Companies Need to Get Customers Involved in Brand Redesign

IKEA recently made changes for the first time to its catalog. It changed the typeface it typically uses. Not a major revolutionary change to be sure. However, the reaction from customers was not what IKEA expected. It was negative and loud.

This comes not that long after Gatorade and Tropicana felt the wrath of its customers over packaging changes designed to update the brands. Gatorade, which I wrote about in a previous blog, redesigned itself and relaunched its brand as "G". Tropicana, which I talked about before, had to back down and reissue its old packaging when customers expressed anger over its new package design.

What is happening? I think what we are seeing is evidence that customers, not the company, own the brand. At one time, companies felt in total control over their brands. They changed things when the wanted and the public was expected to be soooooooo excited about the new brand name, logo and design. The problem was that with few alternative choices and few ways for customers to express themselves publicly, companies were often fooled into thinking that everything was fine. The Internet changed this. It moved power into the hands of the consumer who is free to express their opinions about brands and changes. With more alternatives to every brand on the market, changes that are not liked can easily lead to defections. The switching costs for almost every product--with few exceptions, like banking--are coming down rapidly.

Many companies are embracing this consumer ownership of their brands. Others are reacting with horror. At Hasbro, the company faced off against some of its most devoted customers who created an on-line version of Scrabble called Scrabbulous. Instead of finding a way to work with these brand-lovers, Hasbro sued them, turning many of them into brand-haters who are blasting Hasbro on-line.

Companies need to recognize that the brand is owned by the customer. That's where we always wanted it to reside--in the emotional connection with the individual purchaser. It is time that companies start to treat customers are partners rather than as passive purchasers. If changes to the brand are to be made, companies should get their best customers involved in the redesign. Then, they can use these customers to sell others who are less passionate. Times have changed and companies need to adapt.