As humans we have a tendency to want the easy way out. A quick fix. If this weren’t true, the world wouldn’t have weight loss pills, get rich quick schemes, or an illegal drug problem.

Companies are no different. When revenues are down, they wanna figure out how to fix it quickly and easily.  Often a company will call for a rebranding to turn things around.  The problem with that is that the external brand is only a reflection of what exists internally, and more often than not that’s where many of the problems lie.

So if you’re company is struggling and needs a new way of presenting value to customers, just know that first you need to look internally and figure out how to change what you do to add more value.  Then go through the process of rebranding and reintroducing new and improved brand to the world.

Before you reintroduce yourself, make sure that:

1. Leadership is united in the new direction.

2. Your not just talking about new value, but you’ve made the appropriate changes internally to add that value to the customer.

3. All employees believe in the new value you’re adding and take ownership of making it happen.

At the end of the day, a good logo alone can’t fix a bad company.

Network Solutions, a long-time player (and a solid one at that) in the website hosting business, was recently rebranded.

Although I’d love to comment on some of my thoughts/confusion on their new logo, let’s keep away from the subjective and look solely at the objective strategy & positioning of their recent rebrand.

For starters, I can say one positive is their overall look and feel. While being a bit on the generic web 2.0 side, it does add a more sophisticated look to a web hosting company – something that stands out relative to their competitors.

Their redesigned site is also easier to navigate – another positive move.

But the biggest strategic shift may be the way they have both bundled and named their services. They’ve moved away from terms like “Domain Name“, “Ecommerce“, and even “Email” – and instead created a branding platform that adds their “ns” in front of each and every one of their service offerings.

• Rather than using an industry term like, “Domain“, they’ve opted for “nsWebAddress™”.
• Instead of “Email“, they’re calling it “nsMail™” (and if you want to upgrade to business class, its “nsMail™ Pro“).
• Instead of “Ecommerce“, its now “nsCommerceSpace™”.

Their formula: take an existing term that’s been used for years, modify it slightly, add an “ns” in front…and presto – you’ve got yourself a uniquely branded service!

Well, not really.

I’m not sure these names do anything at all, other than confuse and create more terminology to an already over-saturated web vernacular.

So let’s hear it…hit me back with your thoughts on their approach…

We often help organizations walk through the process of rebranding.  The need for rebranding can come for several different reasons, one of which I wrote about a little while ago.  Sometimes though, people feel they need to take their company the rebranding process when there is absolutely no need to.  In fact, it very well could be detrimental to the organization.  So recently I started making a list of times when companies don’t need to rebrand.  So with that, I’ll kick off the first of several reasons not to Rebrand your company…

1. Don’t Rebrand when you just feel like a change.

Entrepreneurs are innovative people by nature.  Their ability to not accept the status quo is what drove them to start out of the box companies and build amazing businesses.  But sometimes once things are more established, that need to innovate and change can possibly be applied in the wrong places.  Change is a powerful thing, but never just for the sake of change.  I’ve personally had conversations with entrepreneurs who just get antsy and want something different.  The problem here is that your customers are becoming very comfortable with your company, they recognize the brand identity, and it makes them feel safe and comfortable.

You shouldn’t have Rebranded example #1: Tropicana

A great example of this is the whole Tropicana debacle earlier this year.  The “straw in the orange” has always been a staple of the Tropicana brand, and it’s what everyone looks for when wanting great orange juice.  But for some crazy reason, someone decided after 24 years, they should get a new look to their packaging.  Now, in this NY Times article, it is being related to the disaster that was New Coke.  But Tropicana fans have gotten their way and Tropicana has gone back to the loved straw in the orange design. (thanks to Aaron Lake for sending me this example)

You shouldn’t have Rebranded example #2: IKEA

Another example I just this morning read on another blog I often read, idsgn.com.  Here is the entry I read that shows how IKEA, unexplainably (to me as a loyal customer) after 50 years changed their main font from Futura to Verdana.  As silly as it sounds to say, I find comfort in those little price cards with that very recognizable Futura, or to me IKEA, font.  Now, those catalog spreads look more like Office Depot than IKEA.  I hate the change.  It makes me uncomfortable.  I’m sure someone had the thought, “Hey, after 50 years we should change this.”  That sentence makes perfect sense, except for the fact that this customer doesn’t want change, he wants IKEA.

What do you think?  Can you think of any other examples?