Crucial steps to successful rebranding

A brand is a promise delivered, and the logo is only an instrument for clearly reflecting that promise. PHOTO | SHUTTERSTOCK

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) needs to rebrand. This was a suggestion contained in the Daily Nation on Monday, May 22, 2023. If implemented, it will cost taxpayers Sh 2.7 billion. And this is in the backdrop of a struggling economy faced with the high cost of living, a revenue target miss of Sh714.97 billion by KRA and a call for budget cuts by the President.

In the nine months to March 2022, the taxman collected Sh1.393 trillion against a year’s target of Sh2.108 trillion. This means that in order to cover the shortfall, KRA needed to collect at least Sh238.3 billion monthly between March and June which it didn’t manage.

Quarter three results will be worse with the three days a week of mass action. But is ‘rebranding’ a well-thought-out and effective strategy? Is it, not an attempt in futility akin to giving a hyena a facelift to look like sheep?

Rebranding in the face of non-performance is not new in Kenya. When Kenya Police Force was riddled with serious brutality and extra-judicial killings it was re-branded to Kenya Police Service in order to make it citizen-friendly by focusing on serving rather than being a force against Kenyans. However, this didn’t deliver the much-needed transformation.

Kenya National Taskforce on Police Reforms then recommended a merger of the Administration Police with the Kenya Police Service. A little was achieved but not to expectation.

Moreover, Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission rates the police as the most corrupt government agency followed by the Ministry of Health.

Various companies have rebranded, either with positive or negative results. The National Bank of Kenya (NBK) transformed some of its operations and adopted a new slogan: ‘Bank on Better’, besides changing to yellow’ while KCB, adopted the slogan ‘transformation program’ in its effort to change from a good to a better bank.

When at some point Kenya Seed bought Simlaw and changed the product ‘Simlaw’ to Kenya Seed, the loss of market share was so enormous that they had to relaunch the brand ‘Simlaw’.

Currently ‘Dasani’ has rebranded its water bottles with the aim of boosting market share. It is everyone’s guess whether this will be realized or not.

Sometimes rebranding can go awry. That is why many companies strategically shy away from the idea altogether.

Yet sometimes there’s just no way around it. A company might have gone through a merger or acquisition and needs to reconcile a portfolio.

It might be entering a new market in which what has been working thus far will not work.

Regardless of the reason, changing the way people perceive your brand involves a great deal of risk. For one, a company could end up alienating core customers with its new brand promise, thus impacting sales.

It can also dilute a brand’s pricing position and decrease the premium that can be charged, thus occasioning an unexpected shift in the market in terms of pricing strategies or the need for discounts to move inventory.

Moreover, rebranding can lead to customer confusion with the imagery no longer connoting what the brand stands for. This could make customers fail to understand the brand message.

CIC Insurance grew in leaps and bounds through the slogan, “We keep our Word”. In contrast, Jubilee’s brand slogan, ‘claims without drama’, created a lot of customer dissonance, as there is lots of drama in claims within the insurance industry.

On this, it is worth noting that there are three steps to rebranding: ‘Be, Do, then Say’, and they must be followed in that order, not the other way round.

When Jubilee Insurance said, ‘claims without drama’, they had reversed the order. If one claimed after a car accident, a police abstract would be required, which cannot be received without drama.

In other words, they say what they don’t do. When CIC said, ‘we keep our word’, it was a polite way of saying ‘terms and conditions apply’, and so they say what they are and do it every time, and since the order is correct, the brand is perceived well.

For effective re-branding, there are five things to consider. First, identify the areas of weakness that need to be changed and how they could evolve for better service.

Second, get employees on Board; relying on the in-house marketing team to come up with the brand’s new look and feel instead of using outside agencies.

Third, it is worth remembering that a brand is a promise delivered, and the logo is only an instrument for clearly reflecting that promise.

Fourth, a rebrand is supposed to be led by the CEO and nurtured by the chief marketing officer in order to be successful. 

Fifth, do your homework and let your decisions be informed by research. It is worth noting that while creativity can generate tonnes of great ideas, a rebrand ultimately has to enhance the customers’ experience.

This is what KRA and Kenya Police Service among others must focus on.

Dr Ogola is the CEO of, the African Health & Economic Institute and Director of the Institute of Strategy and Competitiveness.