Twenty years ago a corporate name was simply a trade name that described an industry, a service or a product (most often the corporate name was the founder’s patronym). The study reported in this paper reveals that as companies are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of corporate reputation, they are managing their corporate names more actively and treating them as corporate brands rather than merely trade names. Newly created brand names are now consciously designed to evoke associations with a set of core corporate values that typically focus on themes such as life, competence, unity, vision and performance. By focusing on values that are common to most corporations, however, corporate branding may fail in one of its foremost goals, which is to create differentiation. This paper provides an analysis of the corporate re-naming phenomenon and discusses its implications for corporate brand naming.

1. Corporate Reputation Review Volume 8 Number 4
What is in a Name Change? Re-Joycing
Corporate Names to Create
Corporate Brands
Laurent Muzellec
Department of Marketing, University College Dublin, Republic of Ireland
ABSTRACT and strategic device. For strong consumer
Twenty years ago a corporate name was simply brands like Coca Cola, the name is arguably
a trade name that described an industry, a ser- the only valuable asset; outside its brand
vice or a product (most often the corporate name context, the product, mostly made of water,
was the founder’s patronym). The study sugar and bubbles is a cheap commodity.
reported in this paper reveals that as companies For corporations and corporate brands, the
are becoming increasingly aware of the impor- name is a prism through which each stake-
tance of corporate reputation, they are managing holder perceives the company. The name
their corporate names more actively and treating might be synonymous with a way of doing
them as corporate brands rather than merely business for suppliers, a distinctive in-house
trade names. Newly created brand names are culture for employees, an enjoyable experi-
now consciously designed to evoke associations ence for consumers, or a steady return on
with a set of core corporate values that typically investment for the financial community.
focus on themes such as life, competence, unity, Academic articles which have tried to
vision and performance. By focusing on values answer the illustrious question ‘what’s in a
that are common to most corporations, however, name?’ often come up with the answer of
corporate branding may fail in one of its fore- reputation and brand identity (Fombrun
most goals, which is to create differentiation. and Shanley, 1990; Perkins, 1995; Aaker,
This paper provides an analysis of the corporate 1996; Tadelis, 1999). This indicates that
re-naming phenomenon and discusses its impli- company names are the receptacle of cor-
cations for corporate brand naming. porate brand and reputation. A brand
name is the basis upon which the brand
KEYWORDS: corporate brand, naming, equity is built (Aaker, 1991) and a corpo-
rebranding, identity change rate name is the vehicle that conveys cor-
porate associations to the customer (Brown
INTRODUCTION and Dacin, 1997; Dacin and Brown, 2002).
‘If all of Coca Cola’s assets were Additionally, the name constitutes the link
destroyed overnight, whoever owned between the corporate identity, understood
the Coca Cola name could walk into a as what the company ‘is’, that is its values
bank the next day morning and get a and its behavior (Olins, 1979; Dowling,
loan to rebuild everything.’ 1996; Balmer, 2001), and the corporate
Carlton Curtis, VP Corporate image, which is thought of as the stake-
Communications, Coca Cola holders’ perceptions of corporate attitudes Corporate Reputation Review,
(Bernstein, 1984; Davies and Chun, 2002). Vol. 8, No. 4, 2006, pp. 305–321
# Palgrave Macmillan Ltd,
Brand names are a fundamental marketing These various perspectives demonstrate 1479–1889/06 $30.00
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2. What is in a Name Change?
the key role played by corporate names as vides an analysis of the recent wave of cor-
strategic marketing assets. Replacing an porate name changes and discusses the
established name with an entirely new academic and practical implications for
name would therefore seem to go against corporate brand naming.
elementary marketing theory and practice. The paper is divided into three sections.
Yet companies adopting new ‘branded First, the literature on brands and corporate
names’ are frequently reported in the busi- identity is reviewed to establish the predica-
ness press (McGurk, 2002; Lamont, 2003; ment of corporate brand naming. A data-
Wiggins, 2003). This phenomenon, some- base of re-named companies is then
times referred to as corporate re-branding, investigated and analysed in order to ascer-
has been quantified by Enterprise IG, tain the characteristics of a newly created
which estimates that each year between corporate (brand) name. The results are dis-
1,000 and 2,500 companies around the cussed and the comments of two brand-
world change their names.1 naming specialists taken into account for
Structural factors precipitating a name analysis purposes. The final section discusses
change such as corporate mergers and the managerial implications of the findings.
acquisitions, or major changes in geo-
graphic scope or competitive corporate LITERATURE REVIEW
strategy can partly explain the re-branding In order to understand the corporate re-
phenomenon (Muzellec et al., 2003). How- naming phenomenon in the emerging con-
ever, while these factors may tell one why text of corporate brands, the notion of cor-
re-branding occurs, they do not reveal the porate branding is first reviewed. The
extent to which corporate naming is con- differences between the corporate identity
sidered as a strategic marketing variable in and traditional brand perspectives on
its own right, or whether it is merely naming are then highlighted in order to
viewed as an administrative expediency. underline the challenges for corporate
An additional point of interest, therefore, is brand naming.
