K’gari

Rebrands don’t create change; they reflect change.

You might have already seen the awesome news that Fraser Island has been officially restored to its indigenous name, K’gari (pronounced ‘Gurrie’).

This is not a typical rebrand… But it is a rebrand of sorts, and one we can learn from even though the processes for naming places vs naming businesses are very different.

When this happens with a business (the name changes to something new, then back to the original) it often looks like a back-pedal, and can indicate an oversight:

• The new name wasn’t well received by the public
• The new name was culturally insensitive
• The company only realised after the change, that the old name carried value

If all you’re changing about your company is the name, and you don’t have a clear reason why, it could be a sign that you’re expecting the new name to have some instant significance with the public, which is unrealistic.

Or it’s just for vanity (Fraser Island was named after an explorers wife who apparently later spread horrible made-up stories about the K’gari locals).

That’s when back-pedalling can happen.

K’gari should never have been changed to Fraser Island. I’m sure to the locals, it never really did.

But on official documents—ones that previously would have indentified it as K’gari, then Fraser Island—it’s been restored back to K’gari.

What I think we can learn here is while a name change can seem like it’s a big brave move (it is), admitting you were wrong and going back is even braver.

…and braver still if you can open up and talk about why it was wrong – follow that link above for a story about a business rename that went very badly, and the candid confession after they went back.