In the article “Branding 'the Bay/la Baie': Corporate Identity, the Hudson's Bay Company and the weight of history in the 1960s”, James Opp argues that branding is important in the current business environment for any business to succeed. The author suggests that customers' perception of the brand determines their level of identification with the products offered by a specific company. Opp makes his case by reviewing the history of the Hudson's Bay Company and the challenges that executives faced as they attempted to expand into other areas outside of Canada. Originally founded in the English-speaking region of Canada, the company attempted to open new stores in Quebec and Montreal by acquiring Morgan's department store in 1960. Five years later, HBC struggled to attract its target clientele due to poor branding. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay In 1965, HBC's founder was outraged when the company announced that the flagship department would be called "The Bay." HBC was apparently named "The Bay" to attract the new customer base. However, the Hudson's Bay Company failed to attract the attention of customers in the new regions. Most of them believed that the name still represented its English connotation; therefore, some form of capitalism. It is evident from the article that customers are integral in determining a store's brand. Most people always want to identify with companies that appreciate their cultural aspects. Since HBC operated in both English-speaking and French-speaking suburban areas, it became critical to integrate the two cultures so that a common tag name could help promote the products and services offered by HBC. In suggesting the importance of customer needs, the author has collected primary data through interviews. A sample of participants came from both English-speaking and French-speaking regions to provide their perceptions of HBC products and those from Morgan department stores. While women who identified as English-speaking preferred products from HBC, Francophones preferred to purchase their items from the Morgan department. James Opp assumes that the company's history determines its success. This idea is not supported because HBC had a long history but when it decided to go international, customers from French-speaking regions resisted its products. They wanted a store that could represent their local culture in terms of name and logo. For this reason, branding is about understanding customer needs and not the history of the parent company. It was difficult to consider the HBC as representing a “national identity”. ”Some customers feared the growing level of capitalism attached to the name. As suggested in the article, the HBC was led by a governor and board of directors based in London. Many customers viewed US-based organizations with great suspicion. HBC's history did not shield it from fears that Canadian companies were losing ground in the global market. HBC's corporate identity needed to take on a global face to succeed in new markets. The consolidation process of HBC and Morgan Department Stores required expert advice. They carried out market research and discovered consumer concerns, especially regarding images and logo. The organization needed to operate in two main regions and therefore the L&M team suggested that the brand name be called “The Bay/La Baie Morgan's”. Although branding is vital in.