{"id":31072,"date":"2009-12-02T01:52:36","date_gmt":"2009-12-02T01:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/blog\/?p=31072"},"modified":"2009-12-02T01:52:36","modified_gmt":"2009-12-02T01:52:36","slug":"whats-in-a-name-when-companies-rebrand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/whats-in-a-name-when-companies-rebrand\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s in a Name? When Companies Rebrand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remember in 2007 when Apple<\/a> changed its company name from Apple Computer to just plain Apple?\u00a0 Don’t worry.\u00a0 Most people can’t remember.<\/p>\n

And that’s the point.<\/p>\n

The Apple brand name had become so powerful that the ancillary word which could have pigeon-holed the company into a single line of business had already become meaningless.\u00a0 Consumers barely noticed a change when Apple dropped Computer from its name shortly before the iPhone hit the marketplace.\u00a0 Today, most people can’t even remember a time when Apple was followed by Computer at all.<\/p>\n

That’s successful branding!<\/p>\n

So what can we learn from Apple’s story and other companies that have found themselves in similar positions where their names limit their growth potential (you can read a few more stories in this New York Times article<\/a>)?<\/p>\n

First, it’s important to have foresight when it comes to branding.\u00a0 Great brands live for a long time and the world around that brand is likely to change.\u00a0 While it’s great to have a brand name that is specific and clearly defines what the brand is and stands for, it’s even more important to ensure that brand name can withstand the test of time.\u00a0 A company like Apple began with a narrow focus, but as happens to all companies, growth creates expectations for more growth.\u00a0 Typically, in order to keep growing, a company needs to expand into new businesses.\u00a0 What happens when your company or brand name doesn’t fit with those new businesses? You have two choices — don’t expand (not usually an option) or change your brand name.\u00a0 The latter is usually the preferred choice.<\/p>\n

The biggest problem in changing an established brand name is giving up the equity that you’ve built into that brand name over the years.\u00a0 Fortunately for a company like Apple, dropping a word from the company name had no impact on the business, but many companies aren’t lucky enough to find themselves in a similar position.\u00a0 That’s often the case after a merger or acquisition.\u00a0 Even companies with similar product lines and consumers have been known to merge and be afraid to let go of one or both company names for years (consider Price Waterhouse Coopers).\u00a0 The investment in establishing awareness, recognition and trust in a new brand name can be big in terms of money and time.<\/p>\n

Of course, there are some companies that attempt to insulate themselves from similar branding problems.\u00a0 For example, Johnson & Johnson<\/a> operates in a decentralized manner with the Johnson & Johnson company name being a secondary piece of the branding puzzle.\u00a0 Instead, individual business units and specific product brand names are the ones promoted to consumers, and that’s where the company’s investments into building brand equity are made.<\/p>\n

There is no way of knowing where your company will go in the future, but it’s best to think big.\u00a0 Position your company and your brand for long term success by considering the best case scenario for your company’s growth, and develop the branding strategies that are likely to help you reach those goals in the most flexible manner.<\/p>\n

Consider this story as an example of what not to do — in the United States, there was a fast food restaurant that began in 1985 and grew in the early 1990s called Boston Chicken which served a variety of rotisserie chicken meals.\u00a0 Boston Chicken got fairly popular and began to expand from its New England roots across the country.\u00a0 As time went on and more healthy fast food choices were introduced to major chains, Boston Chicken began to lose business.\u00a0 In 1995, the time came to expand the menu to include non-chicken items.\u00a0 What’s a company called Boston Chicken to do?\u00a0 The name changed to Boston Market<\/a>.\u00a0 It was a small change, but for a brand that was still fairly new, the timing and necessary investment were not good things.\u00a0 In 2000, McDonald’s purchased Boston Market for its real estate but left some locations open primarily because the brand name still held some value.\u00a0 McDonald’s sold Boston Market to a private investment company in 2007.\u00a0 I’m not saying that Boston Market failed because of the brand name change, but it certainly didn’t help — just an example of a narrow branding mistake to learn from.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Remember in 2007 when Apple changed its company name from Apple Computer to just plain Apple?\u00a0 Don’t worry.\u00a0 Most people can’t remember. And that’s the point. The Apple brand name had become so powerful that the ancillary word which could have pigeon-holed the company into a single line of business had already become meaningless.\u00a0 Consumers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[121,6053,6055,100,6054,110,1364],"class_list":{"0":"post-31072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-brand","7":"tag-apple","8":"tag-apple-computer","9":"tag-brand-name-change","10":"tag-brand-strategy","11":"tag-company-brand","12":"tag-corporate-branding","13":"tag-rebranding","14":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nWhat's in a Name? 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