The brand is not eternal

The Life: Whether they want to or not, some big brands with a local presence are having to rebrand their image--and entice consumers to remain on board.

Anthony James, the chief executive and founder of what is now Sample Central, started his company as Sample Lab. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National

Once Sample Central's store opens in Dubai this year, shoppers will be invited to browse and take home certain items free.

The catch: they will also have to provide feedback to companies so that they can perfect their brand messaging, whether it is the design of a laundry detergent bottle or the wording on the label of a carton of ice cream.

But in something of an ironic twist, Sample Central has been rebranded, after starting off as Sample Lab.

"That's the brand we started as," says Anthony James, the chief executive and founder of what is now Sample Central.

So why did the business rebrand itself? It started hearing concerns from clients who were testing products in Sample Lab but did not like the imagery of shoppers being tested in a laboratory.

"We went through that exercise [of getting] feedback from the brands," says Mr James. "We are a learning organisation, and it's critical to us to learn and understand."

Other businesses have also been rebranded as they have pushed into the Emirates.

This year, a little-known pizza franchise popped up in Dubai. It is better known in the US, partly because it already has more than a dozen locations but also because of its original attention-grabbing name: Naked Pizza. Its alter ego here is N_K_D Pizza, a name chosen out of "cultural sensitivity", said Robbie Vitrano, one of the company's founders.

Some companies, though, have more recently undergone name changes after going bankrupt or being bought out.

Last month in the US, the bankrupt bookseller Borders Group won court approval to sell its intellectual property to its rival Barnes & Noble. Bookworms who preferred visiting Borders.com are being automatically rerouted to Barnes & Noble's site.

"Welcome Borders customers," reads a blurb on the Barnes & Noble portal. "At Barnes & Noble we share your love of books … we hope you'll give us a chance to be your bookstore."

Some shoppers in the Emirates, who like snapping up online vouchers from daily-deal sites, started seeing a similar transition here yesterday. That is when GoNabit.com officially rebranded itself as LivingSocial Middle East. The change comes after GoNabit, which was launched in Dubai last year, was acquired in June by LivingSocial, a larger site that provides similar services but is based in Washington DC.

"Essentially, what we're doing is like we had a store in the mall, and we're moving the store and changing the name," says Dan Stuart, one of the founders of GoNabit whose new title is managing director of LivingSocial Middle East. "We put up signs at our old location and point people to the new one, and ideally the new one is such a good experience that it serves as its own magnet for people."

But while customers who still hold GoNabit vouchers can continue using the old site, others will have to visit LivingSocial.com, where they may have to find the correct tab for the Middle East if they are not automatically rerouted to a regional page.

Each user will also need to create a new account, which may turn off some people, even though the company says the process is quick.

"To continue the [mall] analogy, if we closed our store and moved it to a poor location or place with dim lighting or cramped space, then that's a tough move to pull off," says Mr Stuart.

"But I strongly think we're moving to a bigger, brighter, newer store."