Worst... rebranding... EVER?

[Amanda]

This has been irking me for a while so I want to throw this out there, especially to the marketing professionals in this group.

Does anyone have have any idea how and why Cable & Wireless Caribbean decided to rebrand as LIME?

I am seriously hoping that it was a foreign (read- non-Caribbean) company that did not understand the dynamics of the Caribbean or our slang that came up with this because it is quite plainly - awful.

After all - LIME? Really? It just lends itself to a million bitter jokes at C&W's expense - far better than the old 'Careless and Wutless' jokes of before.

Did the person/s responsible for this understand:
1) That in the Eastern Caribbean 'lime' means to relax and take it easy? And that with C&W's reputation for slow and oft-lackadaisical service that to put the idea of C&W staff liming was perhaps not a good idea?
2) That limes are well... sour? And that dealing with the aforementioned slow service can put a C&W customer in a sour mood?
3) That LIME sounds rather close to LAME?
4) That media folk, in particular sub-editors are the corniest folk in the world and that a name like LIME is just an invitation to mockery? As if we needed any...

It just boggles my mind that they could have thought this was a good name with which to refresh their company's (battered) brand and image.

What do you guys think?

[Kim J Young]

I absolutely do not think it is the fault of the British. I noted in a letter to the Nation the very same issue of lime representing taking it easy, loitering, wasting time and it was not published. WHAT A SURPRISE but then there is a lot of liming at the Nation as well.

Cable & Wireless UK can only be guided by the Barbados CEO who seese the acronym as also representative of something "Bajan". How are the Brits to know?

The company would have done better to keep C&W (which still turns up in my phone), train its horrible staff and use some other (God knows what) acronym or name to re-brand the successful areas in C&W which seem limited to mobile phones and its obsessive repeat buyers. The website is equally ridiculous and non-navigational.

It is indeed the worst rebranding effort ever and should go down as such as a study for a University.
Kim

[Amanda]

Oh Kim... touche! Look at my post - did I say anything at all about the Brits? When I said non-Caribbean, it was not some code for British - it was exactly what it meant - a company not from the Caribbean - could have been American, Canadian or Kazakhstani.

And I stick to my point. I find it hard to believe that any Caribbean CEO (this LIME atrocity is not just here, it's region-wide) could have been the one to recommend this. I think it is far more likely (or at least I'm guessing because the name is so appallingly wrong I would be flabbergasted if the suggestion came from here) that a high priced, non-Caribbean company was brought in to to do the rebranding and the folks here sat down quiet like good little girls and boys and did not speak up to say the name was stupid. Because you know how timid some Caribbean people can get in the face of foreigners.

Or maybe someone did speak up and it was brushed aside.

And as for the question of how are the Brits to know... well whoever was hired to do the rebranding should have known. It is their job not to come up with a crappy, inappropriate brand name. They should have brought some kind of local expertise on board to help guide them through the cultural minefield. No excuses. I pity the folks at C&W who have to push this name with a straight face.

[Amanda]

Oops... turns out it is the fault of the British. I was speaking to a LIME staffer two nights ago and he mentioned that it was an Irish company that came up with the awful name and logo, not to mention as he put it "the bright idea of painting buildings all black in 32 degree weather". He said that most everyone at the company thinks the name is awful but all they can do is "execute".