Orange County is now Evolve Back!

Orange County Resorts represented ultimate luxury destination in South India.  With their highly popular and sought after resorts in Coorg, Kabini and the recently launched Hampi one, Orange County was the first choice for the tourists- both domestic and international, who could afford their premium pricing.

But sometime in July 3rd week, Orange County Management decided to change the name and rebrand their resorts to “Evolve Back”. This came to my attention few days later, with couple of days left before my scheduled check-in at their Coorg Property. When I shared this news on facebook, few friends felt that the name “Evolve Back” doesn’t sound as premium and upmarket as Orange County. They liked the old name better. I took some time visiting their website and understanding the reason behind this name change. During my recent stay at the Evolve Back Chikkanahalli Estate (Coorg) campus, I got to have a short interaction with the General Manager of the resort, Mrs Kanti Aneesh. She said that they are aware of the feedback from the public. The decision to rebrand is taken after lots of due diligence. Some of the main reasons below:

Kodagu or Coorg, where the first Orange County Resort came up, was once popular for growing oranges. However, over time, Orange cultivation was abandoned in the region as coffee took over. Thus the term Orange County wasn’t really resembling the essence of the land any more.

As they opened more resorts- one in Kabini, with wildlife theme and one in Hampi- Palace theme and few more in the pipeline, there was a need for a name that would resonate with all the locations. The management felt the name 'Orange County' was not doing justice to these properties.

Though Orange County offers some of the most luxurious and premium holiday experience, they do that with lots of emphasis on local culture, tradition and values. The cottages in Evolve Back’s Kabini and Coorg resorts, though very luxurious on the inside, have an extremely down to earth appearance from the outside, almost like that of a local house. Evolve Back always engages only local dancers, performers or artists to give them a platform to perform and give their guests a flavor of local tradition. Food they serve is largely local.  They undertake lots of responsible tourism initiatives, to minimize/eliminate waste going of the campus, to take local community also forward and so on. Most of their activities are geared towards helping guests understand the nature around and significance of the land better. “Spirit of the land” as they call it, holidaying with Evolve Back (formerly Orange County) is not just about relaxing in an ultra luxurious facility, but also about understanding the local cultures, tradition and environment. Because of these reasons, the term “Evolve Back” resonates very well with what they are trying to inculcate. It is about growing without forgetting our roots. It is about enjoying all that modern luxury can offer, but without harming our surroundings, without taking mother earth for granted. I hope you will now be able to understand and appreciate the re-branding decision better.

Re-branding is very complicated exercise. Having to forgo all the brand awareness and publicity created so far, having to create an impression with the new name and win back all the existing fans and earn more, creating new identities all along is a time taking process. The management, staff, policies and priorities remain the same. Only the name has changed. With these, I am sure it is only a matter of time before Orange County’s customers and fans catch up with the new branding- Evolve Back. Wish them all the success. Do share your thoughts.

You can read Chairman's message here

More posts from my recent visit to Evolve Back Coorg are coming up soon.