By Janice Tan – marketing-interactive.com
Shortly after Tesco Malaysia rebranded to Lotuss Stores Malaysia, also known as Lotus’s, Malaysian halal hypermarket and retail chain Mydin gave it a warm welcome via Facebook. In a post, Mydin said: “Hello’s, cheerio, ol’ friend. Sawadee and a warm welcome to our new neighbour. Your local kawan (friend), Mydin.” This was accompanied by a basket of goodies and a turquoise-looking background, also known as Lotus’s Green which was in line with the new branding.
Tesco responded in kind via Facebook, saying: “Hello Mykawan, terima kasih daun keladi. Semoga ada rezeki kita berjiran nanti.” This translates to “Hello my friend, thank you with great humility. Hopefully we will have the chance to be neighbours soon.” Likewise, it offered Mydin a basket of groceries and the colour scheme of the graphic was done in accordance with Mydin’s branding as well.
Tesco recently rebranded in Malaysia and Thailand after its operations in those two countries were sold to Charoen Pokphand Group for US$10.6 billion last year. The rebranding exercise in Malaysia is expected to complete by the end of 2021. Following the rebranding announcement, several netizens said they will miss Tesco.
Meanwhile, Lotus’s clarified in a separate social media post that there is no typo in its name. Lotuss Stores (Malaysia) is the registered company name while Lotus’s Stores represents the brand name. The company added that Tesco-owned brand products are still available in store, while stocks last. “In the meantime, we are undergoing a review and rebranding plan for all own brand products,” it said. At the same time, Tesco Online, order and collect, as well as scan and shop app services will continue.
