In an effort to reflect its growing line of merchandise, Overstock.com announced a rebranding effort early this year to simply O.co. The new logo is shown along with this article and as of June 6, 2011, it now appears on the company’s retail website and on the O.co Coliseum in California (where the Oakland Raiders and Oakland Athletics teams play) with its ad debut scheduled for mid-June 2011.
Over the year’s, the company’s product line has changed from just overstocked merchandise that needed to be moved at low prices to include a much more diverse selection. Overstock.com President Jonathon Johnson told AdAge.com that 70% of the company’s merchandise today is not overstocks. Instead, it’s primarily “first-run replenishable goods.” The company believes that the globally acceptable O.co web address and the shortened company name from Overstock to O will better position the brand for global growth.
It seems like a natural evolution for the company to rebrand as its merchandise evolves to something different than it was in the past. Overstock.com didn’t fit the bill anymore. The debate is still open on whether or not O or even O.co was the right choice for the new brand with dissenters citing that it doesn’t mean anything or the “O” is too closely associated with Oprah Winfrey.
Of course, it remains to be seen if the company can make O or O.com actually mean something to consumers. As Beth Snyder Bulick of AdAge.com points out, the company’s advertising referenced “the O” as early as 2004 when the company’s television commercials used the tagline, “It’s all about the O.” I’d imagine few people remember that though.
Bottomline, this is a company that probably should have rebranded years ago, but at least it’s finally happening. Was O.co the right choice? The verdict is out on that until we see how the company makes O and O.co relevant and meaningful to consumers. It’s all about perception. Now the company has a chance to start shaping those consumer perceptions about O and O.co. Let’s wait and see how they do.
What do you think about O and O.co? Are they good choices for the new Overstock.com and a global expansion? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.