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Marshall Strategy July 2014

info@marshallstrategy.comwww.marshallstrategy.com@MarshallStrat

Naming 101Corporate Naming Lessons from Naming Experts

2© Marshall Strategy 2014

In 1973, psychologist Herbert Harari proved that teachers discriminate against “oddly” named pupils. Teachers were asked to grade four papers. The same papers attributed to “Elmer” and “Hubert” averaged one grade lower than those attributed to “David” and “Michael.”

Other researchers have since noted the strong first impression that names create, and have demonstrated the important role names play in creating expectations about those they are attached to.

Why is this relevant to your company? Research (and intuition) have shown that brands can have “loser” names too, and that these can unfairly and negatively influence perceptions of performance or potential.

Introduction

Many Hollywood stars changed their names to

enhance their appeal and career potential.

It would be hard to imagine these famous entertainment brands associated with their

original names.

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Famous Names

Issur Danielovitch

Betty Joan Perske

Allan Stewart Konigsberg

Norma Jeane Mortenson

Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra

Eric Marlon Bishop

Many successful corporations have done

the same, adopting simpler, more appealing names that convey a unique promise in

memorable ways.

There are other companies, however, that are consumed by

trying to preserve equity in existing names.

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Corporate Names

Research in Motion

Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation

Datsun

BackRub

Anderson Consulting

TMP Worldwide

Professional firms and corporations are often consumed by efforts to preserve equity in existing names. This becomes especially awkward during mergers.

PricewaterhouseCoopers was such a tongue twister that it became PwC, a meaningless set of initials. Despite management claims to the contrary, initials are usually a ticket to anonymity.

5© Marshall Strategy 2014

The Equity Debate

“Our decision to make this change now is because over the last decade PwC has continued to grow and evolve and a concise consistent brand position makes it easier for people to appreciate who we are, what we do, and how we operate across markets.”

—Moira Elms, PwC's global leader of brand and communications

Sept. 10, 2010

Before

After

Name changes in the corporate world can create great opportunities, but are more complicated than applying for a new social security card.

New names must be accepted and supported by employees, customers and investors, and they can’t infringe on the good will of other names.

6© Marshall Strategy 2014

Name Changes

http://www.wired.com/2014/06/apple-healthkit-taken

We’ve gathered some lessons learned from our naming work with clients that include Disney, Westin and Adobe. These lessons can help guide any organization through a name change.

• Individuals and companies have a choice in how they name themselves, and how people think of them as a result.

• Some names can be perceived as losers and some as winners. • Loser names can be successfully changed to winning names. • It’s important to live up to a name’s conveyed or implied promise• Short names are generally more impactful than long names.• There is a fine line between unique names and those that alienate. • The “equity” in ineffective names shouldn’t prevent you from developing

a better name.

Lessons Learned

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The main reason companies give for not opting to fix a sub-par name is that they don’t want to lose their existing “brand equity.” Advertising and promoting an ineffective name is essentially throwing good money at an undesirable situation.

Consider our lessons learned as you migrate through the name change process. It’s not easy, but to increase your organization’s value, you may have to give up what’s not working in order to gain something that’s better.

Conclusion

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For more informationwww.marshallstrategy.com

© Marshall Strategy 2014