Change, it is said, is the only constant thing in life. This fact applies in literally all aspects of life, including the world of brands.
In today’s dynamic and fast-changing business environment, brands cannot afford to stay static indefinitely.
They have to constantly keep up with the times. It is by evolving and remaining in a perpetual metamorphosis that a brand not only stays relevant but also remains attuned to the fast-changing needs of its customer, for whom it exists in the first place.
These are some of the internally generated inspirations for changes in brand identity.
Then there are externally inspired changes outside of the organisation, such as mergers and acquisitions that upon conclusion, often necessitate alignment with the mother brand or new shareholding.
Whatever the rationale behind the changes, brands have to periodically take them on. The change may be in the form of a rebrand, in which they take on a completely new identity or a brand refresh, in which alterations are made to the existing one, without necessarily taking on a completely new look.
A change in brand identity is a bold undertaking and expression of the brand’s confidence to step out of the straight and narrow look and feel that the market has become accustomed to.
Kenya has witnessed many brand changes over the years. The most recent is the identity refresh by one of the most celebrated homegrown brands — Equity Bank. In itself, the decision to refresh the brand look and feel that it has had more than the last 35 years since inception, is a bold one. Building a brand in a manner that makes it relevant, recognisable and relatable in the market takes time, deciding to tinker with this identity a difficult one.
Why fix it when it is not broken, considering the time and effort invested in it, those resistant to change may ask when faced with this choice. After all, Equity remains one of the most beloved, celebrated and admired brands in the country — best known for opening up banking and the entire financial services suite to a largely ignored segment of the population. In my case, it was the only bank available for people like me when I got my first job, and I have seen it grow through the stages — and now I hardly ever visit a branch as I can do everything on their app.
However, the fact is that three-and-a-half decades is a very long time for a brand and a business to maintain an identity. So much will have changed, some of which may be significant, during this period.
For Equity, whereas the business aspiration may still hold, a lot has changed that needs to be encapsulated in its look. The scale and sophistication of its operations, from a geographic as well as service delivery point of view, has changed. Even the customers that the bank targeted those many years ago are not the same ones it may have its eyes on today.
Neither is the operating environment the same, with the explosion of virtual mobile and web platforms as a delivery channel in recent years, compared to brick-and-mortar branches that then ruled. The bank currently has a foothold in eight markets among them the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, now Zambia and Mozambique in a path to increase financial inclusion.
In Equity’s brand experience lie lessons for Kenyan brands.
The most important lesson out of it is that nothing ventured, nothing gained. Without risking it all, the time and effort invested in building it notwithstanding, brands cannot keep with the times and open a new chapter.
However big and entrenched a brand may be, constantly appearing in the roll of honours of most admired brands, a refresh once in a while is for its own good.
Wairuri is a Researcher & Policy Analyst.
