This whole debacle is going to make the most amazing case study for future MBA classes.
First, the pathetic "cut and paste" PowerPoint style branding ...
Then, the lying and cheating, and "changes you're going to like" ...
Then, the SHARES disaster ...
Then, the "war against customers" ...
And, now, they just pretend none of this happened, and do a "make believe" branding campaign?
What I find most interesting about this, and what I think is the point of failure, is the disconnect between the branding and the reality. Everyone knows it. It fools nobody. And, therefore, it's a waste.
First, they failed to do any proper branding or marketing for, what, about 3 years?
And, now, they launch what appears to be a decently thought out and designed campaign, but it fails anyway, because it's demonstrably false and totally disconnected with reality.
I've never seen anything like this.
What they should have done is to develop a thoughtful campaign with a budget > $5,000 *and* grounded that campaign in reality. It would have needed to start with an acknowledgement of failures and reality, and then a humble plea for customers to return, backed with reasons why they should return.
Anything that comes from this company and fails to acknowledge the current state of affairs or recent customer experience, just comes across to me as tone deaf and arrogant.