Rebranding is much more than updating the logo, it dives into the companies positioning, values and the essence of the brand. It is no doubt a costly exercise, but can really pay off when done right.
We see many examples daily of companies that have rebranded, sometimes the change is so subtle we don’t even notice it, but sometimes it’s huge and everyone has something to say.
Here are some points to consider about rebranding:
When is it a good time to change the name?
- When the name no longer reflects what the company stands for
- When there is a trademark conflict
- When the name has developed or already has negative connotations
- When the name is misleading
- When there has been a merger
What are good reasons to rebrand?
- When the business has moved into other sectors
- When the name is changing
- To revitalize an existing brand
- If customers don’t recognize the brand and are unaware of what it does
- When going global
- When stock has been devalued
- When the company or product wants to appeal to a different market
- When the competition has a better image
- To create a consistency across the brand where there wasn’t one
What are bad reasons to rebrand?
- When you’re bored with the brand
- When the brand has a strong positive image that everyone knows
Rebranding Fears:
- Existing customers won’t recognize us
- It will be too expensive
Case Study : Cell C
Cell C is a South African cellular network provider. Recently they did a complete rebranding exercise that everyone is talking about. They have not only replaced the logo, but the entire personality the brand has created over the past few years. Everyone knows the sultry ‘See for yourself’ voice, but everyone also now knows local comedian Trevor Noah.
The new branding is definitely more modern then the old one, but even I have to admit, it took some getting used too. So how did they end up with Trevor Noah as their new face? Well, the story goes like this : Trevor Noah made a joke about the bad service at Cell C in one of his stand up shows, to which they responded by making him the CEO (Customer Experience Officer) which comes with the ‘Tell Trevor‘ website. A brilliantly clever move made on Cell C’s part, which has gained them a huge amount of publicity.
There has also been huge publicity about the fact that the ‘C’ in the new logo looks just like the universal sign for copyright.
The reason for rebranding? CEO Lars Reichelt says it has been designed to suggest customers can now do things with Cell C that they couldn’t do before.
He said that the colours were taken from the South African flag as Cell C is committed to South Africa and only South Africa.
Personally – I think it’s a thumbs up to Cell C!
