Want to make sure your brand is still viable? Then rip it up and start over every three to five years.

And that doesn’t mean overhauling the packaging.

That’s the key the finding of a new survey sponsored by the American Marketing Association, and independent firms Luth Research and MiresBall. The trio’s State of the Brand Report found that brands which were refurbished within that time period scored highest on its success index.

According to the survey, almost two-thirds of the 100-plus marketers polled online in the latter half of 2006—the majority of which were director level or above—believed their brand would benefit from a revitalization. Thirty-eight percent said they would like to fully reposition their brand; 57% of brands have been revitalized during the past two years and 83% during the past five.

The efforts appear to be paying off: Brands that were refurbished during the past three to five years scored the highest on the survey’s success index, which is based on market share, the ability to derive premium pricing and internal brand perception. Marketers surveyed said the challenges facing their brands motivated them to change things up. The top driver was strong competition, according to 59% of respondents.

Thirty-six percent of those surveyed cited changing customer demographics/psychographics, pricing pressure and lack of brand awareness as their motivation.

Surprisingly, despite all the revitalization efforts under way, marketers anticipate very little change in their brand’s positioning over the next five years.

“Brands seem to be clustering around premium, value and innovation. Brand positioning by definition should be differentiated,” said Rachel Thomas, marketing director at design firm MiresBall in San Diego. “They’re spending a lot of time and money keeping their brands fresh, but they’re not making a whole lot of moves when it comes to positioning.”

As for marketing tactics, Web and interactive initiatives were deemed the most valuable for brand communication behind only word-of-mouth. Still, despite ranking 13th in terms of importance, broadcast advertising ranked No. 1 in terms of spend, largely because it’s considered one of the best media for driving awareness.

A third of respondents said driving such awareness was their primary goal. Another third said their priority was to create brand preference, while creating loyalty (24%) and understanding (11%) rounded out the mix.

Though the study didn’t cite any brands by name, recent refreshes by AT&T and Citibank (which is changing its name to Citi and considering ditching its red umbrella brand icon) underscore the trend. AT&T rebranded itself last year with a new logo and tag to battle rivals Verizon and Comcast.

When it comes to wireless, landlines, cable, DSL and other services, “customers have articulated that they want to do business with one company, not a patchwork of providers,” said Wendy Clark, svp-advertising at AT&T, San Antonio, Texas.

Pepsi, meanwhile, is working with the Arnell Group, New York on refocusing itself around the concept of “sustainable discovery.” For starters, the brand’s bottles, cans and cups will have 35 new looks each, including Web addresses for exclusive online content, games and contests. The repositioning will also include a new tagline, likely: “Feel the Pepsi.”

James Miller, director of brand Pepsi in the U.S., said brand revitalization is “increasingly important these days, especially among youth-related, “badge” brands. What we found is young people are embracing change and constantly exploring for the next big thing. We need to deliver that on an ongoing basis.”

Martyn Tipping, co-founder of TippingSprung consultancy in New York, said such periodic changes are the best way for marketers to avoid obsolescence: “You don’t want to get to a stage of the cycle where you say, ‘Yikes we need an overhaul.’”