Re-branding

I must admit I quite like the slightly sly way that 540 went about their re-brand. No full-page ads and ‘I am Britam’ campaigns for them – simply replace ‘540’ with ‘SAX’ and get on with it. Same colors, same style, same font, same everything else, just a slightly different logo.

Re-branding is becoming quite fashionable – Kenya Power, Unaitas, Athi Water and Britam itself are some recent examples that spring to mind.

A re-branding exercise is no small task, especially for a brand that has a high level of mass awareness like Kenya Power. A brand is of course a much more complex animal than just a logo – as the 540/SAX example well demonstrates – it is the accumulation and culmination in the consumers mind of a large number of associations with and experiences of the brand over time – in other words, it is a rep.

Now, before I proceed, it is important to note that a ‘rep’ is something that can be built (slowly over time) or destroyed (very quickly) either intentionally or unintentionally. The vast majority of brands in this town (excluding the multinational boys) tend to be built unintentionally – by which I mean that the particular ‘rep’ that the brand has acquired is a by-product of everything that the brand has been doing as opposed to an objective in and of itself.

This last sentence essentially lies at the heart of what a re-branding exercise is all about – it is an attempt to design a brand, and the expressions of that brand, in such a way as to create a particular, pre-meditated and business-objective-focused ‘rep’ for the brand in the consumers mind.

This is the key point – a brand is a set of managed perceptions, and creating one is a process of meticulous management.

‘Sonko’ aka Gideon Mbuvi M.P. is a very good example of what I’m talking about. He has ‘packaged’ himself, and meticulously maintained the packaging of himself as being ‘by the urban youth, of the urban youth and for the urban youth’. That in many African countries he would soon be moving into grandfather territory isn’t the point, the point is that he has set out pro-actively, and in a calculated manner, to create the set of perceptions in his audience’s minds that will enable him and empower him to achieve his political/business goals. Sonko is not an ‘an accident’, Sonko is a brand…

N.B. I’m not saying btw that I’m going to vote for the guy, I just admire his work at a professional level.

Sonko further serves as a very useful ‘thought-experiment’ vis a vis the purpose of re-branding. In his case, it is inevitable that his present ‘brand position’ will become untenable – botox can after all only take one so far. He will therefore reach a stage in his career where he will be obliged to re-brand – and it is the thinking behind this process that so well illustrates how one should correctly go about it.

The first thing he will have to do is identify a new (economic/social/demographic) ‘constituency’ i.e. market. Then he’ll have to look at who else is playing in that market (competitor analysis). Once he’s identified them, he’ll then have to figure out how he’s going to differentiate himself from them in such a way as to elevate himself above them without being so differentiated as to differentiate himself out of the category (his brand position). In figuring this out he may look at international trends (Malema, Castro, Malcolm X) and he should try and get a feel for how his market/constituency is evolving (position for tomorrow, not for today).

Once he has figured out all of the above, documented it and had it approved by his board of directors, he can now set about giving expression to his new brand position. Should he wear a tie, or bow-tie? One color, three, patterns? How about a hat – evolve from baseball to bowler? Still in a Hummer? Range Rover to common? A chopper? An airship? Should he change the way he talks? Kiswahili kisanifu? The Queens’/Kijana Wamalwa’s English? What about where he hangs out? A bit less of ‘the club’ and a bit more Karen Club…?

The point is that whatever he decides, his decisions will be to serve a purpose – to build the rep/brand he needs built to enable and empower his political and economic goals.

Thus a re-brand is always a business decision, and it must be driven by an understanding that where you are presently positioned is not where you need to be positioned to perform at your optimal level.

The last lesson from the future Sonko – don’t leave it too late! Review your position on a regular basis and slowly evolve your brand to keep it fresh and relevant for years and years to come.