Yellow Pages publisher ‘looking to downplay hibu branding’
The Yellow Pages publisher, which rebranded as hibu two years ago, is looking to bring back to its original Yell branding, according to reports.
The Evening Standard and Independent report that the company is now pushing Yell.com as its main consumer website, and that staff will be expected to say they work for Yell, not hibu, when they introduce themselves.
However, hibu denies suggestions it is ditching the brand, saying it will ‘co-exist’ alongside the Yell identity.
A hibu statement says, ‘Our Yell brand has a strong history, awareness and loyalty amongst our customers and supports existing products and services.
‘As hibu continues to evolve its range of marketing and customer acquisition products and services, the Yell and hibu brands will continue to co-exist, dependent on the requirements of specific geographic markets.’
The hibu branding was developed by Landor and introduced in 2012.
The Yell Group adopted the hibu name internationally as its corporate identity and for all consumer-facing activities although the group’s print products – including the Yellow Pages – continued to be sold under their original names.
The rebrand came under fire shortly after launch when hibu chief executive Mike Pocock admitted the new name had no meaning.
He was quoted as saying ‘Don’t read anything into it… It doesn’t have any pure meaning behind it.’
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