What is the worst marketing message you could send to your customers?
What is the bad word you could say to them that would turn them away from you?

This week, another large corporation tried to force a new image on their
customers. They tried to rebrand, or so it seems, without regard for how that
rebrand would impact their loyal customers. How did it go? It blew up into what
will go down as one of the worst rebrands in corporate history. Branding is so
much more than a logo. It is the vibe that the logo has with its target market.
It is the feeling that is conveyed when you interact with a company and their
products and services. The logo is only an image that stands for what the brand
means. Too many times, branding decisions are made in closed-door sessions
around a boardroom table and a whiteboard. Where should those decisions be
made? Maybe in a room full of loyal customers. Whatever happened to focus
groups and test markets in marketing? Have we exchanged the opinions of those
who buy our brands for some self-proclaimed genius who talked their way into a
leading corporate role? Obviously, a rebranding decision has to start
somewhere, and the logical place is with your top leaders. However, it cannot
stop there. You have to gain the perspective of your customers and get their
buy-in or your rebrand will be for not.

If that is the case, would any corporation ever rebrand? There are good
reasons to rebrand. You could be getting beaten badly by your competition and
you need a new direction to gain market share. You may be trying something new
and need a rebrand to launch it. You could also be updating a dated look to a
more modern look to stay relevant. All this seems like a reasonable argument to
rebrand… and all three of these were cited in the marketing fiasco I referenced
above. What caused the stir? Assuming the old customers didn’t care without
asking them. Thinking they would go along with the rebrand and would see the
reasonable explanation for the new look. It was designed to bring in a new
crowd, but there was a fatal flaw in the execution of it all. No one bothered
to ask the current customers what they thought of it. Here is an axiom of
business: your customers care about themselves, not whoever you are chasing. If
it is not good for them, they will feel like some slighted lover. They will see
you treating them like you care more about the potential customers you don’t
have yet, rather than the loyal customers you currently have. That sort of
feeling leads to mistrust and hurt feelings. In the end, it is a losing game
for you.

To their credit, the company I cited above reversed their reworked logo
and went back to the old one. They said they valued their customers’ opinions
and had heard their voices when they tried to make the change. Good for them.
They learned a lesson: the worst marketing message you can send to your
customers is this – you don’t matter!