Strictly Come Dancing is refreshing its professional and presenting line-up for 2026. Our PR Agency One associate director and resident ballroom and Latin dancer, Emily McGowan-Phoenix, considers how established brands can communicate change effectively, without losing what audiences already value.
Why familiar brands make change feel bigger
Strictly Come Dancing returns this autumn with significant changes set to take place in full view of its devoted audience. Five new professional dancers are joining the show, while Emma Willis, Johannes Radebe and Josh Widdicombe form a new presenting trio following the departure of Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
For any established brand – whether it’s a much-loved family show or a global corporate firm – familiarity is a big part of its value. Audiences build routines, expectations and affection around particular people and experiences, so even necessary change can feel significant.
That is what makes Strictly such an interesting communications case study for me. I spend my working life thinking about communications and a fair amount of my spare time ballroom and Latin dancing, so I eagerly await the chance to critique both the footwork faux pas and the way the programme introduces a visibly different line-up this September.
What interests me in particular in this case is the audience-facing challenge. How does a familiar brand introduce visible change while preserving what people already value? And how can it measure whether the new version still feels recognisably ‘Strictly’?
Why shared viewing raises the stakes for Strictly
The context surrounding Strictly makes its communications challenge particularly interesting. Ofcom’s Media Nations 2026 report found that the weekly reach of live or recorded television fell from 71% in 2022 to 54% in 2025. Over the same period, the weekly reach of broadcaster video-on-demand services rose from 38% to 46%.
However, Ofcom also found that live events and time-sensitive entertainment continue to attract large audiences. Programmes like Strictly remain valuable because they generate shared moments and conversations across television, on-demand platforms, media coverage and social channels.
That shared attention increases the visibility of change. Audience reactions arrive quickly and become part of the public story, giving communicators less room to treat brand evolution as a single announcement.
How stability actually allows movement
Forgive me the metaphor, but there are some clear parallels to draw between the world of dance and that of the corporate sphere. In ballroom, the ‘frame’ is the upper body connection between two dancers. It provides enough stability for cohesive movement and changes of direction, while allowing each person to respond. A rigid frame restricts the dance; a weak one leaves the partnership without critical information to follow.
Heritage brands must also consider their own ‘frame’, then. Rarely a logo, spokesperson or recurring feature in isolation, the ‘frame’ for a brand is the promise that audiences believe it will keep.
When it comes to Strictly, I would describe that promise as warmth, expertise, spectacle and the familiar Saturday night pleasure of watching people learn a new challenge, alongside a community of many others on their sofas across the country. Presenters and professional dancers help deliver that experience – sometimes over many years. The emotional contract extends beyond any one person, which gives the format room to evolve while the underlying experience remains recognisable.
The same principle applies to a corporate rebrand, leadership transition or change in proposition. Before deciding what should look different, communicators must first understand which parts of the existing experience carry genuine meaning.
How to communicate continuity and change honestly
Change communications can falter due to one of two extremes:
- Describing every alteration as the start of a dramatic new era can make the previous version sound defective.
- Smoothing over visible change too heavily can leave audiences wondering why the organisation will not acknowledge what they can plainly see.
A more confident approach makes room for both continuity and change. Departing contributors – whether it’s a popular TV presenter or an exiting CEO – should be recognised with specificity. New people need more than an announcement; audiences need enough context to understand their expertise and why they truly belong. Familiar rituals can then provide continuity while the new team develops its own character.
For Strictly, that means giving the new presenters room to develop their own dynamic while retaining enough of the programme’s familiar rhythm to reassure viewers that the show they value is still there.
Why brand measurement should begin before the announcement
Ultimately, brand evolution is measured one way or another – whether that’s high praise from national columnists or in-depth criticism from TikTok megafans. The problem is that communicators often commence measurement once the creative work is complete and the launch date has been set.
Before making significant changes around a familiar brand, organisations should establish what audiences already associate with it. That includes understanding:
- How visible the brand is among its priority audiences.
- What the organisation is currently known for.
- Which associations support understanding and trust.
- What language people use when discussing the brand.
- Whether different audiences hold meaningfully different perceptions.
At PR Agency One, our proprietary OneEval Brand measures and tracks brand awareness, association, understanding and trust. Establishing that baseline can help a brand distinguish between assets that carry genuine meaning and features that are simply familiar through repetition.
For Strictly, that could mean establishing how strongly viewers associate the programme with individual presenters, familiar rituals or broader qualities such as warmth and shared Saturday night entertainment.
How to measure audience response during change
Then, once a new identity, leadership team or proposition enters the market, communicators need to understand how audiences are interpreting it. Useful questions to ask include:
- Are audiences repeating the intended explanation?
- Do valued associations remain?
- Is the new positioning is being understood?
Examining the language used by customers, employees, partners and media can also reveal confusion that an overall sentiment score might miss. This is where continuous brand measurement becomes particularly valuable. Insight gathered while the change is taking place can help communications teams adjust explanations, strengthen proof points and identify differences between audience groups before uncertain perceptions become established.
For Strictly, that response will inevitably become visible through coverage, social conversation and audience behaviour when the new line-up appears together. The meaningful test will be whether viewers truly understand what has changed while continuing to recognise the programme they value.
What to measure after a heritage brand evolves
Post-launch evaluation should then return to the original baseline. Coverage and social engagement describe activity, but they simply cannot show on their own whether the brand has moved in the intended direction. Communicators should examine whether:
- Awareness has remained stable or grown among priority audiences.
- Understanding of the brand and its proposition has improved.
- Important associations have been retained.
- New associations are developing as intended.
- Trust has changed among customers, employees or other stakeholders.
The answers can show where communications need to continue, where the change has landed differently across audiences and which parts of the new proposition require stronger evidence.
This before, during, and after approach also helps prevent a common problem in rebrands: treating launch day as the conclusion. Brand change continues as people encounter the new version, test it against their previous experience and decide whether the promise still feels credible.
For Strictly, that would mean looking beyond launch-night ratings to understand whether viewers continue to recognise the programme’s defining qualities as the new line-up settles in.
What heritage brands should keep in frame
At PR Agency One, our Creative Effectiveness approach combines strategic insight, creative storytelling and measurable impact. For heritage brands, that means using insight to identify what audiences value, communicating change in a way that protects the underlying promise and measuring whether perceptions move as intended.
The strongest brand evolution tends to begin with a clear understanding of what deserves to be retained. Communicators can then explain what is changing, give audiences a reason to welcome it and keep listening after the launch.
Strictly will provide a very public test of that approach this autumn, as viewers decide whether its new line-up still delivers the experience they value.
In ballroom terms, the frame provides stability; its purpose is still to help people move.
