Overture rebrands, refocuses

Carrier Ethernet systems provider Overture Networks Inc. has rebranded itself as Overture. The move comes after the acquisition and integration of Hatteras Networks last March, as well as a bit of self-examination and conversations with customers and analysts, says a company source.

Despite the fact that the Overture’s product portfolio expanded with the Hatteras acquisition, the rebranding doesn’t signal a fundamental change in the company, according to Director of Marketing Mark Durrett. (Overture Networks Inc. remains its legal name.) Based on Durrett’s comments in an interview yesterday with Lightwave, it appears that Overture management saw the integration of the Hatteras assets as an opportunity to reexamine the company’s focus, its position within the market, and its perception in the minds of its current and target customer base.

The reexamination began with internal brainstorming about the company’s points of differentiation. Overture then talked to customers about what the factors that led them to choose the company’s products, as well as to analysts about their perceptions of the company and market influences.

Durrett said that comparing the points Overture employees believed most important with those held in high regard by customers revealed an interesting difference: while the company participants emphasized product features, customers valued the way Overture does business just as highly.

The new brand messaging therefore emphasizes both aspects. Under the slogan “An entrance to a smarter network,” Overture will emphasize three main points:

    being a reliable company with equally reliable products
    making it easy to do business with the company and its products easy to use
    “arming” customers to compete.

As part of the rebranding, the company’s product nomenclature has changed. All products names will now pair “Overture” with a product number. The company has provided a renaming key on its website to enable customers to divine the new names of their current systems.

Meanwhile, Durrett says the company will continue to evolve – although he declined to provide details. For now, the evolution in brand and messaging will suffice.

February 10, 2012

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