Rebranding a company or product is nothing new. It's about reinventing what a company or brand is, and what it stands for in the eyes of a new market.
When new companies are formed, they generally start from small seeds that grow through different stages of their life-cycle. Each stage is different as it moves through time - Companies need to make adjustments to reflect their competitive stance in changing market conditions, which are constantly evolving.
Whether a company is large or small, rebranding is a large undertaking and may not be the best approach for every company. A small business might consider to rebrand if there are changes in its business model, product offering or services. Rebranding can also be undertaken if a company merges with another business in the same industry. Within the consumer electronics industry, changes are often and frequent and a company must be a good visionary to position itself well into the future, this is a difficult task in business. A company may see an opportunity to rebrand to guard against market changes in the future.
As “Apple Computers” evolved into new product lines beyond computers, the original brand name was restrictive. For example, “Apple Computers” was the company name when it was conceived by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne on April 1, 1976. Its purpose in life was to develop and sell personal computers. However, due to the massive shift in the technology industry It was was renamed as “Apple” on January 9, 2007, which reflect the shift the company had taken towards the consumer electronics industry. Apple is now the world's second-largest information technology company by revenue and the world's third-largest mobile phone maker. On September 30, 2013, Apple overtook Coca-Cola to become the world's most valuable brand in the Omnicom Group's "Best Global Brands" report.
There are many examples of rebranding mistakes that have cost companies hundreds of millions in loses. Also, there are many examples of companies reinventing themselves after receiving bad publicity. This essentially means changing a companies name to protect its survival into the future.
After a terrible sequence of tragedies for Malaysian Airlines in 2014, the airlines reputation has been severely tarnished. As a result, the airline is considering a complete brand makeover, from seeking new investors to a name change. Rebranding may include a different investment structure, and a new name. Since the two tragic crashes, the company has lost 35 percent of its value, but the airline’s commercial director is convinced it will “emerge stronger”.
Rebranding is all about future proofing a company to allow it to exist in changing environments. Name changes are only part of change process. Companies will also need to consider future proofing their technology and business systems. Merging companies involves merging data. companies need to consider data management and systems integration to successfully manage the back-end of the merger.
Rebranding a company or product is nothing new. Its reinventing what a company or brand is, and what it stands for in the eyes of a new market.
If your company is about to rebrand you need to measure the improvements to determine the success of failure of such an activity. Rebranding is a marketing and communication activity that can be measured against using effective and benefits of Marketing Resource Management tools (MRM-tools). For more information on the benefits of MRM tools click here.