Some Favorite Brands Become Brand New

When our customers speak, we listen—and our customers have been speaking volumes about our brands. Back in March 2011, CommScope announced a brand initiative to create more structure to the company’s collection of business brands, and that included a new look for the corporate brand. Besides creating a new logo and colorscheme, we restructured our hierarchy of product and solution brands, including the well-regarded Andrew and SYSTIMAX brands.

In the new brand hierarchy, CommScope was emphasized as the lead brand across all of our businesses, while Andrew (in our Wireless segment) and SYSTIMAX (in Enterprise) became solution brands and featured less prominently. But a funny thing happened since the re-branding. Many of our long-time Wireless and Enterprise customers asked, “Where’s the Andrew ‘Flash’ logo?” and “What happened to SYSTIMAX?” Apparently, the Andrew and SYSTIMAX brands—which over the years have come to symbolize best-in-class solutions in the wireless and enterprise markets—were missed.

Marketing has taken heed—it is time to bring the Andrew and SYSTIMAX brands back into the limelight. Andrew will now serve as the brand for CommScope’s portfolio of wireless solutions. The SYSTIMAX brand will identify the company’s high-performance network infrastructure solutions for business enterprises. I asked Fiona Nolan, senior vice president, Global Marketing, to explain a little more about the change and how the brands will be used in the future. Her answers about the Andrew brand for wireless are below. In part 2 coming soon, we will talk with Fiona about the SYSTIMAX brand.

Q: How did customers respond to the branding changes in 2011?

A: The new CommScope brand identity was very well received. Customers told us that the modernized look and feel communicated well the impression of a more contemporary company. Customers also received a clear message about the full integration of all of our businesses, including the unique range of solutions we offer customers to help solve their problems. As we rolled out the new CommScope brand to our wireless customers, we received many inquiries about the Andrew brand, and for all the right reasons. Basically, they let us know that the Andrew brand carried a lot of weight in the wireless industry. It is well-established and trusted, and many of our customers missed seeing the Andrew flash. It is due to this important and recurring customer feedback that we are re-establishing Andrew as the brand name of CommScope’s portfolio of wireless solutions.

Q: What makes the Andrew brand so popular among customers?

A: Simply stated, the Andrew brand communicates true value in the eyes of our wireless customers. Customers have a comfort level and confidence when they see the Andrew brand, knowing that they are receiving high-performance, high-quality products and solutions with service and integrity on which they can rely. The Andrew brand for years has brought peace of mind to engineers, planners, and buyers for global wireless operators and other wireless industry organizations. They expect to see the flash to be certain they made the right purchase choice

Additionally, the Andrew “flash” is a testament to the power of good graphic design.

The flash is a dynamic symbol that communicates strong visual movement and symbolizes action. Imagine—the flash still retains essentially the original geometry envisioned by the company founder, Doc Andrew, even as it has evolved over 75 years . It is amazing to me that the Andrew “flash” pre-dates the Nike “swoosh” by decades, and to our customers, it is just as cool.

Q: How will the Andrew brand be used in the new brand hierarchy?

A: The Andrew brand will be associated with but subordinate to the CommScope brand for communications referencing our wireless solutions, across all media. CommScope is our company name, while Andrew is the brand name for our portfolio of wireless solutions. In marketing materials and elsewhere, customers will see a new graphic element that reads, “Powered by Andrew.” It is a symbol of wireless excellence from a leading network infrastructure solution provider, CommScope.

Q: Why is CommScope making this branding change?

A: Our customers spoke, and we are listening. It is the customer who establishes the true value of any global brand. Our wireless customers let us know that significant brand equity exists in the name Andrew, which has been established over a long time. We are responding to our customers’ loyalty to the Andrew brand by restoring its place as the brand for our wireless solutions.