MARKETING AFRICA ISSUE 12/16 | Page 50

opposite. So what makes or breaks a rebrand? Redesign must happen for the right reasons and symbolize a transition in the company – not just the packaging. Eric Thoelke, president and executive creative director of TOKY, gives valuable advice when it comes to redesigns. He asserts that rebranding is very rarely done for aesthetic reasons and almost always done to strengthen the business to compete better with rivals or to signal a change in the direction of the company, like a merger, acquisition or spin off. Companies may also choose to redesign their brand if they’re expanding their product offering or target audience. However, if a business is rebranding for the sake of a fresh look, it’s usually a sign there’s not enough investment in the project to make it successful. 48 MAL 12/16 APRIL Nation FM has “rebranded” how many times? Have all these moves from Nation FM to easyfm then back to Nation FM been a success stories? Question is did they satisfy the factors needed to necessitate a rebrand? I do not know if your guess is as good as mine; after all it’s a guess. Congratulations ON YOUR RELAUNCH... AGAIN... INSERT BORROWED LOGO IDEA HERE WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT ONE. Radio Africa takes a jab at NationFM Let us look at the Britam rebrand from Britak. They did maintain their legal name of British American Investments Company (Kenya). Britam Group Managing Director Benson Wairegi said then: “We have decided to adopt what you’d call a monolithic brand; meaning a single brand which embraces one culture and one set of values”. It is clear that Britam had strong rebranding factors, goals and processes. Something that is always lacking in most companies even in simple matters as redesigns. Britam has clearly satisfied the Muzellec and Lambkin (2006) rebranding model. Their growth is evident in the firm’s financial perfo rmance.