it’s all in a name
On the basis that you have only one opportunity to make the right first impression, it’s obvious that a company’s name, and perhaps its strapline, is all-important, and explains why companies go to such great lengths to secure the right moniker. Focus group discussions, advertising agency pitches, domain name searches and design company mock-ups are the name of the game in trying to stand-out from the crowd.
I get this, and fully appreciate its importance, but it’s leading to increasingly desperate measures where non-related words, often with precious little relevance to the product or service, are stuck together in a willy-nilly manner, usually with the obligatory capital letter in there somewhere – Microsoft (micro-computer & software), Netscape (internet & landscape) worked, most don’t. Or what about the intentional misspelling or made-up names of Zoho & Zune and don’t get me started on the current trend to use intentional typographical mistakes seen in the likes of Soonr or Zoomr.
We all now know that Google, for example, is a great name, and one which has enjoyed the ultimate accolade of having its noun turned into a verb. But is it a great company because of its name? No, of course not, great companies are made in the long-term with a tremendous, unique idea and with fantastic people pulling their weight, not in the immediacy. Mind, how many of us didn’t think, Google, GooGoo, Goggle, Googly, what’s all that about the first couple of times we were faced with it! Companies can achieve greatness with relatively boring & uninspiring names but even the greatest of names can’t save a boring or uninspired company. With tibit – pocket-change for the internet – we have the opportunity of putting this into practice and when the verb, to tib, is accepted into the OED, we’ll all know we got it right.
NB As an update to this the US telco Verizon was widely ridiculed this week when it announced that the merged AOL and Yahoo will go under the name of ‘Oath’ and here are a couple more risky choices:
Google to Alphabet – The company stated the 2015 rebrand was an ode to language (“one of humanity’s most significant innovations) but it’s not been a transition without its pain, principally caused by the fact BMW already own the trademark and alphabet.com. I kid you not, you’d think someone would’ve checked beforehand!
Royal Mail to Consignia – After 485 years of successful name recognition it was obviously time for a change. It lasted 15 months…
Andersen Consulting to Accenture – The management consulting company changed its name after splitting from the age-old (and scandal ridden) auditing behemoth. Tidiculed at the time, the name’s stuck and few can recall its natable history.
Smith & Wesson to American Outdoor Brands – An iconic name in the US since before the Civil War, the arms manufacturer changed its name this year to “accommodate an enhanced range of leisure & outdoor products”. No-one mentioned it was also blatantly attempting to distance itself from future gun-control laws and, in any event, the weapons still carry the S&W label.
