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How many times have we heard about companies changing their names especially those established ones? And how much do you think they have to spend to do that? Thousands and maybe millions.
Well, unless you are just a small company or a startup who nobody knows.
Otherwise, it’ll cost a fortune with all those new logo design, advertisements (radio, newspapers, TV, etc), renovation (to all the concerned shops or branches), etc.
If they know they are going to spend so much, why do they want to do it? Is it because their previous brand stinks or already has bad reputation? If so, what makes them think the new branding will make people forget about them?
If it’s not about bad reputation, then maybe it’s to give a better image or better “feel”? Or is it because they’ve consulted some Feng Shui master?
For example, just few months ago, our Bank Pertanian changed name to Agro Bank. It sounds terrible but maybe it’s important for them to have an English name in order to go international.
What about those companies which have changed their branding only to change the brand BACK again after few years? In my opinion, that is a very stupid move especially during such critical period of time. They can actually use the money on some other things.
That’s why before a company decides to do any rebranding, it is very important to check whether the existing name is good enough or not. If it is good enough, save those thousands or millions of dollar for something else. If your existing brand is bad, then make sure your new brand is good!
Last food for thought - Google, Yahoo, eBay, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and most major companies hardly do any rebranding before. And for Google, they hardly do any branding or marketing stuff.
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6 Responses
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I guess , being an entrepreneur still doesn’t show how one can make a good decision
always take trial and error to get the right result..
Lisas last blog post..What is the meaning of life? Why do we exist?
Rebranding is not easy as need to do a lot of strategies and all start from zero again. Building branding needs time..
keeyits last blog post..Not bad to transfer
If you’re referring to cosmetic change, yes there are pros and cons. McDonald’s rebranded from a kiddies eating place to a young adult restaurant, from Ronald McDonald to I’m Lovin’ It. They understand that acquiring a new customer will cost them 13 times more than keeping an existing one so it makes sense to rebrand with Justin Timberlake (and stay relevant to their maturing clients) than spend 10-13 times more in marketing acquiring a new generation of kids. Its a gamble that seems to be paying off. McD stocks on Wall St are one of the few that have actually grown stronger in this meltdown.
In contrast you’ll find that competitors like Burger King have not rebranded for decades. Their customers have changed (grown up) but they have not. When customers stop identifying with you, they leave you. You’re forced to spend lots more than you should to maintain the same income. Check up BK’s stock and you’ll find they have not been spectacular at all.
Changing brand logos and colors won’t help if brands are weak in the first place. You’d be wasting money to rebrand if product or service quality remains atrocious. Many companies eventually find out the hard way that branding is not about logos and colors. It about reputation. You stay loyal becuz they never let you down. And that’s a challenge many brands just simply cannot hack.
@ Lisa
Being an entrepreneur is never easy and a successful entrepreneur might not be an expert in marketing too. That’s why we have marketing experts who are earning so much.
@ keeyit
Yeap. It really takes a lot of time, money and efforts.
@ Damien
Very good point. Rebranding is actually to change your marketing plan. Maybe it’s to target new customer base or to change the “feeling” associated with the product/company.
That’s why companies such as Nike, Adidas, Coke are so successful. They changed their direction (and keep doing that to suit the market) to give a different “feeling” or to introduce something new.
But in the long run, it’s the reputation which counts. Changing colors, logos, slogans or company name, will not help if your product sucks.
And that is why so many companies are asking themselves why their rebranding failed even after putting in so much effort and money.
p/s…. DIGI and CELCOM both started their new branding program at about the same time but I have a feeling that CELCOM didn’t get the result they wanted.
Tech branding is what I do for a living, that’s why its close to my heart. However my team is made up of a statistician, a researcher, a financial analyst and a corporate strategist. There’s not a graphic designer in sight, hehe.
If you look at Celcom and Digi’s billboards you’ll see a fundamental diff in their branding message. Celcom talks about their superiority, undisputed coverage, etc. Digi doesn’t talk about themselves. They talk about the customer (I will follow you).
If you go on a date, its a choice between the girl who would only talk about herself and one who is actually interested about you. Which would you pick.
Celcom’s branding style was the way to go in the 70’s and 80’s. Things have changed since then.
What about you, why do you think they won’t get the results they wanted?
@ Damien
First, it’s because of their reputation - quality and cost. People do remember about those 2 things and no matter how much you try to promote, it’ll not work out if you don’t do well. Existing customers of yours speak louder than all your marketing gimmicks.
And I also think they tried too hard in pushing for the “superstar” or “celebrity” kind of feeling by using so many celebrities. They want to give the younger generation the feeling of “cool” or “up-to-date”. We see this a lot in the 1980s…using a superstar to promote an item, so that we too, feel like a superstar.
The problem here is, the younger generation mostly using their supplementary line, which is under their parents…which is more self-focus and realistic.
That’s why DIGI is winning the battle.
Just my opinion.