Evolution of Brands

One of the most successful brands I have been studying is FedEx. We understand that brands evolved over time. It is not just the logo that changes. Business objectives and marketing goals play a large part of brand evolution over market conditions. That is why brands need to be nurtured, analyze, evaluated and re-brand, otherwise brands will go stale and dissolve eventually.

FedEx is such a company that maintains good nurturing. The original name: Federal Express is what everyone recognizes. They are in competition with UPS, USPS, DHL, International Mail Service and more, providing more or less, the same services. What make brands better? To be more unique, more recognizable, more up-to-date? How do we gain majority of the market share? Are your brands getting stale?

FedEx re-established their mantra to re-build their brand essence: Know It. Be It. Say It. It all boils down to “reliability”.

1) Know who you are. 2) Be who you are. 3) Say who you are.

Federal Express was renamed to FedEx in 1994. They created a smart module of brand architecture that could house different divisions and services under one umbrella that could have a strong recognizable tone and feel.

It is not just in the visual and messaging that evolved but the expansion of their business structure that partnered with Kinko’s, expanded with Smart Post and Trade Networks. This move created more global business integration that each service within FedEx can utilized each other, giving customers better service experience.

As you can see that FedEx started their brand from 1974, where it was first named, Federal Express. In 1978, it was changed to FDX when the company went public. In 1994, the name was evolved to FedEx. As the full name was already established and had brand equity, they had the brand liberty to shorten the name and make it snappy and contemporary, which was the right decision during the .com period. The name was successfully applied to the main lines of business. In year 2000, the brand expansion took place as new companies were acquired and the company had to adjust to the new business model.

As we observed, every 4-6 years, brands evolved. It is necessary to evaluated the brand as businesses grow. It is about brand sustainability. Communicating Your One Brand Promise.

Sources
FedEx
FedEx Logo
FedEx-Time Line
FedEx Name Change