The bravest rebrand may be admitting your old brand was better

This week, PageGroup changed its legal name back to Michael Page plc and brought its services together under the Michael Page brand. The business says Michael Page remains its most established and widely recognised name, 50 years after it was founded. In other words, after years of operating beneath a broader corporate identity, the company has returned to the name its market knew best.

There is a valuable lesson here for every business considering a rebrand. Customers do not organise brands in the same way that companies organise themselves.

“Group”, “Holdings”, “International” and newly invented umbrella names may make perfect sense on an organisational chart. They can accommodate acquisitions, new divisions and future ambitions. However, that does not mean they carry the same recognition, trust or emotional weight as the name customers already use.

A trade mark is not valuable simply because it is registered. Its real value lies in the reputation accumulated beneath it; every successful project, recommendation, advertisement, search result and customer interaction.

Replacing that name can mean asking the market to forget an asset the business has spent years building.

That does not make rebranding a mistake. Sometimes a name has become restrictive, dated, legally risky or inconsistent with where the business is heading. The Michael Page decision is a reminder that novelty should not be confused with progress.

Before approving a new identity, businesses should ask harder questions.

Which name do customers actually remember? Which mark drives online searches and referrals? Is the proposed name legally available in the UK and key overseas markets? Does the existing trade mark portfolio cover the business the company has become, rather than the business it was when the applications were filed?

The legal work should not end when the new name or logo is approved. A rebrand may require clearance searches, new filings, ownership and company-name recordals, updated licences, domain-name protection and a strategy for legacy marks.

A change of corporate name is also different from a transfer of ownership, and the relevant trade mark registers must accurately reflect what has happened. The UKIPO provides separate procedures for updating a proprietor’s name and recording an assignment.

Old registrations should not simply be abandoned. They may remain useful against copycats, support transitional use or preserve valuable historical rights. Conversely, marks that disappear from the market can eventually become vulnerable to non-use attack.

The most effective brand strategy therefore starts before the creative agency opens its sketchbook. It begins with an audit of what the business already owns, legally, commercially and in the minds of its customers.

Michael Page’s return is not a rejection of modern branding. It is something more interesting: recognition that a familiar name can be a strategic asset rather than historical baggage.

Before asking, “What should we call ourselves next?”, perhaps the better question is: “What do our customers already call us and have we properly protected it?”

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“Bringing our services together under one brand reflects how we work in practice today — as one business, connected by shared expertise, insight and relationships”

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