Ask Jeeves, bought out by Barry Diller in July, is dropping its famed Butler logo in favor of a new brand identifier.
The butler was good for them up to a point, but if they are to compete with Google (good luck), they feel that a fresh approach is required.
I did just the same thing a few months ago and the fruits of that change have already appeared. When its done right, you CAN create a new image which is a closer match to where you want to go, rather than where you’ve been.Huge exercise, costs a lot of money upfront and there is no guarantee that your following will follow you. In the case of my company ICP Solar, the execution has been helped by a wonder agency and frankly speaking, by an industry which is very stuck in an old “sales” mould. Selling is not marketing. Selling is just pure selling. (Interestingly enough, in the traditional “solar” industry, salespeople are being let go because demand is so high that companies can’t supply more and therefore have nothing for their salesteam to do).
Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a “sales” company. My friend Mike Kronstedt runs a half billion dollar sales company in Minnesota and they do just fine. They key is that their brand is about selling only, and they leave the product branding, product innovation, logistics to others. All they do is sell like hell! The thing that Mike does well is stay at that line. He doesn’t cross is (well not too often anyways) to try to become a marketer or product developer. Sure he inputs ideas, but the fact is that it takes a very special kind of organization to drive innovation, product management, manufacturing and marketing all at the same time. So his brand is that of a sales company, and he has no issue identifying it as such.
Mike runs a fine example of how a sales company should run. Others try to be everything to everyone. Sales company, importer, program manager, wholesaler… Sales companies that are hybrids were very functional five or ten years ago. Today, they can’t last. So they either change into a product innovation company or they revert back to what they do best..sell!
That’s basically Jeeves dilema. It worked in the past, doesn’t mean it will work in the future. Mike’s brand remains steady in that he focuses on the same clients, in the same way and limits the identity of his team’s activity to match his company’s reputation or brand. The key to his success is partnering with others who do the innovation yet he doesn’t try to step onto their turf either. He knows that his brand is that of a sales agency and the minute he does step onto other’s turf, he may lose a big following which is his bread and butter today. Others who run sales companies, and try to be more, are doomed to failure if they have no brand strategy for what they want to become.
Know thyself and be prepared to change when the customers demand it. Jeeves is changing for that reason. The key to their successful transition is holding onto the old customers while attracting the new ones. But for now, whereas the butler did it before, he no longer will do it for them!
Sass