Posts Tagged rebrand
drinking new coke at disney
Posted by Chris Houchens in branding on November 5, 2009
The great thing about established brands is that they all have a deep core element that they can always refer back to. This core attribute defines the brand in the public’s mind.
- McDonalds has the arches and the clown.
- Playboy has Heff.
- And Mickey Mouse is the square one that Disney can always go back to
But after building 81 years of brand equity with Mickey, Disney is rebranding the mouse. They hope to “re-imagineer” Mickey to show his darker side. They want him to be cantakerous and cunning.
What a horrendously bad idea.
For years, marketers have had the example of the spectacular New Coke disaster to use as a warning for brands not to mess with core brand attributes. We’re about to get another example.
Of course, Disney does have a problem. They’ve failed to keep Mickey relevant to a younger generation. But this is not the answer.
The first step of trying to make Mickey more edgy is an appearance in a new video game:
Epic Mickey, designed for Nintendo’s Wii console, is set in a “cartoon wasteland” where Disney’s forgotten and retired creations live….The game also features a disemboweled, robotic Donald Duck and a “twisted, broken, dangerous” version of Disneyland’s “It’s a Small World.”
A disemboweled, robotic Donald Duck.
Walt is spinning in his cryogenic frozen grave.
rebranding the hut
Posted by Chris Houchens in branding, marketing, strategy on June 19, 2009
In one of the worst “re-branding” moves that I’ve ever seen, Pizza Hut is dropping pizza from its name and will now be known in some locations as just ‘The Hut‘.
What a great move. Trash over 50 years of brand equity for something that makes me think of a dark dank dwelling in the Third World. Of course, it’s been coming for awhile. They’ve brand-extended themselves to oblivion instead of doing the core product (pizza!) well.
What makes it even more sad/funny is the delusion they’ve sold themselves and are now sending out in media relations…
…characterized the name change as an attempt to transform its stores into hip hangouts…..The new “hut” stores will be more than a place to simply pick up some take-out…they will include televisions that broadcast CBS programs such as “Wheel of Fortune” and “Entertainment Tonight.”
Because we all know the kids think that nothing can be more “hip” than Wheel of Fortune. Maybe they could reach back into the CBS archives and air old episodes of ‘Murder She Wrote’ to be even more hip.
They just may have a bad case of self-loathing with their name. They’ve tried to “rebrand” the Pizza Hut name on several previous occasions like “Pizza Hut Pizza & Pasta Cafe”, “Pizza Hut Italian Bistro”, “Pizza Hut WingStreet”, and the half-joking April Fools’ prank, “Pasta Hut”. A smart guy once said “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity”
Hey Yum!, listen up. The problem is not the Pizza Hut name. The problem is the customer experience. Even though your spokesperson, Christopher Fuller, gave a cheesy non-answer to real issues, the facts are clear in the public’s mind: Your employees don’t care. Your stores are dirty. Your service is horrible. (In one of my local Pizza Huts, there’s a sign above the lunch buffet that says not to even bother requesting any type of pizza because they aren’t going to do it.) And as I previously said in this post, you have forgotten your core product.
In kneejerk fashion, other chains may follow the move:
- Dominos will become “Backgammon”
- Papa Johns will become “Papa Smurfs”
- McDonalds will become “Mick”
- Taco Bell will become “The Bell”
- KFC will become “Sammy Nellas”
- Burger King will become “CP+B”
bada bing
Posted by Chris Houchens in branding, online on June 3, 2009
Lots of people are hating Bing just because it’s from MSFT. I think you can find lots of other reasons to hate it including that Bing can’t seem to find things that are on the Internet — which is the first thing I look for in a search engine.
I really hate this line from their introductory page:
We sincerely hope that the next time you need to make an important decision, you’ll Bing and decide.
Oh snap, Google! See how they’ve verbed themselves!? What a fabulous marketing tactic for any company:
–Don’t treet my email address.
–Make me a canon of this document.
–Just stick a Curad on it.
I also dislike their look. They apparently decided to be everything that Google is not. Google’s page is clean with lots of white space. Bing looks cluttered with a background that is remnicent of a “ahem” PC desktop background.
But the big basic problem is that they’ve just slapped a new look on a pre-existing bad product. Live Search wasn’t good. “Rebranding” by slapping a new name on something is never the answer.
And what about that name? Among many other meanings, Bing means “disease” in Chinese. Nice. It’s callled research, boys. You could have googled it and found out.
sam’s new hat
Posted by Chris Houchens in branding on July 28, 2008
Have a bad name from destroying downtown businesses, treating your employees badly, and dominating the American capitalist system? Maybe a new logo will fix everything.
Rebrand Nation
Posted by Chris Houchens in branding on May 30, 2007
I don’t want to get into the politics of it, but this article from Slate is a wonderful example of the mistakes that are made when you try to “REBRAND” through words and not actions.
It doesn’t matter what you SAY. It matters what you DO.
Press Releases don’t change public perception of your brand. Positive customer experiences do.
If government propaganda can’t change public perceptions, what makes you think your incredibly clever advertising can?
