How To Rename And Rebrand (Hint: Not Like Facebook!)
Facebook…. After 17 years, 90 acquisitions, and 2.9 billion users, Facebook is a household name. Now it’s got a new one. Meta.
Ironically, exactly two years ago, Facebook’s strategy was the exact opposite.
When regulators suggested breaking up the tech behemoth, the company added Facebook branding to all of its products. Instagram became Instagram from FACEBOOK. Whatsapp became Whatsapp from FACEBOOK. The company wanted to cement the association with the Facebook brand at a time when over 70% of Americans didn’t even know that Facebook owned Instagram and WhatsApp.
Now Facebook has taken a 180-degree turn on that strategy, de-emphasized Facebook, and put an entirely new name, Meta, out there in front of all its products. So, what’s up with the Facebook Name Change game?
Let’s break it down. Facebook’s brand is in the muck for deliberately privileging profit over the public good. Its reputation is at an all-time low. And hence the rename. Of course, the official reason is about something else entirely. We’ll go into that in a bit. So today we’re answering the question on every entrepreneur’s mind: Can such a name change or rebrand work to rescue a company?
Google did it too.
The Facebook situation is a lot like what another tech behemoth, Google, faced a few years ago. This is also a fabulously valuable company with some exceedingly valuable products and acquisitions facing bad press at the time. Google was being accused of manipulating ranking, misusing search engine results, censorship, and so on. Remember the antitrust suit that alleged Google was limiting vertical search providers such as Yelp and Tripadvisor for instance? So Google became Alphabet Inc., while its various companies and products retained the same name.
Now, Facebook has announced that the holding company will be called Meta, while individual product and app names will be retained. This announcement comes at a time when Facebook’s reputation is at an all-time low. Documentaries such as The Social Dilemma and whistleblowers such as Frances Haugen have revealed how Facebook has repeatedly privileged profit over the public good. Scandals such as the Cambridge Analytica revelations seem to indicate that Facebook knew its platforms were being used to subvert democracy and looked the other way. They didn’t even seem to care when it became clear that apps such as Instagram negatively impact the mental health of younger users. For several reasons, Facebook’s name change isn’t going to do anything to counteract all this bad press, which has called the very business model into question.
Name change done right.
However, we have seen several companies that did change their names and did it right. Think about KFC – an American brand that is now beloved all over the world. In some international territories, consumers don’t even know that KFC is short for Kentucky Fried Chicken. There were many theories floating around when the company changed the name from Kentucky Fried Chicken to simply KFC. Some said it was to avoid paying royalties while some alleged they weren’t serving actual chicken.
The real reason was to distance the brand from the word ‘fried’, seen as unhealthy. So they did it gradually and became KFC while still retaining the bright coloring, the Colonel’s cheerful face, and of course the 13-herb chicken recipe. Additions to the menu other than fried chicken helped too and the renaming exercise worked. Other companies such as ValuJet and WWE also did it right but tobacco company Phillip Morris did not, as I explain in this episode of Inspiration to Millions.
Facebook’s name change is supposed to help align the brand with its new metaverse products, but it just seems like a deflection. The company has not shown itself as taking responsibility for its actions nor have they promised to change. Right now, it just seems like an attempt to deflect to avoid taking responsibility – so not the right way to rename or rebrand. Join me to know about rebrands that worked and why Facebook’s may not: https://youtu.be/5YnruxXm8-M