New Names To The Rescue

Read these three names – do they sound familiar?
1. Declan Mcmanus.
2. Ralph Lipschitz.
3. James Osterberg Jr.
Never heard of them? Actually you have – because all three overcame obstacles to marketing success.

As a rule, changing a company, brand or product name is risky business for marketers. But sometimes it can be necessary, and it can make an immediate measurable improvement in marketing. A recent Wall Street Journal article reports how some luxury hotels have increased their business in hard times simply by dropping one word -“resort” – from their names, in response to corporate sensitivity about extravagant spending on conventions and meetings.

What were they thinking?
They were right. But many marketers change names for the wrong reasons.
•    Brinks, the home security company, became Broadview. This one was necessary because they had to give up the Brinks name. But did they really have to choose such brand blandness?
•    Here in Chicago, we saw the Sears Tower become the Willis Tower (but you can call it “Big Willie”)– ego-tripping on the part of the new owner of the (former) world’s tallest building.
•    In an exercise of inexplicable corporate silliness, Radio Shack changed its name to The Shack. Now I think of a rundown building, or maybe a basketball player.
•    And in yet another demonstration of high-tech business mumbo-jumbo, Gavitec AG became NeoMedia Europe AG.

The Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge and the Renaissance Orlando – neither of them named “resort” any more – are only two examples of name change for the right reasons.
•    The New York Times reports how a venerable Canadian history magazine had to change its name to dodge online porn filters. (Bet you’ll click through to this one.)
•    A detailed case study shows how leading non-profit changed its name to Legal Momentum, to overcome confusion about its mission.
•    A professor at the University of Florida makes a case for marketing delicious (but negatively-perceived) goat meat as “cabrito.”

As for Declan, Ralph and James Jr:  Celebrities become brands. The wrong name is a barrier to brand success. So to market themselves more successfully, they became Elvis Costello, Ralph Lauren and Iggy Pop.

Tags: brand name change, Branding, Brink's, Broadview, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, Radio Shack, Sears Tower

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 10:30 am and is filed under Alan Maites, Marketing Communications, Signature Content. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.