Naming can make or break a brand. Along with the investment risk, a temporary name change has the potential to alienate an established audience and reduce brand value, but there’s also the undeniable opportunity for success.
The reason to change a name will be specific to the marketing objective of the campaign, but a common driver is to create the element of surprise which forces us to rethink our existing biases or associations with the brand as a result.
Change gets you noticed, and the bigger the change, the more attention it gathers. Changing your name, however briefly, is a pretty big change. Each of the following campaigns received significant attention, not to mention the free exposure, because of a name change.
For each of the examples, along with the objectives & touch points, we have highlighted the behavioural economic technique at play.
Holly Nichols
Harvey Nichols rebranded itself Holly Nichols to launch its new Let’s Hear It For The Girls campaign, which celebrates female empowerment. Even the company’s website URL has been amended to Hollynichols.com
Marketing & PR objective – audience relevance
Audience touch points – signage, bags, and social media channels.
Lead behavioural economics technique – representativeness
Pasta Hut
Several Pizza Hut locations in the UK and one in Dallas changed their names to Pasta Hut as part of a marketing effort to promote the chain’s new line of Tuscani Pastas. CMO of Pizza Hut UK explained that the name change was, “a bit of a shock tactic to get people to feel differently about Pizza Hut.”
Marketing objective – new product promotion
Audience touch points – signage
Lead behavioural economics technique – priming
Beyond Petroleum
With a business diversify objective to explore solar and wind power, British Petroleum launched a £200m marketing campaign aimed at getting consumers to view the oil giant as being environmentally friendly. This included a temporary name change to Beyond Petroleum.
Marketing objective – promote brand values (sustainability)
Audience touch points – website
Lead behavioural economics technique – priming
FCK
When KFC ran a full-page print ad in The Sun and Metro, it was part of a highly publicised, somewhat bizarre crisis in the UK. The fast food joint, known for its fried chicken, had run out of chicken. KFC apologised with a creative stunt: rearranging its name to spell FCK.
Marketing objective – public apology (laugh it off)
Audience touch points – press
Lead behavioural economics technique – framing
John Louis
Retail giant John Lewis was keen to show the world that it was euphoric about the birth of the British royal baby – Louis Arthur Charles.
Marketing objective – audience relevance
Audience touch points – social media
Lead behavioural economics technique – priming
Salt & Linker, Cheese & Owen
Leveraging their association with football, on three occasions Walkers crisps have renamed selected flavours to Salt & Linker, Cheese & Owen and Vardy Salted.
Marketing objective – audience relevance
Audience touch points – packaging
Lead behavioural economics technique – bizarreness effect
Burger Queen
To celebrate her majesty’s birthday in 2016, the Tottenham Court Road branch transformed into the Burger Queen for the day. The company repeated the transformation in 2017 for International Women’s Day.
Marketing & PR objective – audience relevance
Audience touch points – signage & social media
Lead behavioural economics technique – representativeness
Image Credit: Burger King paid tribute to the Queen
Larazade
The association is the focus of a massive promotional push by Lara’s drink of choice, Lucozade, which is riding the wave of hype surrounding this summer’s must-see movie spin-off, Tomb Raider.
Marketing & PR objective – audience relevance
Audience touch points – packaging & website
Lead behavioural economics technique – priming
Image Credit: Lucozade’s Larazade packaging
America
In the 2016 summer Olympics, as the America’s Cup race and the fall elections approached, many Americans in America were feeling especially American—which is apparently what prompted Budweiser, the most American of American beverages, to change is name to – America!
Marketing & PR objective – audience relevance
Audience touch points – packaging
Lead behavioural economics technique – priming
Whether you’re looking for a long-term name change or rebrand to create a buzz, we have the expertise to guide you in the most effective way. Get in touch
By Max McLaren
Account Manager