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Rebranding and repositioning brands is the most significant trigger for either dramatic increase to brand equity or biggest negative impact – much more so than anything else. For brands and businesses of all sizes, this is a serious activity.
In the last three years, about two thirds of companies surveyed in the top 1,000 private and public firms have recently (within the last 3 years), or are currently, spending significant amounts of their marketing budget rebranding or repositioning a corporate or product brand.
No matter how your brand is situated for the moment, getting the strategy and execution strategy & execution right is a massive challenge with many different moving parts.
We are briefly going to look at some major brand repositions in recent years.
Woolworths
There was a big public perception that a high quantity of Woolworths food was imported. And the change was likely to have been prompted in part by the rapid growth of the company’s private label brands (if they didn’t address the ‘fresh’ threat). A major point was creating a symbol that represented the company visually as fast as possible.
In a bid to commit to a stronger brand value the emphasis of ‘The Fresh Food People’ was vital. To live up to the name, they needed to become more transparent and highlight the extent that Woolworths was committed to fresh produce. They removed walls to behind-the-scenes areas of its stores so that customers were able to see bakers and butchers in action. The brand refitted stores with better lighting and addressed checkout queues.
The rebrand, was a radical departure for the chain. Head of marketing at the time said: “We believe it expresses in its own graphic way our commitment to fresh food in a way that the logo that it superceded doesn’t.”
- A stylised ‘W’ for Woolworths (resembling a green apple being peeled) with the addition of an abstract leaf symbol representing fresh food
- Reminiscent of one of the most famous Woolworths logos of the 1970s
- It represents a person – the top half with outstreched arms
Virgin Australia
In 2000, Virgin Blue was launched with two aircraft operating on a single route. A decade on, with 91 aircraft in its fleet, Virgin Blue was losing money and market share and the future was unsustainable. This called for a major revitalisation.
Combining its international and domestic operations under the one brand.
The airline had been operating under both national and international brands: Virgin Blue, V Australia, Polynesian Blue and Pacific Blue. Renaming and repositioning the brand, Virgin Australia wanted to compete in this market as a contemporary business and leisure carrier. They needed to shift away from their low-cost carrier image and undergo a complete brand reposition.
The rebrand repositioned the company internally around brand and culture. The rebrand looked at the end-to-end customer experience. Moving the company forward it needed to have the customer and the brand at the heart of everything they did.
The rebrand toned down the bright red and some of the crazy elements of the former identity to create a smarter, cleaner and more contemporary look to appeal to business industry without alienating leisure customers. The rebrand has created some major opportunities against a tired and weary Qantas.
Startrack
A familiar merge between Australia Post and Star Track has created an interesting development.
Letter volumes peaked in Australia in 2008 and have been falling, quite dramatically, ever since. It has meant a need to address Australia’s Post relevance in the market. The majority of Star Track’s business was generated b2b through express road freight.
In October 2012, Australia Post acquired Qantas’ 50 per cent interest in StarTrack, making Australia Post the sole shareholder in StarTrack. More recently they have rebranded ‘Messenger Post Couriers’ to ‘StarTrack Courier’.
Together StarTrack and Australia Post form one of Australia’s most trusted freight and logistics providers. Leveraging the combined business, means utilising StarTrack’s trust and premium service standards. Meanwhile Australia Post was able merge the brand with trust, reach and convenience.
The integration of StarTrack means the creation of one of Australia’s leading logistics and e-commerce solutions for both Australian businesses and consumers. Positioning it as a strong logistics business with enormous network reach, it has developed a brand with new level of service standards. While taking Australia Post’s capability with intergrated e-commerce solutions for delivery and payment capabilities on client websites.
The rebrand has created options for the future including being more commercially ready along with being fully privatised.
ANZ Bank Rebrand – A Super Regional Bank
ANZ needed to create a brand that would streamline its brand as it widened its push into Asian markets such as Cambodia, Vietnam and China. the ANZ brand had become fragmented
ANZ was now almost running with its growth plans in the wake of the global financial crisis. The new brand represents a bank “for the people”. We a new tagline: “We live in your world”
ANZ was increasingly becoming a regional bank, operating in 32 countries and needed a strong, unified brand across all regional markets. As ANZ increasingly moves into Asian markets, where English is not universally recognised, a visual symbol was necessary.
The rebranding was driven by the company’s values which put people at the centre of the organisation. Banks in developed economies were trying to reposition their brand to take the heat from the global financial crisis.
The three shapes in the new signage reflect ANZ’s three core markets – Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific – while the central human shape represents customers and staff.
The introduction of the ‘Lotus’ as the new brandmark very much focused the bank at the Asian market because of its cultural significance. In Buddhist iconography, Buddha is often represented on a pink lotus.
The rebrand cemented the bank’s future beyond Australia and New Zealand and into Asia.
Rebel Sport
Super Retail Group bought the business in 2011. And needing to create a clear distinction between Amart (All) Sports. The two businesses were growing closer together day by day.
The new brand aims to reposition the business as a premium sports retailer while increasing its share of active sports enthusiasts and growing the market among less active female consumers.
The brand’s new livery is yellow and black, with brand awareness of the Rebel name deemed strong enough to warrant dropping the word ‘sport’ from the logo and the second ‘e’ flipped to communicate the spirit of competition.
Rebel Sport was very blokey and very dated. Completely revitalising the brand to appeal to the Eighty per cent of decision-makers who are women. Making the store more women friendly. While rebranding Amart Sports to the low-cost end of the market with messages focusing on developing community, value for money, a big product range and encouraging participation.
If you are looking at ways that can help drive revenue and profit, feel free to give us a call for a casual chat on 1300 235 378.