Projector

1. Demoralised employees, confused customers? – it may be time for a re-brand.

We here at Projector take pride in the fact that we are well known for combining creative skills with an underpinning of business knowledge which we’ve built up over a number of years, working within a wide range of sectors. We’d never tell you that simply a new logo design is the one magic answer that will turn around your fortunes and solve any problems you’re having. However, a good (and thorough) rebrand process will work to unearth the issues that you may be having that could be solved through a number of key changes, including a new look and feel. This can lift spirits, re-focus aims and offer a new beginning.

2. Name or Design Weakness

The company may be doing extremely well with no issues, record profits, loyal workers and happy customers. So why would they want a re-brand? It could be something as simple as the logo growing old fashioned or creating technical problems, i.e. failing to reproduce well in print. This could be the result of a logo simply being designed badly in the first place or being designed to fit in with the style of the moment. For example in the early 90′s a lot of logo’s were designed to look ‘grungy’ with distressed edges and textures. A few years down the line and these logo’s show their age, they have no ‘timeless’ qualities. This approach to branding can pay off in the short term but will require a refresh several years later. 

3. Legal Requirement

Occasionally, but very rarely there may arise legal issues that require a company to make changes to their branding. Reasons for this might be down to similarities between naming or designs resulting in the need for change or perhaps the break up of a company which leads to a loss of the right to use it’s logo mark. One of the most famous examples of this was in 1984 when the US government forced the telecoms company AT&T to break up, resulting in several smaller regional companies. The AT&T bell logo had to go after over 100 years representing the company. 

4. Publicity Stunt

There are many examples of well known companies changing their brand (or the branding of one of their products) in order to drum up publicity resulting in, sometimes positive, sometimes negative public response. Pizza Hut/Pasta Hut, Marathon/Snickers, Pollack/Collin (Sainsbury changed the name of a fish), Opal Fruit/Starburst. The saying goes that ‘all publicity is good publicity’, in the case of the examples I have mentioned and similar cases I would have to agree or at least say that I can’t see that any permanent damage would have occurred as a result. Although initial public response may have been negative in many of these cases, they have all been propelled to the forefront of media attention and are all the better known because of this. Bad publicity usually results from individual human error and not from structured, planned marketing – i.e. Gerald Ratner of Ratners jewellery stores stating their products were cheap rubbish at a press conference.

5. Merger or Acquisition

When two companies merge or if a company is acquired by another the question is usually raised as to how the merger will affect the brand values of either business. There can be a lot at stake, especially when one or both companies already have strong brand personality within the public eye. It’s essential to know the market and assess the pros and cons of making any changes if at all.

One example of where the wrong decision was made was the Royal Mail re-brand to Consignia; in 2001 the company ceased to be run by the government and became semi-independently owned. A re-brand was commissioned and the new name Consignia unveiled. It was a total flop with widespread derision (even the new chairman disliked the name!). The decision was made to revert back to the Royal Mail.