When Citigroup changed its name to Citi, it tried to offer customers a more user-friendly and memorable name. One of the first orders was to rename Mets Baseball Stadium to Citi Field. The company`s rebranding was an attempt to create a brand name that could cover its myriad interests, including Citi Smith Barney, Citi Investment Research and Citi Private Bank. Suleman began the process by meeting with the company`s employees, management and board of directors, conducting internal focus groups, talking with customers, and advising marketing and other experts. You want to capitalize on that niche, but you have “general contractor” in your name, but it`s really too big. Too wide. You are not. One of the problems was that the company was known as I Love Rewards in Canada, but Rethink Rewards in the United States. “We actually had two different brands. That`s why we wanted to come together under one brand. A simpler name has many advantages. It`s easier to say and, in some cases, can take up less space for social media comments, increasing the likelihood that they`ll be used completely.
Dunkin` isn`t the only brand that has recently rebranded. Weight Watchers has announced that with WW, it will focus on its new slogan “Wellness that works”, and IHOP has temporarily adopted the name IHOB to emphasize its burgers. The DST change has sparked widespread derision on social media, reminding us that rebranding doesn`t always work. One of the biggest name changes in recent years is the switch from Google to Alphabet. This name change signaled the company`s desire to expand beyond internet search and advertising. There are many reasons why names get lost in the sea of competition. While some are too general, others are too trendy. This PR crisis was completely unpredictable. Isis Mobile Wallet wasn`t the only company with so much bad luck.
A San Diego-based brand called ISIS Pharmaceuticals was one of many forced to change its name. It`s easy to focus on the negative triggers of the upcoming name change, but there`s also some substance behind the change. On the one hand, Facebook acknowledges that privacy issues have jeopardized their main source of revenue. The company`s ad-supported model, which relies on user data, comes under increasing scrutiny every year. What`s in a name? A lot if you`re an established brand like Dunkin` Donuts, which operates over 12,000 franchises in 46 countries. Yet the traditional company announced in September that it was dropping the second half of the name it had had since 1950, when a cup of hot coffee sold for a penny and a tasty donut was available for a nickel. While the new name Dunkin` still sells baked goods, the name change reflects changing consumer tastes — beverages now account for 60% of the restaurant`s sales. “By simplifying and modernizing our name while paying tribute to our heritage, we have the opportunity to create incredible new energy for Dunkin, both inside and outside our stores,” Tony Weisman, chief marketing officer, said in a statement. Ahh, the dreaded acronym. Although functional and utilitarian, the types of acronym names lack even more meaning and emotion than the founding names.
First, he needed to better understand the broader direction of the company and focus on employee engagement, performance, and recognition. It also had to be malleable enough that its meaning could be reshaped as the business evolved. And it had to appeal to both the customers who buy the company`s software online and the employees who use it. No one wants to have to explain your name, how to spell it, or how to pronounce it every time they want to tell someone about you. How risky is it to change your business name? In a word: very. There are a number of risks you should be aware of when considering a name change. You need a name that reflects that. A name that people recognize and become familiar with. A name that is easy to find online and can be easily referred to a friend. Brand exploitation is an important part of any company`s marketing strategy and should therefore be used when needed. This is the winning strategy we pursued when we changed our client`s name from AB Food and Beverages to Twinings & Co.
Second, he increasingly felt there was a gap between what the company was doing and what its name suggested as it moved from supporting companies with employee rewards programs to broader performance, engagement, and recognition programs. Over time, companies with more obvious negative externalities have come under pressure, especially in the era of ESG investing. Social pressure was behind the name changes at Total and Philip Morris. In the first case, the switch to TotalEnergies should mark the oil and gas company`s transition to renewable energy. Internet and TV providers rank last in terms of customer satisfaction, so it`s no surprise that many have changed their names in recent years. But it shouldn`t be I Love Rewards, said Suleman, which “seems a bit consumer-oriented, it sounds a bit startup-y. If you went into every sales pitch, into media interviews, talking to prospects, you knew it wasn`t the right name for the future. LG Corp.
was originally founded as Rak-Hui (pronounced “Lucky”) Chemical Industrial Corp. As the company expanded, she formed GoldStar Co. Ltd. The two companies, Lucky and GoldStar, merged and formed Lucky-GoldStar. In 1995, Lucky-GoldStar Corporation was renamed “LG” to better compete in the Western market. The company also associates the letters LG with the company`s slogan “Life`s Good.” Since 2009, LG has owned the domain name LG.com. And if you decide to change your name, be sure to check out my guide to naming a business. Then, do your research and understand the financial and legal implications of this change. The reasons for choosing new names and logos for companies range from the mundane – corporate restructuring – to the extraordinary: fraud, disasters or scandals. Changing a company`s long-standing name isn`t without risk, and these days, rebranding comes with a lot of odds on social media. Whether initiated by the boardroom or motivated by forces outside the company, some notable changes have taken place within the company and brand name in recent years, and the names and justifications behind the changes sometimes raise eyebrows. Shortly after a leak of whistleblower documents led to heated congressional hearings, the world`s most widely used social media brand announced it would change the name of its parent brand to Meta.
Restoration Hardware sells a promising lifestyle full of high-end sofas, stylish lighting, and hand-woven plush rugs. Hardware? Of course, at first, but the company had far surpassed its humble beginnings. As a result, it became the more streamlined HR in early 2017. By all accounts, the transition has been successful, and high-end HR galleries across the country continue to attract both gawkers and shoppers while other brick-and-mortar stores struggle. If the name ValuJet conjures up the image of plane wrecks in Florida`s Everglades, that`s exactly why the company decided to change its name. After an accident that killed more than 100 passengers in 1996, the airline — which had previously been haunted by allegations that its safety procedures were not in line with snuff — merged with another airline the following year and was reborn as AirTran. AirTran was later acquired by Southwest in 2014. In some cases, when a company is “broken” or wants to distance itself from a scandal or negative association, a new name can be a catalyst for positive change. Sound of Music promised “best buys” for everything in the crowd and made more money during the sale than in a typical month.
Two years later, the company changed its name. A name change at this point gives you the opportunity, as you grow and reach new audiences, to make sure you have the name and brand you need to take your business to the next level. This first is obvious. If another company has sent you a letter asking you to change your business name, now is probably a good time to start the name change process. It remains to be seen whether this huge gamble will pay off, but in the near future, Zuckerberg and Facebook investors will be watching closely to see how the media and the public react to the new meta name and how the transition unfolds. After all, billions of dollars are at stake. If you`re not sure if you have the right name, this will help. Here are my top 10 reasons why you need to change your business name: According to Al Ries, “a brand is what consumers call it.” “Instead of trying to impose a nickname on consumers, a company should wait to make you popular. Coca-Cola, for example, didn`t stick “cola” on its bottles until people started calling the product that. In the new millennium, this fossil fuel giant wanted to adopt a greener image. In 2000, it dropped its old, cumbersome name for an aerial abbreviation and adopted a green and yellow Helios logo that now floats on street corners across the country. The company retained the BP name even after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, prompting some gas station owners to seek another name change.
When he developed the name in coordination with the management team and the board of directors, he announced it to insiders and customers well in advance of the official launch. As early as 1996, the world`s first search engine was founded under the name “BackRub”. Fortunately, creators Larry Page and Serge Brin had the foresight to rename their business, otherwise we would “rub” all the instructions and recipes.
