CYPRUS
A very characteristic case study of a local company in Cyprus which has been rebranded is the Agios Nikolaos water which is produced under the Keo Group of
Companies, a large public limited company formed in 1927. The company markets
a wide variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic products locally and in over thirty
countries worldwide.
In 2008, the Health Services of Cyprus, after they took samples from Agios Nikolaos
water, found that the water contained a pathogenic bacteria, the Pseudomonas
aeruginosa bacterium, which is considered dangerous for the public health especially for vulnerable groups. After this discovery, KEO company withdrew all the Agios
Nikolaos water bottles in Cyprus and went through a thorough decontamination.
However, this was a serious blow in the company’s name, as the company also lost
its share value in the stock market.
SPAIN
At the end of 2009, the Association of Rural Hotels and Small Hotels of the Basque Country decided to embark, with the help of Group Turiskopio, in a period of
self-analysis to decide the way that the Association was going to continue. The result was a radical change with a new name (www.xarmahotels.com) and a new look
for what it would turn into a top entity and of reference to the tourism into Basque
Region. Going back to basics allowed them to re-design the raison d’être of the Association and the establishment of new goals and strategies that were maximizing
the potential of the new technologies as an efficient and global channel of sales.
In order to regain people’s trust, KEO started an intensive and consistent campaign
of rebranding Agios Nikolaos water, through a change of bottle design making it
more modern and handy (they introduced the 1L bottle in this new design) and also
they started creating various advertisements which were aired on local TV mainly,
which represented KEO employees expressing their trust toward the product. In
this way, KEO started to gradually regain the trust from its consumers through a
well-considered rebranding campaign focusing on tradition, familiar emotions and
change, and it has succeeded immensely, as the company’s name was restored.
Old logo design.
The change of design for 1L bottle (4th bottle in the row).
46
Mutli-language (English, Esukera, Spanish) and a new, more elegant, sophisticated look.
47