In order to distance itself from disgraced founder Lance Armstrong and his scandals, the Livestrong Foundation unveiled a new logo.  The new logo emphasizes the "foundation" and removes references to Lance Armstrong.

The designers of the new logo remained tied to the old logo by using the original same "LIVESTRONG".  They could have used lower case letters to de-emphasize this.  E.g. "LiveStrong".  This would also make the "FOUNDATION" part stand out.  They could also have added a tagline to reinforce the message of what they do and why they are still relevant without a relationship with Lance Armstrong.  For example: "Helping Families with Cancer LiveStrong".  Most importantly, they could have changed the bold emphasis to "live" instead of "strong" to reinforce the "living" message".

In explaining the new logo, the EVP of operations stated, "The positioning of the bars suggests forward and dynamic movement.".  Brand logos are all about showing and not telling.  If you have to explain your logo, it will be lost on the typical person.  The best brand logos reinforce emotional connections to the audience.  This does not happen when one has to  explain those connections so people "get it".

Summary:

• A company's name and brand should be consistent with each other and consistent with how its consumers view it: i.e. consistent with its marketing communications, products, and customer experiences.
• A strong brand name is no substitute for a compelling product.
• Less is more:  A company and brand name should be short and to the point.

The best brands are built around mutually reinforcement.  Marketing communications, product, customer experience all reinforce the brand.  Recently some big names have changed their company names.  Royal Philips Electronics is going to become Royal Philips.  Research In Motion (RIM) became Blackberry.  These 2 companies are good examples where the product brand IS the company brand in the consumers' mind, but the corporate name is inconsistent.

Philips is making the right move to remove "Electronics" from its name since it recently divested the consumer electronics business.  But Philips should go even further.  CEO Frans Van Houten in a recent statement about the proposed name change stated, “Philips is a diversified technology company focused on delivering meaningful innovation in healthcare, energy-efficient lighting and consumer health and well-being.”  Notice the CEO of Philips itself referred to the company as Philips and not Royal Philips Electronics.  This is because in people's minds, the brand is Philips.  So why not change the company name to just Philips instead of Royal Philips?  Philips can add sub-brands like Philips Healthcare, Philips Lighting, and Philips Well-Being.

RIM did it right changing its name to Blackberry, its well-known product, but the change probably came too late. Blackberry was always the much more well-known moniker, even becoming part of people's vernacular.  At the end of the day, however, a company and brand name is no substitute for a compelling product.  Even if RIM changed its name to Blackberry years ago, it would still have missed the smartphone revolution, despite having a front row seat.

Sources:

• "RIM changes name to BlackBerry, unveils 2 phones", the Wall Street Journal, January 30, 2013. http://online.wsj.com/article/APcf657d7bad8340c38efa06b77283db0c.html
  
• "When it comes to branding, Why Philips plans to drop 'Electronics' from its name", CampaignAsia February 26, 2013.
  http://www.campaignasia.com/Article/334582,why-philips-plans-to-drop-electronics-from-its-name.aspx

CKB Solutions is all about real solutions for the real world.  To learn how we can help your business, contact Greg Kovacic in Hong Kong.

Maker's Mark faced "unforeseen demand".  Instead of communicating the temporary supply constraint to its customers and the market, and in the interest of maintaining its price competitiveness, it decided to decrease the proof of its whisky from 90 to 84 proof - i.e. Maker's Mark announced it would be diluting the alcohol content of its whisky.  A surefire way to kill your brand is to water down your product (or service)!

Since the one-brand company does not purchase bourbon from other distillers, forecasting and meeting demand is sometimes difficult. The brand was able to keep ahead of shortages in the past because the age range of the whiskey is 5 years 9 months to 7 years.  The recent growth of Maker's Mark and whiskey in general changed this.

Maker's Mark said they tested the watered-down bourbon themselves and validated their own findings with consumer research. Both agreed that "there's no difference in the taste."  Customers thought otherwise to the idea and an "overwhelming response" online against the move by customers led Maker's Mark to reverse the decision to dilute its alcohol.

If you want to change your product, create a brand extension or a new brand.  If you dilute your product, you dilute your brand.  If you do not respect your brand, do not expect your customers to either. 

Sources: 
(1) "Maker's Mark reverses decision to lower alcohol content", Reuters, February 17, 2013
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/17/us-beam-makersmark-idUSBRE91G0EM20130217
(2) "Maker's Mark Won't Cut Alcohol Content", ABC News, February 18, 2013
http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/makers-mark-wont-cut-alcohol-content-192224565--abc-news-Recipes.html

CKB Solutions is all about real solutions for the real world.  To learn how we can help your business, contact Greg Kovacic in Hong Kong.

2XU makes great products.  I know from personal experience.  For the past year using their swim shorts and cycling shorts training for an Ironman, I thought the brand was pronounced "2 ex you".  Then a friend who has worked with the brand recently told me the correct way to read the brand name is "2 times you".  This makes sense since the tag line is "Human performance multiplied".  Like the punchline to a joke, a brand logo must be crystal clear and require zero explanation, or it runs the risk of losing or reducing its desired effect, impact and meaning.

As a freebie, I have recommended to 2XU they change their brand to "2xU".  The brand's meaning is much clearer and requires no explanation.  They would not have to change any website domains and would probably only have to file an extension to existing trademark copyrights, if any.  They could gradually incorporate the new brand logo into their lineup of gear and other items minimizing the conversion expense.

To see their great products, visit www.2XU.com.

CKB Solutions is all about real solutions for the real world.  To learn how we can help your business, contact Greg Kovacic in Hong Kong.