to investigate the marketing role, aim and
features of newly adopted names. Branding the Corporate Identity
Studies pertaining to this area of research There are many perspectives on corporate
have focused on the brand naming process branding in the literature (eg Schultz and
(Kohli and Labahn, 1997), on brand name de Chernatony, 2002; Balmer and Greyser,
semantics and symbolism (Collins, 1977; 2003). Corporate brands can be seen as
Robertson, 1989; Klink, 2001) and on the communications, vision, identity, culture,
types of associations evoked by new names position, promise, image, or covenant
(Kohli and Hemnes, 1995; Delattre, 2002; (Dunnion and Knox, 2004). However, two
Glynn and Abzug, 2002). These studies are broad approaches may be identified: one is
either concerned with traditional (product) centered on the organization and the pro-
brand naming strategies and their impact motion of internal values as well as culture
on customers’ imagery or corporate name and vision (Hatch and Schultz, 2003; Ind,
patterns within industries. Yet, corporate 2003; Urde, 2003); the other focuses on the
branding goes beyond traditional brand external audience and the marketing of the
theory and differs from corporate identity brand (King, 1991; Keller, 2000; Aaker,
(Balmer and Gray, 2003). In this paper, the 2004). This might be because the concept
two perspectives are brought together to of corporate brand is at the crossroads
provide a broad review of the corporate between the idea of brand and the notion
re-naming phenomenon. The paper pro- of corporate identity.
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3. Muzellec
Corporate identity refers to an organiza- Brand Names versus Corporate Names
tion’s unique features, the way in which an Defining a brand as ‘a name, term, symbol,
organization reveals its values and strategy design or a combination of them’, implies
through communication, behavior and that the name forms the essence of the
symbolism (Leuthesser and Kohli, 1997; brand concept (Aaker, 1991). The name is
van Riel and Balmer, 1997). In other a critical, core sign of the brand, the ‘basis
words, it is deeply rooted in the organiza- for awareness and communications effort’
tion persona and can be assimilated as a (Aaker, 1991: 187). Since the name can
‘statement of central character’ (Albert and bring inherent strength to a brand (Kohli
Whetten, 1985). By contrast, a brand could and Labahn, 1997; Klink, 2001), brand
be seen as a more contrived item, essen- names need to be actively managed in
tially managed by the marketing depart- order to influence external stakeholders. In
ment. Indeed, a textbook definition of a conventional branding perspective, the
brand sees it as ‘a name, term, symbol, name is an instrument at the disposal of the
design or a combination of them intended marketing team, who can use symbolism
to identify goods or services of one seller in order to affect consumers’ perceptions of
or a group of sellers and to differentiate products or corporations’ attributes (Klink,
them from those of competitors’ (Kotler, 2001; Yorkston and Menon, 2004). Once
1992).2 Over the years, the brand con- launched, however, the new name becomes
cept has stretched beyond its concrete the psychological property of consumers
physical attributes to include intangible, (Lerman and Garbarino, 2002).
psychological aspects; the brand has Brand experts are still unsure about the
become ‘a collection of perceptions in the ideal properties of a brand name. Many
mind of the consumer’ (Restall and brand consultants believe that a brand
Gordon, 1993). name should be unusual enough to attract
Those perspectives are brought together the attention of the external audience, such
when corporate branding is considered as as Xerox and Yahoo! (Ries and Ries, 1999;
‘a systematically planned and implemented Godin, 2002). Yet, academic research indi-
process of creating and maintaining a cates that names descriptive or at least sug-
favorable image and consequently a favor- gestive of the product’s relevant attributes
able reputation for the company as a whole are more likely to be recalled and liked
by sending signals to all stakeholders and (Keller et al., 1998; Klink, 2001). In sum,
by managing behavior, communication, an actively managed brand name should be
and symbolism’ (Einwiller and Will, 2002). able to attract attention, provoke a high
Above all, manipulating a key symbol such level of recall and/or recognition and initi-
as the name of the corporation is about ate positive associations.
sending a powerful signal, that something Identity is about behavior as much as
about the corporation has changed (Dowl- appearance (Olins, 1979); hence the reci-
ing, 1996; Stuart and Muzellec, 2004). procal influence of attitudes (‘inner iden-
More importantly, with the old name tity’ — verbal school of thought) on the
being discarded, so are its associations. The outward show (‘projected identity’ —
new name gives the opportunity to build visual school of thought). Identity (and
up new associations. Yet depending on the image) may be crafted by the management
outlook taken on corporate branding, ie of marketing aesthetics, ie the corporate
brand or identity perspective, the mission name, logo, design, colour, font etc (Mar-
proposed for the new name could vary gulies, 1977; Schmitt and Simonson, 1997).
significantly. Because the name is only a single, although
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4. What is in a Name Change?
