Large companies often spend enormous amounts of money to get a brand known, so it is only with the most careful consideration that they undertake a re-branding exercise.  Maria-ann, CEO of ChiBall World, describes why the re-branding was undertaken and what benefits the company has enjoyed as a result.

The decision to rebrand was two-dimensional: the global dimension and the local dimension.

Globally, the brand has evolved over ten years and now needed to represent consistent brand values across all the 40 countries in which we have a presence.  We also needed brand consistency for our customers so that the ChiBall Method™ is immediately recognisable, whether they were online or in fitness centres -- whether in Sweden, Portugal or Japan.

At the local levels, however, it was a response to the need of individual operations to receive stronger professional marketing support and guidance, deliver high quality materials and services, and to build closer and more supportive relationships.

I decided to take the re-branding up sooner rather than later for a number of reasons.  Basically, it was a good time to draw a line in the sand on the past and, more importantly, roll out a set of values for the new brand that would determine how we would operate in the future.  The ChiBall brand has been around for ten years and it has some very good attributes associated with it, which we made sure to honor, respect and maintain in moving forward.

I suppose many companies see a re-branding as basically a marketing exercise – change the signs, change the logos, launch some marketing information campaigns, and so on.  In our case, we were very clear that it was to be a company-wide initiative and vital for everyone to embrace.  For us, the re-branding was essentially about defining our new values and engaging the entire team -- that is, our behaviour and actions needed to be consistent with the values we were espousing, and we didn’t want to lose the strengths of our existing brand.  Those values are simplicity, integrity, innovation, passion and authenticity.

Personally, I have been through a number of re-branding exercises, and I would say that this re-branding especially served as a catalyst for several positive, and much-needed, changes we want to make.  It provided a very symbolic new beginning for the company, and I found that it created an opportunity to involve everyone with the ChiBall Method™.

The most noticeable effect is in the ChiBall culture and the staff.  This is then transferred to the customers with each interaction they have with our organisation.  These improvements are much more important than just concentrating on a measure like brand recognition, which is something we are also committed to continue building and grow over time.  At the end of the day, re-branding is about reconnecting with our vision and using this as a decision-making tool.

Our vision is to cultivate a transformed world of healthy people living consciously and in harmony with the natural world.  We imagine a world community where all are supported along their personal journey to realise serenity, fulfilment and ease in life through holistic mind-body exercise and mindfulness practices.