Open letter to Energizer shareholders: Your Brand equity is at risk!

For 21 years that tireless pink Bunny has brought Energizer’s Positioning Statement, “Keep Going”, to life. He has been used consistently to help communicate what makes Energizer batteries unique, and the fact that he is often spoofed and referenced in pop culture proves how ingrained he’s become in the hearts and minds of consumers.

Everyone knows the Energizer Bunny. And, more importantly, what he stands for.

But despite decades of Brand equity in that drum-beating rodent, Energizer is walking away from the well-established Positioning Statement that has always accompanied him in favor of something new and green. The hope is that the new direction, “Now That’s Positive Energy”, paired with a host of charitable initiatives like tree-planting and science education programs, will help create an emotional connection with consumers – and improve Energizer’s bottom line in the process.

When Energizer was a client, we had to convince them not to ditch the Bunny every single year. So do we think choosing revolution over evolution this time is good idea for Energizer?

The answer is still no.

What does the Brand Coach coach?

Consistency is the number one rule of Branding. Sweeping changes to an established Brand mean inconsistent messaging is reaching your stakeholders, especially your customers – the people who regard your Brand as “theirs”. No longer exactly sure what “their” Brand is or stands for, once-loyal consumers open their minds to competitive Brand messages.

Ones that might just slip in and supplant yours.

Energizer is making a revolutionary decision to abandon a Position and Positioning Statement that they have used for decades in favor of a new tagline that’s built from an entirely different Position (how the Brand is different). And no matter how greenly altruistic their reasons might be for doing so, this sort of reckless abandonment is just never a good idea – because the only thing harder than establishing your stakeholders’ thoughts is changing them.

Energizer should have challenged its “creative friends” to deliver fresh and green, not new and different. Being fresh requires that you always work in a single, unchanging context: what the Brand actually stands for (in Energizer’s case, communicated by Keep Going).

What’s particularly puzzling about Energizer’s decision is that since its original Positioning Statement communicated the longevity of the Brand’s batteries, it already was a green Position. Longer lasting means you use fewer batteries, if we’re not mistaken.

Evolution was the clear and obvious choice. Revolution was the seductively easy but ultimately dangerous route Energizer decided upon instead.