Jul 2014 Financial News

What’s in a name? (Neal & Massy)

Jul 02, 2014

When one of the Caribbean’s largest conglomerates officially dropped two words from its corporate identity on Monday, tens of thousands of customers immediately took notice.
Spending millions of dollars to change the name of a brand that’s not only survived, but succeeded for nine decades, might seem risky.
But Trinidad and Tobago-based Massy, as the former Neal & Massy Group is now called, is confident its 2011 Group-wide strategic planning exercise, which also created a new operating structure, will integrate thousands of customers and soon add to its bottom line.
Massy deputy chairman Robert Bermudez told the Business Express in an interview at the company’s Port of Spain offices last Thursday that, already, Massy’s almost 10,000 employees have embraced the new corporate identity.
Even though it removes one of the founders names—Henry Andrews Neal- from the brand, the new “Massy” logo still pays homage to him.
Deliberate intent was paid to the design of the logo to refer to the heritage of both Neal and Massy, as the N and M are visible within the logo.
“Furthermore, much work was done to emphasise the values of our founders Harry Neal and Charles Massy in the values and messages about what the brand stands for,” a statement from the Group says.
So why the name “Massy”?
The Group says many people already commonly abbreviated the Group to “Massy” and it was felt that it was a strong name that would translate well across different languages and territories.
The new identity changes the name of a couple dozen recognised brands like Neal & Massy Automotive Ltd and Hi-Lo Foodstores—a supermarket name that has been around for almost 40 years.
For instance, Hi-Lo has changed its colours to orange and blue and will now be called “Massy Foodstores”. The Group’s auto business has become “Massy Motors”.
Other changes include Nealco Real Estate becoming Massy Realty, Tracmac dividing into Massy Cat and Massy Machinery, and Illuminat changing its name to Massy Technologies.
But isn’t there a concern that the new Massy name and image will confuse customers who have traded with recognisable brand names for so many years?
Bermudez believes it will have the opposite effect.
“A lot of names have been consolidated over the years, we know who each other are. We are a lot like a family,” he says of the Massy Group.
The group’s strategy now is that the name change will help customers recognise they can do business with several Massy companies simultaneously.
It’s about developing an integrated consumer portfolio which houses all consumer-facing businesses at Massy as well as a strategic investment portfolio which groups Massy operations that are primarily business to business operations.
Bermudez explains that the strategy calls for subsidiaries to become more interdependent.
“There are opportunities for consumers to interact with subsidiaries in the Group. It will bring cohesiveness.”
For instance, a customer can buy a car at Massy Motors and immediately recall that the vehicle can be financed through Massy Finance (formerly GFC) and then insured through another subsidiary now called Massy United Finance.
Massy defines this concept of subsidiaries working together to provide better packaged products and services, with more efficient and cost-effective value propositions as “ecosystems” which exist within the Group.
Retail shopping will also be positively impacted, Bermudez believes.
As an example, he explains that products like electronics, pharmaceuticals and household goods from Massy companies can be added to its supermarkets.
The plans is to also introduce Massy credit cards (once customers qualify) as well as replace current loyalty shopping cards.
Credit cards from the conglomerate are currently only available in Barbados.
But what about the tremendous cost (easily in the millions of dollars) to rebrand the conglomerate and change its name?
Bermudez agrees that initially, it will have an “impact” on the bottom line in the upcoming financial quarter of the Group which registered $652 million in profits in 2013.
But he and his board are convinced it was the right decision.
“The synergies far outweigh the cost,” he says.

Source:
By Curtis rampersad Publications Editor
curtis.rampersad@trinidadexpress.com
Trinidad Express
Wednesday July 2, 2014

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/business-magazine/Whats-in-a-name-265477381.html