Birkenhead shipyard Cammell Laird joins Liverpool’s arena and convention centre in changing its iconic name – but the recent history of rebranding howlers, including Royal Mail and Gap, suggests they may come to regret it. Tony McDonough reports
Some people never learn. One of the best-known pubs in Liverpool made two attempts at changing its name – and both times the public just ignored it.
Located in Fenwick Street, close to the Pier Head, the Slaughter House had had its name since the 1960s. In the late 1980s it became the Fenwick Tavern… and drinkers just carried on calling it the Slaughter House.
A decade or so later another rebranding attempt was made. In a nod to Liverpool’s Irish heritage the venue became O’Neill’s. And, once again, people just carried on referring to it as the Slaughter House, which is what its name is today.
There are other much bigger examples of name changes that have gone down with the public like a lead balloon. More of them later. But this week has seen the second major Liverpool city region rebranding in the space of a few weeks.
In April Liverpool’s Arena and Convention Centre (ACC Liverpool), owned by Liverpool City Council, became the Liverpool Experience Campus.
And this week it was announced that the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, an iconic name that has endured for more than 120 years, will now be called Balaena Birkenhead after its £150m takeover of its parent group APCL by the Cornwall-based Balaena Group.
A statement from Balaena said: “The decision to unify all yards under the Balaena name reflects a commitment to a true ‘One Balaena’ approach – creating a single, integrated maritime engineering group rather than a collection of independent facilities.
“By bringing them together under one identity, Balaena can align skills, resources, technology and commercial strength across the entire group, allowing every yard to access larger opportunities.”
Faye Dyer, chief executive of the arena and convention centre, was equally effusive, saying the name-change “marked a significant moment in our story”. She added: “Liverpool Experience Campus defines who we are, what we stand for and the experiences we create across our venues.
“We are not a single building, we are a campus of brands, four stages delivering a world of possibilities. Our new identity brings clarity, strength and confidence, reflecting both the scale of our offer and our ambitions for the future.”
But will both Liverpool Experience Campus and Balaena Birkenhead come to regret their new identities… and maybe even revert back? Recent history suggests they might.
In 2001 the Royal Mail, the UK’s postal service, became Consignia. People hated it and just 16 months later the old name was back. US clothing retail giant Gap had a similar chastening experience.
It replaced its iconic blue-box logo with a generic Helvetica typeface in 2010. Following an online backlash and much ridicule, the change lasted just six days.
Finance giant Aberdeen had been happy with its name for 200 years until then owner Standard Life decided on the vowel-less ‘abrdn’. Despite widespread mocking the new name lasted for an impressive four years before being changed back.
Weight Watchers discovered that its customers hated the WW rebranding and the owners of football club Leeds United realised they had made a serious error when they tried to redesign the much-loved badge.
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Even if there is no significant pushback, it seems almost certain that people in Merseyside will carry on calling Liverpool Experience Campus the arena and convention centre or just ‘the arena’ and, for most people Balaena Birkenhead will continue to be Cammell Laird or simply ‘Lairds’.
For our part, LBN will continue to mainly refer to both as the arena and convention centre and Cammell Laird, as that is how they are best know by our readers.