Hitachi Set To Rebrand As HiKOKI

[Onoff]

Opened a new TS catalogue, saw a full page ad for power tools called HiKOKI and thought how much they looked like Hitachi. Figured it was some low end Erbauer / Einhell type rip off until I read the text. Seems Hitachi are rebranding as HiKOKI. Have to wonder why. Apparently they will continue to support the old models in terms of spares etc and batteries will still fit.

 

Makes more sense maybe than Makita with their G Series range that's incompatible with the LXT range. 

Edited June 5, 2018 by Onoff

[Onoff]

I wonder if there'll be some Hitachi deals coming up where sellers offload "old" Hitachi branded stock? I remember there were some cracking deals on the old, heavy,  blue AEG quality stuff when it got bought out by the Chinese and came back orange.

 

Or maybe the Hitachi labelled stuff will command a premium?

[MikeSharp01]

Not sure I like the new name. Will their nuclear reactors and trains get rebranded as well I wonder. I am reminded of the 'not the nine o'clock news' "okikoki cabouki 2000'. 

[jack]

But WHY? Seems crazy to me to throw away decades of brand recognition and introduce a completely new (and imo horrible) brand.

[SteamyTea]

  On 05/06/2018 at 06:05, MikeSharp01 said:

Not sure I like the new name. Will their nuclear reactors and trains get rebranded as well I wonder

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Could well be because of the nuclear side:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/04/uk-takes-5bn-stake-in-welsh-nuclear-power-station-in-policy-u-turn

 

I still call those crappy little Japanese cars Datsuns, even though the are Renaults now, and built in Sunderland.

[PeterW]

  On 05/06/2018 at 07:02, jack said:

But WHY? Seems crazy to me to throw away decades of brand recognition and introduce a completely new (and imo horrible) brand.

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Its the Hitachi Koki business that is rebranding - not the main Hitachi group. 

Edited June 5, 2018 by PeterW
Linky no worky

[jack]

It was the power tool division I was talking about (I wasn't replying to SteamyTea).

 

Not that I've spent any time at all looking, but I don't recall ever seeing a "Hitachi Koki" branded power tool, whatever the company name may have been.

 

For the typical power tool purchaser, this is a change of brand from Hitachi to HiKOKI - and that involves, as I said, throwing away decades of brand recognition and introducing a completely new (and imo horrible) brand.

[Onoff]

[newhome]

It’s in small print on the back currently. (Another drill I can barely lift let alone use with one hand lol) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Onoff]

I believe HiKOKI are to launch a range of safety footwear too.

 

You put your right foot in...

 

[newhome]

  On 05/06/2018 at 09:42, Onoff said:

I believe HiKOKI are to launch a range of safety footwear too.

 

You put your right foot in...

 

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Lol, that’s exactly what I thought it sounded like too 

 

 

[Nickfromwales]

Hitachi Koki is on my nail guns. On the label as above. 

Never asked why before, but now I know. . 

Another brain cell soaked up for no reason. Down to only 3 left now. . ??

[jack]

  On 05/06/2018 at 10:06, Nickfromwales said:

Hitachi Koki is on my nail guns. On the label as above. 

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Company name, not brand. If you didn't know how Japanese business names worked (KK or Kabushiki Kaisha for limited company), you could just as well have assumed that "Koki" meant "Limited".

[ProDave]

Other rebranding of a well know and respected brand to something new was CORGI to Gas Safe. and the humble Marathon bar to Snickers.

 

Being very cynical I can only assume some marketing consultancy got paid a fortune for that re branding.  I saw a lot of that happen in the dying days of my former industry where a fortune was spend trying to rebrand and refocus, all in vain. An excercise at the time we all likened to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

[jack]

  On 05/06/2018 at 11:22, ProDave said:

Being very cynical I can only assume some marketing consultancy got paid a fortune for that re branding. 

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Not in the case of Snickers. The same chocolate bar was known as Snickers worldwide for decades before the UK change. I don't know why it was originally called a Marathon bar in the UK, but they only changed it to Snickers to align it with what the rest of the world was doing.

 

Re CORGI, I assume they changed the name so that it gave a better impression to the general public of what the registration meant. No idea whether anyone got paid a lot of money for the new name though!

[epsilonGreedy]

  On 05/06/2018 at 11:22, ProDave said:

and the humble Marathon bar to Snickers.

 

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I confused a petrol forecourt nighttime cashier the other day asking for a Marathon bar at 1am.

[SteamyTea]

  On 05/06/2018 at 11:22, ProDave said:

An excercise at the time we all likened to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

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Like calling the Post Office, Consignia.

 

I can remember when an Opel was a sweet, a stone and a car, now it is only two of those.

 

Shall I rebrand?

[PeterW]

  On 05/06/2018 at 11:27, jack said:

Re CORGI, I assume they changed the name so that it gave a better impression to the general public of what the registration meant. 

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Corgi was an abbreviation - Council of Registered Gas Installers. When it became a commercial body through the HSE re-tender process the new provider was required to provide the name their scheme would take as part of the tender response ... 

[jack]

  On 05/06/2018 at 12:02, PeterW said:

Corgi was an abbreviation - Council of Registered Gas Installers. 

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I know that, but I suspect a lot of the general public doesn't. My point was that the new name - whatever the reason for the choice to change it at the time they did - makes the organisation's focus clearer to the general public.

[newhome]

Maybe they just want to differentiate their power tools from the rest of the group? And if the strategic direction changes and they want to sell it off a separate brand name could make it easier to do so. People soon get used to the new name TBH. Confinity became PayPal and AuctionWeb became eBay but @SteamyTea Opel is a car, opal is a stone and used to be a sweet 

 

 

 

 

 

[jack]

  On 05/06/2018 at 13:29, newhome said:

Confinity became PayPal and AuctionWeb became eBay

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Both of those changes happened before either company got really big though (if you haven't read it, A Perfect Store: Inside eBay is an interesting read).

 

I suspect you're right about selling off the tool division. It would certainly make for a cleaner break to not have the power tool division brand diluting the rest of the company after the sale. It may take years to get traction on the brand change, but maybe that's their schedule.

[Onoff]

  On 05/06/2018 at 11:32, epsilonGreedy said:

 

I confused a petrol forecourt nighttime cashier the other day asking for a Marathon bar at 1am.

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Not as confused as when SWMBO asked the teen something girl behind the bar for a Pernod & black last year on holiday. She went and asked her couple of years older colleague and so it went on. They eventually discovered a dust covered bottle estimating it was 3 years since anyone has asked for it.

[newhome]

  On 05/06/2018 at 11:32, epsilonGreedy said:

I confused a petrol forecourt nighttime cashier the other day asking for a Marathon bar at 1am.

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That just screams, they are much younger than you! 

 

 

[Ferdinand]

  On 05/06/2018 at 09:44, newhome said:

 

Lol, that’s exactly what I thought it sounded like too 

 

 

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Beats Hitachi KOKUP, I suppose.

 

The Consignia Logo was very accurate ... image of vanishing down a plug hole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 5, 2018 by Ferdinand

[newhome]

  On 05/06/2018 at 14:32, Ferdinand said:

 

 

The Consignia Logo was very accurate ... image of vanishing down a plug hole.

 

 

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Lol. I always thought that was a very odd name to choose TBH. Sounds more like something akin to Accenture or Cognizant,  and I bet it was a mail dominated decision