Abstract

The case “The Renaming Woes of Australia’s Coon: Building a Culture of Acceptance?” talks about the factors that led Saputo Dairy Australia Pty – a subsidiary of Canada-based multinational dairy company, Saputo Inc. (Saputo) – to rename its highly popular cheese brand Coon. The case starts out by giving a brief insight into the history of the Coon cheese brand. It also documents the way the name Coon was always on the radar of anti-racism activists. The case describes in detail the steps that Saputo took before re-naming Coon as Cheer. Mentioning the perils of re-naming a historic brand, the case provides reactions of industry analysts, branding experts and the common public to the name change. The case raises questions on the rationale for bringing in changes in brand names, place names, etc. due to their racial connotations. Will actions of Saputo spawn a never-ending cycle of name changes in the business world? Are companies right to undertake a risk to their market position just to build a culture of acceptance?

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Comprehend brand association and how people associate different issues with a brand name.
• Understand the brand-building process.
• Analyze the reasons that could lead a company to rename a brand
• Scrutinize the process involved in bringing about a change in brand name
• Examine the issues and challenges involved in renaming a well-known brand.

Keywords

Rebranding; Brand Activism; Marketing Communication; Brand Personality; Brand Building; Brand Identity; Brand Management; Brand Image; Brand Repositioning; Brand Association; Anti-racism; Brand Renaming; Perception Management; Customer Loyalty; Brand Elements