Names

I provided some thinking for Alex to write an article about names. I don't know what happened to the article, and I can't claim authorship anyway, but so I don't forget, here are my four suggestions for when a company or brand may need a new name.

1. Legal requirement. Andersen Consulting to Accenture. 6 weeks warning.

2. Change of strategy or positioning. Eg. Lucky Goldstar to LG (arguably BP too). I guess change of CEO would come under this bucket too.

3. Business efficiencies. Having one name around the world may be cheaper for producers. Marathon bars are now Snickers (I can't see any other reason that cost savings), Opal Fruits now Starbust, etc.

4. Brand equity. Toyota didn't think its name had enough premium cues to enter the luxury car market, hence Lexus. Often local brands carry more equity then intruder brands hence Chevron keep Clatex and Texaco where they have equity. Vodafone, if buying locally, rebrands Vodafone. You would if you wanted to position yourself as an international communications company.

The Dudley Diplomat

This is the brand name I noticed on a toilet tank. That a toilet could be called a 'diplomat' is funny. Do you think it means that the next level up in the series is named 'monarch' or 'aristocrat' ? And the the basic level called the 'commoner' or plain 'civil servant' ? And what of the advertising for the whole range? We will see the whole line up? I hope so.

And if it is funny that the nomenclature is amusing, its provenance adds to the fun. Please don't think I am being Dudleyist here, but I could better envisage the diplomat as originating from Westminster or Oxford more comfortably than from Dudley. But perhaps that was the whole point, that this particular make of toilet helps us reassess the diplomatic corps.