Another firm hit by brand iron
Not long after Santander said it would be dispensing with the name Alliance & Leicester, it seems another historic Leicestershire company has fallen victim to the rebranding iron, writes Gary Mitchell.
Loughborough manufacturer Morris Material Handling was founded 125 years ago by local man Herbert Morris.
From humble beginnings it grew to become a world-famous name. These days, huge Morris-branded cranes can be found in steelworks, power stations and all kinds of industrial sites around the globe.
Now, it appears all that impressive history is about to be uprooted.
The activities of A&L and Morris couldn't be more different, but the circumstances around their identity changes do bear similarities. In both cases, the parent business has decided it makes sense to wipe the slate clean.
Santander is rebranding A&L, along with its two other UK businesses, Abbey and Bradford & Bingley. All will be known simply as Santander.
Morris's owner, Finnish company Konescranes, wants to rename the North Road firm – which it bought four years ago – along with its two businesses in Scotland and West Bromwich, as part of a restructuring. All three will trade as Konescranes.
As a commercial move, it's difficult to criticise.
The argument is that one brand makes marketing sense, as well as saving money.
In 2006, when Dixons owner DSG International announced it would rebrand the all the stores as Currys.digital, it said the move would save the firm £3m a year – paying for the £7m cost in hardly any time at all.
Aviva, meanwhile, is reported to have spent £10m on a marketing campaign to celebrate severing ties with the 200-year-old Norwich Union name, in an attempt to become a more widely-recognised global brand.
As well as being expensive and time-consuming, rebranding exercises do not come without risks.
Accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers was ridiculed after it attempted to call its consultancy arm Monday.
Everyone remembers scratching their heads a few years ago when the Post Office had its name changed to Consignia for no obvious reason.
Other organisations seem to resist rebranding, even when it seems like the necessary thing to do – when was the last time you bought a carphone at the Carphone Warehouse?
As difficult as it is to fault the marketeers, many will be saddened to see the loss of another county business name.
History is important for many businesses, and it carries a lot of weight with customers, too.
I have no doubt on the shopfloor at Morris, workers have long had a sense of pride in being with a business with such well-respected and solid roots.
Unfortunately, that emotion is being replaced with uncertainty over the future of the 100 or so staff at North Road and hundreds more across the Konescranes group in the UK – bosses have said the shake-up means redundancies are likely.
Source : thisisbusiness-eastmidlands.co.uk Tuesday 14th July 2009
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