Having harped on the idea of consistency and focus, why would we bring up the concept of change?
Because nothing in life, nothing in branding, is ever absolute. There are always exceptions to every rule. And the law of change is the biggest exception to the laws of branding.
Where does the change occur? Companies are often focused on what they need to do internally in order to facilitate the change of a brand. The procedures, the manuals, the brochures, the press conferences, the advertising, the marketing.
But brand changing does not occur inside a company. Brand changing occurs inside the mind of the consumer. If you want to change your brand, keep your sights on your target: the consumer’s mind.
There are three situations where changing your brand is feasible.
This is the easiest situation of all. In essence, there is no brand, so you can do anything you want with the brand name. Use it on a totally different product in a totally different category, if you will. Who’s to know?
In 1985, Intel made a dramatic decision to get out of D-RAM (dynamic random access memory) chips in order to focus on microprocessors, a product Intel invented. In the process, Intel made its name the best-known worldwide brand of microprocessor. “Intel Inside” became the theme of a brand-building program of exceptional power. (In many cases customers are more concerned with the brand name of the processor than they are with the brand name of the personal computer.)
Intel changed its brand from D-RAMs to microprocessors. But except for a handful of computer executives and purchasing agents, who knew that Intel used to stand for D-RAMs?
If you are permanently lowering the price of your brand, you can often move it down the price ladder without hurting the brand. Customers will believe they are getting a lot of value by purchasing your brand. It’s not necessarily a bad move. Marlboro lowered its cigarette prices and gained market share.
There’s a lot of prestige in building Rolls-Royces, but not a lot of profit. Sometimes prices get out of line and permanent adjustments need to be made.
Going in the other direction, moving up the food chain, is much harder if not impossible. Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza was a difficult sell until the chain dropped the Holiday Inn from the name.
Twenty-five years ago Citicorp (and its Citibank subsidiary) was about 80 percent corporate and 20 percent consumer. Today the numbers are almost reversed. Citicorp is about
30 percent corporate and 70 percent consumer.
Citicorp is successfully moving its Citibank brand from a corporate to a consumer perception. But the key concept to keep in mind is that little change has actually occurred in the mind of the banking prospect. Instead of “changing” minds, Citicorp has allowed enough time to pass so that the natural process of “forgetting” takes place.
What works in banking just won’t work in a fast-moving field like computers or consumer electronics. There’s not enough time for the “forgetting” process to take place.
Customers are never wrong. That’s one of the many human traits that is so endearing and yet so frustrating from a branding point of view. When you try to tell customers that your brand is different than it used to be, they will reject your message.
In a famous Miller Lite television commercial, the beer drinker sees an ex–football player and says, “You’re ah . . . you’re ah . . . you’re ah . . .”
“Nick Buoniconti,” says the football player helpfully.
“No, that’s not it.”
Funny and also true. What you think your brand is really doesn’t matter. It’s only what your customer thinks your brand is that matters.
Kentucky Fried Chicken has been trying to walk away from the “fried” in its name for a long time. First, it changed the name of the chain to “KFC,” but that didn’t help much because customers say to themselves, “What do those initials stand for?” Second, it promoted its rotisserie chicken as the healthier alternative to fried chicken.
Guess what happened? People still went to KFC for fried chicken. Recently, KFC threw in the towel and went back to promoting fried chicken. “We’re going to brag about the original recipe,” said one franchisee, “the one that brought us to the dance.”
You can be sure that the concept that brought your brand to the dance is still firmly embedded in your prospect’s mind.
If you want to change your brand, first look into the prospect’s mind. Where are you? Perhaps you’re not in the mind at all. Fine, change away.
But if you are in the mind, and if you have a unique and distinct perception, then change your brand at your own risk. It’s going to be a long, difficult, expensive, and perhaps impossible process.