You can identify some brands from their name and logo as well. Just naming Apple brings the picture of a brand with high quality gadgets and classy smartphones. But Apple was once named Apple Computers.
You can identify some brands from their Company Name and logo as well. Just naming Apple brings the picture of a brand with high quality gadgets and classy smartphones. But Apple was once named Apple Computers.
It later changed its name because the company was expanding and didn’t want to be associated with a single product.
Apple’s decision was correct. They flourished—a lot. This is why branding is important. There are so many reasons why a business might need a change of name. But some major ones are listed below:
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Legal Reasons
Because of some reason, say, another company claiming its copyright on the name, you ought to change it.
Example: Playboy is an international magazine that is ruling the International markets for a long time now. Though, you would be surprised to know that it was given a legal notice by Stag magazine. The reason was— the magazine was initially named Stag Party. Two magazines with similar sounding names caused trouble for Playboy magazine.
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Brand Name Confusion
Your brand is all good and flourishing. But your customers are confusing your brand with some other company with a similar name as yours.
Example: WWF(World Wrestling Federation) was colliding with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). After fighting a legal battle, they finally changed the name to WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment).
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A Legacy Name That No Longer Works
Names like Ben & Jerry, Van Heusen, Ralph Lauren, Kelvin Clien and Ford are big brands that are named after their founders.
Even then, some brands with difficult names do not achieve success as much as they could because of difficult legacy names.
Example: Tote’m was a quite successful brand. However, its expansion became a little difficult because of the brand name’s pronunciation. So they decided to change its name to a relevant and easy one.
That’s how seven-eleven came into existence— a brand that we all know very well.
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Tied to A Very Specific Location
Your company name is suggesting that you operate from London. Although, now your business is expanding to different areas. Promotion to the top level is not possible but you want your potential clients to know that your company is breaking the geographical boundaries.
What must you do?
Change the name to one that does not make your brand sound area specific. Already established brands do not change it because their brand value is well-established and now changing the name would mean losing the identity.
But those who are still trying to find a foothold in the market still have a chance to change the name of their company.
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Your Company Name is Making Your PR Team Worry!
A bad name decision could open or slam doors of success for your company. Don’t believe me? Then have a look at the following example.
Example: Isis is the name of a beautiful Egyptian goddess. A mobile payment company with a great business idea started its journey. They had everything printed out— banners, ads, company cards. But, alas! They were told to take down the company name.
Why? Well, because their company name resonated with the acronyms of the world’s deadliest extremist militant organisation! Ultimately, they were forced to change it to SoftCard.
Though, immediate change of name wasn’t effective enough as the new wasn’t much of an eye-catcher. They were later replaced by Google Wallet. That’s why brand names are so important!
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Business Name is an Acronym
Only a few brands like IBM are able to build its identity with an acronym. And, they are exceptions. If your company is new, do not attempt to take such off the track risks.
Acronyms are, in fact, neither memorable nor engaging. Therefore, if you have an acronym as your company name— it is time to change it.
Example: Acronyms are painfully boring and hard to recognize and connect with. Why would anybody remember an XYZ? Some brands that are popular beforehand, only take the risk to convert to a short Acronym name. That’s because they already have a strong hold on the market.
Even IBM was able to do so only after years of earning recognition as a tech giant. For new firms, it is exceedingly tough.
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New Name That Stands Out
Trends always come and go. Supposedly, you chose a brand that is going with the current trends. But trends fade away faster than the colour of your shirt! So, chose a timeless brand name.
Example: Micheal Dell started his company from his dorm room. He had not much idea and simply named his company ‘PC’s Limited’. Later on, he changed it to Dell. We all know how that decision worked out for him. The name was a unique and simple one and did well for the company.
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Confusion with a Similar Brand
Not just small, but a few times, big brands also make the mistake of naming a company with generic or similar sounding business names.
Example: Firebox started in the year 2002 as an experimental project named Phoenix. The name suggested that the company ‘rose from the ashes’.
However, the name did not work for long as it was similar to the Phoenix technologies. So, it was changed to firebird. Which was again changed to its current name, Firefox.
Famous Brands that Changed their Name
These examples are clear proof of why the first choice is not always the best choice. Changing names is possible if you want to. Here are some names:
- Burbn – Instagram
- Pete’s Super Submarines – Subway
- Blue Ribbon Sports – Nike
- Cadabra – Amazon
- Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo – Sony
And, the most recent example is Facebook that changed its parent company’s name to Meta. They state that they changed the name to connect with the modern times of metaverse. And, they could have many more reasons. But this shows how highly established brands also feel the need to change their brand names.
Conclusion
Even though we say, never judge a book by its cover. Humans have the tendency to judge everything instantly. So, the name of your company is like the book cover— it can leave a huge impact on your customers.
Names do wonders and there are many true examples of it. So, if you have made up your mind and the timing is perfect, do the needful. Many brands have saved their plummeting brands with just a change of name. Might work for you too!
Need help with the brand renaming? We at Vakilsearch help you with it at reasonable prices.
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