ShowmeTV rebrand... Has Telecom lost its spark already?

News of Telecom’s decision to rebrand its newly released ShowmeTV service following a name dispute could have a negative impact on the company.

That’s the cautionary view of Fleur Revell, who runs Impact PR, a public relations and marketing agency in Auckland.

“It seems ironic that the primary purpose of the Telecom rebrand was to communicate to consumers it's relevance in today's evolving digital landscape,” says Revell, speaking to TechDay.

“In their rush to bring this to life it appears that their due diligence was somewhat incomplete, which can only serve to further erode their brand equity in the eyes of their market.”

As reported by TechDay.com yesterday, the telco giant intends to launch its internet-delivered TV and movie service later this year, under an alternative brand name to ShowmeTV.

Within days of the brand being unveiled on 21 February, two companies that are related to each other, Show Television Limited and Show Me Limited, publicly raised concerns about Telecom’s use of ShowmeTV.

But according to Revell, who has a wealth of expertise in this area, at this stage of the company's new product launch she would have expected to see the telco drip feeding announcements about what new features consumers may be enticed by.

“It’s unfortunate that one of the first interactions we have with the new ShowmeTV service is a negative one,” Revell says. “Instead of being able to focus on what they are offering us as viewers we are reading about problems with its brand name.

“It seems that Telecom had no choice but to drop the new ShowmeTV name or risk a public trademark battle, which would no doubt to some, be more interesting to watch than the content it streams.

“The inference for consumers is that the ShowmeTV and Spark brands, and by association, any new service offering, has not been well thought out.

“In many ways its another embarrassing setback for Telecom as it embarks on its new direction, first the negative reaction to its new brand name "Spark", and now issues around the name of its new digital offering.

“With the launch of any new brand we would always advise a comprehensive market and risk analysis to identify and mitigate potential issues early on.”

Will Telecom’s rebranding of ShowmeTV have a negative impact on the service? Or is it early enough not to matter?