brand, its identity, changes, there will be no believable reinvention of the brand.

The brand identity needs significant rejuvenation to signify a departure from the past. As long as that does not change, the rest of the change will have little impact in altering the overall perception of the brand. It is not necessary to change everything. The colour, some aspects of the form, are indeed necessary to retain. No viewer should mistake this for anything else than the original McDonald’s but no viewer should also think it is the same McDonald’s.

Rejuvenation is a balancing act. Knowing what to keep and what to let go of is an important design challenge. We had worked on the Dabur brand and retained the tree in its form, but made it younger, fresher and more contemporary. The same and, yet, definitely not the same.

(Alpana Parida is President, DY Works, a brand strategy and design firm that creates culture-based solutions for businesses.)

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