A number of years ago, I was staying overnight in Hong Kong for a work conference. The visit coincided with completion of the change of management of the hotel at which we were staying.

At around 2.00am on Sunday morning, the hotel in Kowloon was rebranded from Four Seasons to Intercontinental. We went to sleep in one brand and woke up in another. All public spaces and online and TV branding had been changed. Obviously it wasn't possible at 2.00am to change the in-room stationery; that would be changed on the next day's room service or on guest check out. However, otherwise the rebranding was complete.

Another business for whom I worked had rebranded several years prior to my arrival. It was a somewhat poorly thought through exercise: a company in the same sector, while not a direct competitor, had the same name. What was indeed worse was the manner in which the rebranding had been implemented.

While headline rebranding had been completed, several years later, there were many obvious examples where the old branding was still used, creating customer confusion. Little attention had been paid to drilling down into the business's website, its forms and contracts and its on ground presence to create a single new brand. The mishmash of old and new brands resulted in the business failing to create a cohesive new brand and greater market presence.

Many businesses spend large sums on external consultants to advise on branding. This expenditure is wasted if management fails to properly implement its new branding strategy.

This is particularly the case if the business is based across a number of countries. There is little worse than a customer visiting operations in several countries only to be met with a confusing mix of brands from one country to the next. Management direction on rebranding comes from the top. It is then the responsibility of middle management to ensure the branding changes are implemented across the board.

In a large business, it may be difficult to completely rebrand on first pass and there may be good reasons why this cannot be achieved. That is why it is essential that management continues to seek out branding errors and encourages employees to bring them to their attention.

Of equal importance is ensuring new brands are registered correctly in the various jurisdictions in which the company operates, including the registration of trade or service marks where appropriate. The failure to secure appropriate registrations may be very costly, particularly where a competitor or name squatter decides to cause problems. It may also create concerns or derail a subsequent business disposal where registrations have not been completed.

Businesses which adopt good corporate governance principles, including those that adhere to a policy of 'always ready for sale', implement proper procedures to ensure brands and marks are registered and renewed on a timely basis. Many of these businesses regularly review registrations to see if they are still warranted or can be allowed to lapse. This ensures cost savings where brands are no longer required as the business evolves.

PELEN

October 2017

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