Recently Altfin Medical Aid rebranded to BonVie Medical Aid. The new name is said to mean “good life”. By my take, it is a good name for their kind of business. I am sure that anyone who takes out a medical aid or insurance hopes to be well and alive. Good life is what everyone desires. Just like BonVie Medical Aid, there are many reasons that a company may wish to rebrand. The most important of these decisions may be to reposition the company. In the case of BonVie Medical Aid it could have been to separate themselves from Altfin Holdings that has outlived its life.
brand savvy with Stha Magida
Among the other reasons that a company may wish to rebrand is their need to compete at a higher level or in a new market. Another reason may be that the name may no longer reflect who the company is at any particular time. BonVie sounds like they want to portray that they are pretty much alive and there to stay. Sometimes a firm may wish to rebrand because they have a legal reason compelling them to change their name. This may happen if names are found to conflict with other names that have been put before, among other reasons. Essentially whatever the business case for a company’s need to rebrand, the company has to be very clear about it so that they can formulate a good vision from it. The company must also have a clear understanding of their current perception in the market and their brand position and the strategy that will be used going forward.
The brand position normally steers the rest of the decisions that a company would wish to take. The company needs to exhibit confidence in their new brand as they go about this. This is the stage where a company may wish to develop the visual elements that will communicate their brand. The name, logo, tagline, for example BonVie’s tagline is “For your wellbeing…” which I find agrees with the name — all matter. The colours that the company will use are also decided at this stage and all nitty gritties like the design of the business cards, posters and pictures all come up at this stage. It is wise that when a rebranding exercise is carried out, the company seeks to be better at what it does. If for example marketing regalia are produced, the company ought to pay close attention to the quality that they use. It would not augur well for example if the uniform of the last company name was of better quality than the last. This would suggest to the market that maybe the company is struggling and just taking a chance when in fact they are going down. The other worry that the brand manager would have is to ensure that the brand is represented well and consistently on all the material that they wish to use and to communicate the new logo. All these things have to be done in time. It would be a marketing blunder if the rebranding occurred and the employees were still carrying and presenting to clients the old business cards. Given, it may be an expensive exercise, but it is important to get it right the first time.
Also, in order to bring out the new brand well, the company may also need to ensure that their people are aware of the new route that the company is taking. The employees may have to undergo extensive training in order to fully appreciate the new vision and to be able to fully represent it in whatever circumstances that they may come across as the brand unfolds. Sometimes there may be a need to review the human capital of the business. In some instances, there may be a need to sever ties with those employees that will be totally incapable of realising the goals of the new brand. Employees who cause stagnation may not be required as the new brand comes forth. Employees who do not quickly buy into the vision may have to be encouraged to align or make space for a new team that will be energised to run with the new brand. It is enough that some clients may resist the new brand. We cannot also have staff putting the spanners in the works. There are a lot of other critical areas that pertain to rebranding that perhaps need to be put forward. I will attend to these in due course. In the meantime, keep reading and remain brand savvy.
Stha Magida is happy to share your thoughts and opinions. Please contact her on [email protected]
