Recently, I flew in and out of the Minneapolis airport (MSP). It’s been a while since I was there and it was rather eerie to not see a single Northwest Airlines logo. Over the years I flew hundreds of thousands of miles with Northwest and many of those trips included a connection in MSP. Now, it’s all Delta, the airline that acquired Northwest and the one I was flying on this trip. For me, it’s still a Northwest town and it occurs to me that the brand still has value.
Is all the brand memory positive?
Well, in the case of Northworst, erhm Northwest – no. I was one of the airline’s most loyal passengers and still was treated like a cow in the stockade much of the time. Regardless, I still think the Northwest brand has more positive memories associated with it than negative ones. Would it be possible to resurrect the brand and leverage that good will? Would it be possible to transfer that brand to other industries and products like Richard Branson has done with his Virgin brand?
Leveraging an old brand
Would it be faster and easier to buy an old brand out of bankruptcy than to recreate your own from scratch? To answer that question, you’d have to go looking for a brand that still had memory and loyalty that applies to your new product and market. Sure, this is not easy work; but neither is creating brand awareness from scratch. Think of the buzz you could get just from resurrecting a brand and bringing a new product to market under the moniker. That publicity alone might justify the cost of buying the brand out of bankruptcy.
If you are creating a retro product, an old dormant brand that evokes childhood memories and emotions for your target market might be just the way to go. The key is to take the Branson approach and focus on the experience of the brand not necessarily the product(s) that flew under the banner in the past. Will the emotional response the old brand generated be enough to encourage purchase decisions of the new product flying under the flag?
When it comes time to brand, searching for old retired brands just might be one approach that could work for you.
Interesting topic, Jim. And one that’s both complex and potentially dangerous. I’m in the midst of a project to rebrand a multinational organization that consists of more than a dozen different brands that have been brought together through acquisition. Some have been around for nearly a hundred years while others were built over the past 10-15 years. Most are strong, but vary widely by country or region. The thought of abandoning the equity of the heritage brands has everyone in sales terrified. And yet, they all recognize the greater value provided with a combined brand that provides significant competitive advantages. So…what to do? In your example as well as mine, the place to start is to get an accurate picture of what those brands stand for and what both customers and prospects think of them – and their competitors. Your experience with Northwest shows the mixed reputation that exists with even the best known brands. A well-conceived study of brand reputation would be my first step in determining whether to resurrect an old brand or investing in building a new one from scratch. Sometimes a blank slate is far better than one filled with troublesome associations. — Craig Gagnon
Oh yes, combining several “legacy” brands acquired by acquisition can be a tricky proposition. I’ve seen this done wrong more times than right. Do you pick one or start with a clean slate as you have suggested? Ah, the joys of marketing.