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General Motor’s recent decision to cease using the “Chevy” brand name for its top selling Chevrolet range of cars will no doubt see this academic Chevy rebranding exercise being nominated to the MBA marketing case study list under ”Rebranding - If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.”
Louis Chevrolet,the Swiss bred racing driver, who founded the Chevrolet motor vehicle company in the early 1900′s would turn in his grave if he new the famous Chevy name synonymous with GM and the American open road had disappeared. Salesman and dealers now have to use Chevrolet to refer to the Chevy vehicles.
No more Chevy is the formal direction from GM’S new advertising agency. GM ‘s previous agency of 90 years was dropped in favour of change but ignored the fact successful brands have short names.
The Chevy name ranks amongst some of America’s leading brands .This rebranding mistake is no different to Coca Cola’s decision in 1984 to rebrand a New Coke with a changed recipe formula only to reverse to the Old Coke not long after. Kraft’s recent decision to change Vegemite’s name and formula where following strong consumer backlash they reverted to the old formula and even reintroduced the 1960′s Vegemite TV commercial.
More closer to home was Fosters short sighted treatment of rebranding VB ,its top selling brand ,by making regular brand name changes over the past 20 years and the unforgivable mistake of reducing VB’s alcoholic content.Market share slid as traditional VB beer drinkers switched to other beers.
No one asked American song writer Don McLean what he thought of Chevy becoming extinct. His song ”Bye-bye American Pie’ where he famously drove his “Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry” will now have to be rewritten.
Click here to here the classic song….
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