Question

Topic: Branding

Rebranding With Parent Company

Posted by Anonymous on 5/26/2010 at 9:36 AM ET 250 Points
Hi Folks,

The company I work for is close to making a decison on rebranding to the name of its parent company. There are market reasons/pressures why this is the correct thing to do.

However our parent company is from a non english speaking country and their name is difficult to pronounce correctly if unfamiliar with the name.

Ontop of this, there is also the issue of the brand equity of the existing brand and what it stands for in the mind of our target market.

My question is given the trouble we are likely to encounter with the new brand name should we proceed with our rebranding efforts and if so are there any examples of companies with difficult brand andmes and are there any tactics that we can use to overcome this?

I look forward to your responses.

Many thanks,

PG
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 5/26/2010 at 10:41 AM Author
    Thanks NuCoPro and drsc,

    Intersting points raised by both.

    To give a liitle further information. We are an indigenous small to medium sized organisation. Recently we were acquired by an large organisation, from a non english speaking country, that is relatively unknow in my country but has a well recognised name and history in its own country.

    We are now looking to rebrand and respoition ourselves by leaning on our parent company as an organisation of considerable size, scope and capabilitily where as at the moment we are viewed as a small local company that is dwarfed by our international competition. As a result we feel we are losing out on business for this reason.

    It is also felt that one set of stake holders would be more responsive to us as we are at the moment but the second set of stakeholders would be more responsive to an organisation of size and scope.

    What to do???? Any additional input would be most welcome.

  • Posted by Markitek on 5/26/2010 at 10:41 AM Accepted
    if there are market pressures that make a name change the correct thing to do, then you must do it and endure the cost and the trauma.

    Some companies, like Datsun-to-Nissan, in the 80s, take many years to incrementally accomplish the name shift. Others, like Kentucky Fried Chicken-to-KFC and Phillip Morris-to-Altria, just do it. Depends on the reasons for the change as much as anything else.

    There are lots of examples of hard to pronounce company names--you just don't realize it because you're familiar with them (aided a great deal by radio and tv commercials where you can hear the pronounciation). Heineken, Hyundai, Nestle, L'Oreal do not come trippingly off the English speaking tongue.

    Companies change names all the time, and don't suffer catastrophe if done carefully and systematically.
  • Posted on 5/26/2010 at 10:50 AM Accepted
    I'm with NuCoPro and drsc. It's hard to imagine a situation where you'd simply dump a brand name that has meaning (and value) for one that's largely unknown and hard to pronounce (by your target audience).

    A possible approach: You might want to conduct a straightforward brand audit study among your target audience to see what they think and feel about your current brand (vis a vis competitors). And you can then research a few different positioning/naming options (for the new name) to see how the various approaches might affect perceptions of your company.

    This has the added advantage of being an objective way to deal with the issue when talking to your management and the parent company. ("The research findings suggest that we are best served by ...")
  • Posted on 5/26/2010 at 10:57 AM Author
    Hi Phil,

    Just to answer your question. It is the market forces thatare pushing this and not our parent company at all!

    Thanks,

    PG
  • Posted on 5/27/2010 at 4:39 AM Author
    Hi Folks,

    Superb feedback and it has certainly given me lots to think about.

    Many thanks,

    PG
  • Posted on 5/31/2010 at 4:13 AM Author
    Many thanks for all your insightful responses.

    I am closing this question now but I look forward to picking your brains again in the future!!!!
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