(3) PCA Predict
Formerly Postcode Anywhere, founder Guy Mucklow explained why he took the decision to go with a new brand and name in 2015.
Why the name change
We began 15 years ago as Postcode Anywhere, a name that we felt neatly did “what it said on the tin”. We stuck with the brand as it was memorable and helped us to grow, attracting many very loyal customers.
However, whilst we were heavily invested in our brand, it didnt travel very well; for example, Americans know postcodes as zip codes. So with big ambitions to grow internationally and a whole suite of new data services up our sleeve, we had to have a rethink.
Our new name is PCA Predict which we chose because some already referred to us as PCA, presumably because Postcode Anywhere is a bit of a mouthful, and “Predict” neatly describes our innovative address search tool “Capture+” and our new predictive analytics tool, Triggar. There was another important bonus which was that the domain name was also free.
What was the process like
Having a busy calendar of marketing events already planned in the US, we needed to rebrand very quickly. It was a challenge for all the teams involved because there were so many places to change the name from obvious things like the website to business cards, social profiles, and our event uniforms.
We agreed a deadline and the minimum set of tasks required to be completed by this date and everyone put in extra hours to get it done.
Was it easy
We turned the rebrand around in record time but not without a great deal of hard work from everyone involved. There was of course impact on other projects which had to be delayed while this work was done.
Did it cost a lot
Were lucky enough to have brilliant in-house design, marketing and web development teams so we could do almost everything ourselves. Of course there are the usual printing and merchandise costs but, being a technology company, we dont normally carry a large stock of printed collateral. The main cost for us was changing exhibition materials and an advertising campaign to gain exposure for the new brand.
What were the risks
Rebranding is always a risk, as there’s often a huge investment and goodwill behind the previous brand. The main risk is that your customers won’t like it. We sent out over 20,000 emails to our customers informing them ahead of time of the name change and the reasons for it and received only 15 replies, a few of which didn’t approve.
For us that was ample proof that we were doing the right thing. Besides loss of recognition there are other considerations like how well the new website will be found by search engines and by people who still search for Postcode Anywhere.
How did employees/customer engage with the new name
A couple of weeks before the rebrand was rolled out we told customers and staff about our plans and the reasons behind the new name, we invited their feedback and listened to what they had to say.
In the main the new name has been well received, customers who didnt like it told us they would remain loyal because of our quality of service. You can’t please everyone all the time but were happy with the reception weve had when we meet new people across the pond.
Why Postcode Anywhere decided to become an employee-owned business
(4) OFF3R
Lex Deak, founder of crowdfunding platform aggregator Off3R, changed up from the original name tendr over the summer.
Why the name change
We were aware that there was a US firm called tendr, but it was a different country and in a different business space so we thought it would be okay.
However, our launch got such a great reception that it was picked up by the US news channels and spread far. We ended up getting some letters from the US tendr indicating that a legal process could follow.
What was the process like
We wanted to focus on good news and growth without this issue hanging over us. It was not an ideal thing to do for a two month-old company and it was a complex and costly process.
The greatest cost though was in the time and effort of coming up with a new brand ASAP. There was some stress involved in that. But our closeness as a team helped as did the fact that the brand was so new that it had not established a huge culture behind it. My advice is make the change as quickly as possible and make the message of change as positive as possible.
Meet tendr – The crowdfunding platform aggregator hoping investors will swipe right