Mc-Iced
Posted by Chris Houchens in branding on May 1, 2007
I continue to watch the attempted evolution of the McDonalds brand. It seems they to want to be the next Starbucks with all the coffee promotions they’ve been brewing lately.
McDonalds has introduced a new iced coffee drink. At least with iced coffee, they’ll avoid lawsuits from people spilling the cup in their laps. Unless they sue for frostbite instead of burns.
This is the latest in a long line of new products and store remodels that McDonalds is using to try to change the public perception of the McDonalds brand and branch out into other market segments.
I often rant that trying to “re-brand” is a pointless exercise. The brand is generated by the consumer, not dictated by the company.
For a majority of the public, the McDonalds brand still evokes the thoughts of unhealthy food, freakish clowns, and minimum wage workers. A chic coffee drink and premium chicken aren’t going to change that overnight.
And you can see the trouble they’re having in trying to change the perception. Only a few companies in the world have the money and public attention to try and pull a re-brand off. And they fail most of the time.
What makes you think you’re going to pull off a “re-brand” with your budget?
Planetary Branding
Posted by Chris Houchens in branding, marketing on August 25, 2006
Before I begin…let me just say this analogy is imperfect…but we’re working on it.
The planet Pluto got “demoted” this week. It’s now official. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930. It’s now a “dwarf planet” or a “trans-Neptunian object”.
But, a lot of people aren’t buying that. Depending on which recent poll numbers you believe, 60 to 80% of people are saying they’ll still treat Pluto as a planet.
See, it’s been the common view that Pluto is a planet for the last 76 years. In fact, the astronomers even took what the public might think into account in the decision since we all kind of have an interest in “our” solar system. Some of the astronomers were even trying to “save Pluto”. That’s why the 12 (plus) planet model was proposed last week.
Now obviously, this is a science/astronomy issue and this isn’t the Shotgun Astronomy Blog. What’s the link with marketing?
If you’re a long time reader of this blog, you’ll know that my brand philosophy states that branding is one of the most important marketing tools, but I am adamantly opposed to the idea of “re-branding” As evidenced [here] [here] [here] [here] and [here]
Scientific classification needs aside….in essence, the IAU attempted to “re-brand” the solar system last week. Nothing has changed out in the cosmos. We’re just supposed to describe it and relate to it in a different way.
In the same way that you might be rolling your eyes at this IAU Pluto decision, consumers roll their eyes when you throw out a new logo and say “things are different, now!”.
Brands don’t change overnight. Brands are created by the consumer. They are NOT created by the company. Brands are a bottom-up proposition….not top-down. Yes, you can guide the way the brand is developed and place the necessary items in the marketing conversation to lead the development. But, a brand is truly developed with time in the consumers’ experiences with your organization.
And the longer a brand impression is in the consumers’ minds…the longer it will take to change it. The “solar system brand” will have 9 planets for as long as the public wants it to have 9. New textbooks and planetary models will slowly change the public’s perception of the brand.
The next time your company sits around a table and “votes” to change the brand…ask yourself if Pluto is a planet.
tags:: marketing – branding – brand – rebranding – Pluto
Czech Mate
Posted by Chris Houchens in branding on January 31, 2006
Just as we’re “re-branding” every spot on the map in the U.S….the phenomenon has spread worldwide. The Czech Republic now has a logo. [LINK]
Newsflash:: Most countries already have a logo…it’s called a FLAG.
I’m no expert on Eastern European Graphic Design…but it looks a LITTLE busy to be a logo. It looks to be more of a poster. Each of the little cartoon bubbles highlights a part of the Czech culture. From the press release….
It’s very bouncy and playful, and one row of bubbles is dedicated to words like “mushrooming”, or “Christmas carp” and “remoska” referring to favourite Czech hobbies and a very famous Czech portable oven.
Ahhh, nothing like the lights on the tree and the Christmas carp in the oven.
(Sad Disclosure — I actually got a little giddy when I thought of the corny title to this post. Close runners up were “Czech, Please” and “Czech out this new logo”. …I think I made the best choice.)
tags:: marketing branding municipal brands international branding Warsaw Pact Czech
New Jersey
Posted by Chris Houchens in branding on January 16, 2006
Some people collect stamps…or coins…or dust.
Apparently, I collect stories about the fallacy of municipal “re-branding”…[here] [here] [here] [here] and [here]
The latest?…New Jersey
As usually happens when states and cities “rebrand”, clever people come up with slogans based on the REAL brand position that place currently holds. AdJab has several funny alternatives such as “New Jersey: Not just a dumping ground for dead bodies“
Intel REBRANDS
Posted by Chris Houchens in branding on December 30, 2005
Yesterday, Intel revealed would dump the logo they have had since 1968. This in addition to changing their corporate slogan from “intel inside” to “leap ahead”.
Wow…
My perception of them is automatically changing.
Let’s just hope they don’t mess with their audio logo. It’s the most valuable corporate asset they have.
UPDATE:: The above is a quick sarcastic rant (what I do best). For a really good treshing out of this idea, check out this post from AdRants.
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