Drivers of repositioning - changing consumer trends, technological disruption, sustainability expectations, competitive pressure, regulatory change - and strategies for repositioning (rebranding, product portfolio change, market re-segmentation, channel shift)

What this dot point is asking

QCAA wants you to know the drivers that force a business to reposition, the strategies available for repositioning, and how to recommend a repositioning approach for a stimulus business. The EA frequently uses a scenario where the business has experienced a change driver and asks for the repositioning response.

The answer

What is repositioning

Repositioning is changing how a business is perceived in the customer's mind, relative to alternatives. The business adjusts its target market, value proposition, brand, product portfolio, channels, pricing or all of these to fit a new market position.

Repositioning is a major strategic change. It is distinct from incremental adjustments (a tweaked logo, a new ad campaign). True repositioning changes the underlying competitive position.

Drivers of repositioning

1. Changing consumer trends

Customer preferences shift over time. Recent Australian examples:

• Toward health and wellness (driving private-label "clean label" ranges in supermarkets).
• Toward sustainability and ethical consumption (Who Gives a Crap, Aesop, Pact).
• Toward digital channels (online grocery, BNPL, app-based banking).
• Toward convenience (meal-kit delivery, click-and-collect, subscription models).
• Toward Australian-made and locally-sourced (post-pandemic supply-chain concerns).

Businesses that fail to track trends stall.

2. Technological disruption

New technology creates new value propositions and disrupts existing ones. Examples:

• Cloud computing disrupted on-premise software (Atlassian's cloud transition reshaped enterprise software).
• AI and machine learning are reshaping productivity, content creation and customer service (post-2022 generative AI wave).
• Mobile-first disrupted desktop-first businesses (banking, retail, media).
• EVs disrupting fossil-fuel-powered transport (Tesla, BYD, Tritium).

3. Sustainability expectations

Customer, investor and regulatory pressure on sustainability. Examples:

• Climate-related Financial Disclosure (mandatory from FY25 for large entities) drives operational change.
• Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reporting reshapes supply-chain decisions.
• Consumer pressure for sustainable packaging, low-carbon delivery, ESG-aligned products.
• Investor pressure through divestment campaigns (anti-coal divestment, Cannon-Brookes Grok Ventures activism at AGL).

4. Competitive pressure

New entrants, intensifying rivalry, or competitor repositioning can force a business to respond.

• Aldi's entry from 2001 forced Coles and Woolworths to reposition on value and private label.
• Online native brands (The Iconic, Showpo) forced traditional fashion retail to invest in online.
• Macquarie's mortgage growth has forced the Big Four to reprice and digitise.

5. Regulatory change

New legislation or regulator action that materially affects the business model.

• Closing Loopholes Acts 2023-2024 reshape HRM in industries using labour hire.
• Royal Commission outcomes (Banking, Aged Care) drove sectoral repositioning.
• Critical Minerals Strategy creates new opportunities for repositioning toward critical mineral mining.
• Tobacco plain-packaging legislation (2012) forced tobacco-sector repositioning.

Repositioning strategies

Rebranding

A change in the business's brand identity, name, logo, communications style or core message to signal a new position. Examples:

• ANZ Plus launched as a new sub-brand to signal the cloud-native digital banking platform.
• AGL Energy's "We're for changing" campaign aligned the brand to the energy transition.
• Telstra's continuous brand-investment supporting the T25 strategy.

Product portfolio change

Adding, removing or modifying products to support the new position.

• Coles added "Coles Brand Finest" premium range and "Coles Simply" clean-label range.
• Endeavour Group (alcohol, demerged from Woolworths) repositioned its portfolio toward premium brands.
• Bunnings added the Tradie Power loyalty program to capture trade-segment share.

Market re-segmentation

Shifting the target customer segments served.

• ANZ Plus targeted digital-native customers in their 20s and 30s, a segment less well-served by traditional Big Four channels.
• Bunnings's Tradie Power program targeted the trade segment more deliberately.

Channel shift

Changing the distribution model.

• Country Road reduced reliance on David Jones concessions; built standalone stores and direct online.
• ANZ Plus rebuilt around mobile-first, with traditional branches as a secondary channel.
• Many Australian retailers are rebalancing toward direct online and away from wholesale.

Worked Australian repositioning examples

Telstra T25 (2022-2025)

Driver: declining fixed-line revenue, investor pressure for clearer growth narrative, technology disruption. Strategies: business simplification (InfraCo separation), product portfolio change (5G mobile focus, fewer legacy products), digital channel investment, brand and culture refresh.

Coles automated distribution (2023-2024)

Driver: competitive pressure (Woolworths and Aldi), operational efficiency pressure, available technology. Strategies: $1 billion investment in robotic-grid DCs (Kemps Creek NSW, Truganina VIC), workforce restructure, supply-chain redesign.

AGL energy transition (ongoing)

Driver: sustainability expectations, investor activism (Grok Ventures), regulatory pressure. Strategies: planned coal-plant closures, renewable-energy generation investment, customer-retail rebranding ("We're for changing"), corporate restructure (a proposed demerger was rejected by shareholders in 2022).