MARKETING EVOLUTION
Rebranding – A Case
Imagined
By Marion Wakahe
H
aving just turned 24 and soon
to celebrate its 25th birthday,
Kelvin Clearing and Forwarding
(Kelvin C&F) had to face some hard
truths. The company had established itself
as a leading logistics company but in the
past 14 months suffered some difficulties. however, its client base was still
apprehensive and so for those clients that
remained, they would give Kelvin C&F
uncomplicated clearing and forwarding
jobs to do, doubting its capacity to handle
‘heavy work.’ This no doubt had a negative
impact on its profitability.
In a bid to serve clients better, the company
switched its Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) system and in the
process failed a number of times to meet
client expectations in terms of timely
deliveries, delivering the right items in
their correct quantities and pushing the
added cost of these inefficiencies to their
clients (even though they tried much as
possible to absorb these costs). In the
process, the company lost one of its major
clients leaving a dent in its reputation. For the founders and the managerial staff
of this company, thinning profits were
the last thing envisioned especially after
24 years. Stakeholders as expected were
jittery. As if on cue, they seemed accepting
of Law 10 of the 48 Laws of Power: Avoid
the Unlucky and the Unhappy. Those who
could jump ship did. A number stuck
around for lack of choice. Fortunately,
there were few who continued to believe
in the company.
The company was able to fix the hitches in
its CRM system and for about 6 months
things ran smoothly. Unfortunately
One of the
the company
interestingly,
Technology.
people who believed that
had a fighting chance was
its Head of Information
She spear-headed the
Customers directly relate employee be-
havior to company brands. Scientific re-
search shows that the influence of em-
ployee behavior on the brand strength
exceeds the impact of external brand
communications e.g. advertising, PR,
sponsorships, etc. So therefore, liv-
ing out the brand values increases the
likelihood of a successful brand with a
greater impact on the market.
68 MAL33/19 ISSUE
adoption of the new CRM system. She
expected hiccups but was also slightly
surprised by the amount of time it took
for the system to be fully embedded.
The past 6 months for her had been
somewhat of a relief but her emotional
well-being had taken a toll especially
after the apparent loss of business. For
Lois, redeeming the company’s image was
paramount not just to the company that
accorded her a means of living and sense
of purpose, but to her repute as well.
The resentment from members of staff
towards her was palpable. In addition to
adjusting to the new system, they still had
to work with the old system to fill the
gaps. This meant being stretched beyond
thin, putting in extra hours to already
long hours. The most painful phase of
adjustment behind them, Kelvin C&F
desperately needed recharging. Lois knew
this.
Though her background wasn’t in
marketing, she recognized the need for
work on the company’s marketing and
branding efforts. Kelvin C&F didn’t have a
dedicated marketing and communications
department as such and so she approached
one of the founders whose primary
role over the years had been in business
development.
Kevin, Kinyua and Calvin had since their
days in high school been great friends.
Back then they realized that they were
similar in their outlook and ambitions.
They dreamed of being successful and
wealthy demonstrating their driven nature
in their pursuits: sports, academics, girls,