Scale up your look

21 December 2009
A new year often inspires us to change many areas of our life.  I’ll never forget the year I went platinum blonde.  It didn’t suit me at all.  Needless to say, I went back to my natural colour and tried to forget about the money I’d wasted.

Bad makeovers can be reversed.  But what about bad branding decisions?

Tropicana Products, Inc recently bore the brunt of consumer backlash when it re-branded its household favourite orange juice, TROPICANA.  Tropicana wanted to refresh the image of the TROPICANA brand, but failed to recognise the significance of the Tropicana icon and the influence of the TROPICANA logo on brand selection.  The popular logo features a straw inserted into an orange to signify freshness (because the juice is shown coming straight from the fruit).

The redesign of the Tropicana packaging was a disaster because it tampered with the original design (the orange with the straw) and failed to connect with its loyal customers. And so, the old — and obviously more popular — branding is now back.

So is it time to update your brand?  And what should you consider before re-branding?

At this time of year it is not uncommon for a business to think about updating their brand. We get many calls from businesses wanting to discuss the pros and cons of making a change to their logos, icons and other visual identities.  Conversations range from tweaking an existing brand to creating an entirely new identity.  Just how far you go depends on what inspired you to consider a change in the first place.  Change should not be taken lightly. 


When should you change your brand?

Sometimes a change is necessary.  Completely changing your brand may be the best option if your brand has received bad publicity, or been associated with negative feelings.  This change will help you build your business on a new positive platform.

Your brand is a reflection of your business.  If your business has changed since you first adopted your brand, you may need a change to make sure your brand is not out-of-sync with your identity.  But you want to retain credibility with your customers and still evoke the feelings that make your target market want to do business with you. Making some small subtle tweaks may help keep your brand fresh and relevant, while still retaining your core brand values.

You may be looking for broader market appeal or to align yourself with a specific market niche.  Or you may be offering new products which are inconsistent with your current branding.

Before making any change, you need to carefully consider what is driving the change.  In most cases, the value in your existing brand means you should resist significant change.

Just because you are bored with your brand, doesn’t mean it has lost customer appeal!


How can a change be done effectively?

Consider refreshing your brand while keeping key elements from your original brand.  Consider colour, type, size, and overall design. Adding another dimension can update a brand without changing it drastically.

The objective should be to update your brand while still keeping its recognition high among those who identify with your brand the most.  Understand what it is that customers love about your brand. 

Unless you are taking on a major re-brand, take small steps to transition from old to new.

A facelift could do wonders for your brand.  It will give loyal customers something to talk about and may also attract new customers.

But remember — any change needs to managed well so you don’t experience a backlash like Tropicana experienced.

And let’s not forget about your trade mark protection

If your brand is a registered trade mark, making a change to it — even just a minor one — could impact on your rights.

A trade mark registration can be removed from the trade marks register if it has not been used in the three years before the date of the application to remove it.  And the trade mark must have been used in a form that is not markedly different to the form of the trade mark registered. 

This means that if a trade mark is registered in one format and then used in another way, the rights held may be different to those registered, or may not exist at all.  This situation could have downstream effects if you wanted to sue another business that has adopted the same, or a similar, trade mark.  It could also detrimentally affect a transaction where someone wanted to buy your trade mark registration, but on investigation discovered it was not used as registered. 

Very small changes to the look of a brand can make a difference.  What is considered to be an insignificant tweak to a brand may be a step too far.  Expert advice should be obtained on any planned changes to your brand. 

Rights can be safeguarded by getting a new trade mark registration for your new-look brand.

Don’t let the desire to freshen your brand mean that you lose valuable rights.  Provided your new brand is used in the way you registered it, this most valuable business asset will remain secure.

An edited version of this article was published in Her Business, December 2009

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