On 8 August 2014, Spark New Zealand delivered one of the largest rebrands New Zealand has seen, transitioning from Telecom New Zealand to Spark New Zealand.

“Spark? Dumb name. Sounds like an electrical company.” Remarks like that were rife when Telecom first announced it would change its name in February 2014.

The country collectively raised its eyebrows at the idea – as did many of the more than 5,000 people who worked for the company, who could not be told in advance until the market had been informed. The change was frightening, confusing and controversial. Many of our people told us they didn't understand why a change of name was needed, and didn't like the new name that was chosen.

For the team tasked with bringing Spark to life internally, the job was similarly daunting. How do we encourage our people to get excited about the change and understand that it’s not just a new name, but an entirely new direction, focus and strategy?

In just a few short months, using a range of internal PR strategies and campaigns, including a centrepiece campaign based on innovative digital technology, we massively shifted the opinion of our people and developed thousands of new and passionate advocates for the Spark brand.

Phase 1: On 1 July, 2014, a “27 Year Countdown” began. Each day highlighted a specific year of Telecom’s history.

Phase 2: Weeks out from the launch , staff attended a series of launch events, presented using a completely digital environment with the audience watching a presentation on floor to ceiling screens, spanning 270 degrees.

Phase 3: On 8 August, all employees received a welcome message to their phones, inviting them to watch a video message from the Managing Director, as well as enjoy new signage, new desktops, and Spark celebration boxes.In addition the main launch event, workshops were rolled out centered on customers. Additional communications were made available to staff in the form of videos, e-learning and online resources. Lastly, daily news stories to staff covered a range of topics relating to the name change. All information was also made available on a central online hub.

1. The first objective was to foster positive staff engagement measured by attendance rates to launch events, with a target of getting at least 70% of people to a launch session. Spark Launch Events were attended by 79.2% of all Spark staff.

2. The second objective was to achieve understanding and awareness of what Spark New Zealand would stand for. To be measured by staff surveys post event, with a target of 80% of staff saying they understand what to expect. 92% said they have a clear understanding of what to expect from Spark

3. The third objective was to use the rebrand as an opportunity to improve upon the overall health of the organization. To be measured by McKinsey’s Organisational Health Index survey post launch, targeting an uplift of at least 25%. The result saw the company score move from the bottom 13%, to just above the 50% mark.