rebranding

Despite big investments to spruce up stores and expand menus, once-thriving restaurant chains are suddenly struggling to get ahead

The working man’s department store rebrands itself to chase a female demographic

Will female customers suddenly start flocking to Hooters if it freshens up its musty man-cave decor and offers non-iceberg-lettuce salads?

It is late to be adding to the mountain of Tigerology, but up until now most analyses of the business impact of the golfing great’s tomcatting have been disappointingly superficial. It is not news to advertisers, even if it is news to the rest of us, that athlete brands are fragile assets. Let’s be honest here: it’s still 2009, and one extramural boyfriend would have done as much economic damage to Tiger Inc. as a dozen girlfriends have. A company that puts its image in the hands of a sportsman can never have enough information about his private life as it needs to establish 100% confidence that there won’t be a meltdown. Celebrities are risky business, but the market in them exists anyway.

Instead of a name change, the NDP could adopt a nickname, as Pizza Hut will with ‘The Hut’