My plan for today was to do some non-scientific market research which I conducted at the grocery store, the local Starbucks, at the golf course during my daughter’s lesson, the playground where the kids play, and a new Indian joint where we just had some chicken tikka masala.
In all, 38 people were asked the same question: “Do you know where the closest FedEx Office is?”
Most thought I meant the closest place where I can drop off a package for delivery, and 20 pointed me to their facility near San Jose International Airport.
Then I asked each a follow up question, “Do you know where the nearest Kinko’s is?”
FedEx dumps the Kinko's name
It wasn’t always close by, but all 38 people knew where a Kinko’s was located. This points out that the FedEx move to strip the brand name Kinko’s from their copy shops is a really dumb move.
Let me also mention that 21 of the people asked where a FedEx Office might be were in THE SAME SHOPPING CENTER as a place formerly called KINKO’s! They had no clue of the name change.
Kinko’s is nearly a verb in the English language. It is synonymous with copies. Kinko’s = copies, for heaven’s sake!
FedEx = Next Day Delivery. You know…when it absolutely, positively has to be there?
Office = a Microsoft product.
Now here is the kicker – The brain trust at FedEx spent $696 MILLION to re-name and re-brand in an effort to get more business customers to The Office, opposed to, heaven forbid, a place called…ewwww….Kinko’s. I live in an area where the average home costs north of a half-million clams, and the people I asked were business people, golfers, baristas, and grocery baggers and NOBODY knew that FedEx Office = Kinko’s! These weren’t in-bred trailer park dwellers or panhandlers on the median.
Bill Cosby and New Coke
New Coke in the mid-1980’s was really dumb, but at least it was still in a red can and called Coke.
To remove Kinko’s from the nameplate altogether is a really, really, really dumb move.
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Tags: bill cosby, fedex, fedex office, kinkos, new coke
Thanks for thinking about our brand and getting others to talk about it as well. However, if you read the Bloomberg story closely you’ll see the $696M was a non-cash charge, meaning the company did not pay anything out of pocket, just followed accounting rules when retiring a brand name. It “did not affect cash flows or stock price”.
FedEx Office CEO Brian Philips addressed your point in a blog post earlier this year. “I also have a lot of respect for the culture and brand of Kinko’s that was described in the article. However, we are a different company now. We are far more than a copy shop, and our new name reflects the role we play with our customers as their office away from the office. In addition to generating almost $1 billion in transportation revenue for FedEx Express and FedEx Ground, we are providing a mix of products and services that customers can’t find anywhere else. We have an unparalleled digital and physical network of 1,800 locations where they can access printing and shipping expertise whenever and wherever they need it. I do understand the nostalgic association some people have for the Kinko’s store they remember from their old college days, but the world of office technology and networked communication has been completely transformed since then — and today’s FedEx Office reflects that.” The full post is here: http://bit.ly/2kwyyq
Regards,
@mattceni
Since you didn’t use a fedex.com email, you may or may not work for the company, but thank you nonetheless for responding. A non-cash charge of $2.22 per share was taken, but that is not say there was no cost.
You state you are far more than a copy shop, but I would believe that the majority of revenue from these stores comes from copy-related activities.
Your CEO stated “…we are a different company now.” The problem is, nobody seems to know who the new company is! Everyone knows Kinko’s, regardless of the culture, or perceived culture.
As for competing with the UPS Store, the former Mailboxes Etc., that is an apples-to-oranges comparison. The UPS Store was never thought of as a place for copies or to use a PC Workstation – it was a place to drop off a package or rent a mailbox. Copies were an afterthought, as most stores had a circa 1985 Xerox machine and few had computers.
Again, my survey was non-scientific, but it was telling. You may want to focus a bit on the branding aspect and user awareness since shoppers less than 50-yards from a former Kinko’s didn’t realize there was a name change.
It’s funny that you in the end spoke up! I have been waiting for someone to bring this out to the open! Anyway… nice post. I will be back.
This entry was a great read! I couldn’t have explained things better myself.