quite visible element of the corporate visual are formed based on historical perfor-
identity system, it will not modify a cor- mance, organizational culture and employ-
poration’s appearance on its own (Margu- ees’ attitudes, rather than generated by a
lies, 1977; Melewar and Saunders, 2000). new name (Hatch and Schultz, 1997;
This suggests that a ‘name’ is less essential Stuart, 1999; Ind, 2003). This suggests that
to the constitution of associations in a cor- a traditional corporate name, be it the
porate identity context than in a brand name of the founder (Ford, Michelin etc)
context. A new name along with a new or the name of the place where the com-
visual identity can nevertheless help to pany was first set up (eg Evian, Raleigh),
create new associations as was done success- reflects the corporation’s history and iden-
fully, for example, with Lucent Technolo- tity better than a new name will ever be
gies, a spin-off of AT&T (Schmitt and able to do. The characteristics of both
Simonson, 1997). brand names and corporate names are sum-
Due to the importance of the behavioral marized in Table 1.
element of identity, the name is sometimes So far, corporate names have been stu-
seen as a trap that may catch the unwary died through their length, their descriptive
(Dowling, 1996; Balmer, 2001). Badly associations and their linguistic features
handled, a change of name might just (Kohli and Hemnes, 1995; Delattre, 2002).
widen the misalignment of the communi- Conclusions in both studies were identical:
cated identity with the actual one (Balmer new names were generally shorter, product
and Greyser, 2002; de Chernatony, 2002). and geographic associations were dropped,
The two schools of thought on identity are and many coined words were created.
therefore wary about the importance and Organizational behaviorists Glynn and
management of corporate names. The Abzug (2002) reviewed historical naming
visual or appearance school considers the patterns and found that corporate names
name as one single variable among many are influenced by a web of institutionalized
other elements of the corporate visual iden- practices. That is, organizations follow the
tity system (Melewar and Saunders, 2000). practices of other institutions from similar
The verbal or behavioral school of thought industries when it comes to adopting a
suggests that feelings towards a corporation new name.
Table 1: Differences Between Brand Names and Corporate Names
Brand name Corporate name
School of thought Branding Corporate identity
Importance in communication Central Secondary
mix
Primary audience Customers Employees, customers, financial
community
Level of distinctiveness High: Capacity to attract Low: Capacity to be accepted
attention by a wide audience. Must not
shock
Semantics Induce positive feelings in the Reflect ‘inner’ identity or
marketplace culture
Management Actively managed Inherited (unmanaged)
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5. Muzellec
Corporate Brand Naming Challenges bundle together a collective sense of pur-
Corporate branding goes further than the pose, while encompassing the unique com-
traditional branding and the identity per- bination of history, leadership, strategies
spectives. First, it surpasses product brand- and values, and being accepted by the
ing by ignoring product features and varied stakeholders. The difficulty of meet-
focusing on the underlying values and ing all these objectives simultaneously is
vision of the corporation (Hatch and self-evident and demonstrates the complex
Schultz, 2003; Urde, 2003). Secondly, cor- challenge involved in corporate re-brand-
porate branding goes beyond corporate ing.
identity by fusing the internal and external
dimensions of corporations (Balmer and Corporate Brand Name Taxonomy
Greyser, 2003). The branding of the cor- Brand consultancies usually employ taxo-
poration has several implications therefore nomies of some kind to discuss alternative
for newly created corporate (brand) names names. Common among those taxonomies
that must deal with a series of dichotomies are labels such as descriptive, suggestive or
and challenges. associative, and arbitrary or freestanding
The first challenge pertains to the time- names. Interbrand (2005), for instance,
frame. The corporate brand name must refers to descriptive, associative and free-
take into consideration the heritage of the standing names. A descriptive name
corporation but should also set a direction describes the product or service for which
for the future, and maybe create a sense of it is intended, eg Rent-A-Car. Associative
new departure, particularly following a (or suggestive) names evoke associations
reputation crisis or a merger. Related to implicitly or explicitly with product fea-
this initial problem is the issue of the tures (for instance, Jaguar brings associa-
degree of change a name can support. tions with elegance and aggressiveness) or,
Should continuity with the old name be in the case of corporate brands, with a set
favored or, on the contrary, should a of corporate values. Freestanding (or arbi-
totally new name be created signifying a trary) names have no link with the product
clear break from the past? or service that they refer to but might have
The second challenge concerns the target meaning of their own, eg Orange or Pen-
audience; a new name must be noticed by guin. In some cases, such names have no
external stakeholders but must not alienate intrinsic meaning at all, eg Kodak or
the internal audience. Likewise, the values Xsara, in which case they may be called
induced by the new name should reflect abstract. Turley and Moore (1995) have
the actual identity of the corporation but added two more categories of brand names
also appeal to the marketplace. As a result, in their study of service brands, ie person-
a corporate brand name has to be assigned based brands (patronymic name) and geo-
the mission to inspire and to carry the set graphic names. In the case of corporate
of values that define the corporation. brands, acronymic names historically con-
This leads to a related and final dichot- stitute another important category as the
omy; the choice between a corporate name success of IBM, GE or BP demonstrates.
that evokes attributes that are industry-spe- Collins (1977) examined the relationships
cific or one that induces universal values. If between sound and sense. He set up two
the distinguishing core attributes for corpo- opposing theories known as the ‘Juliet
rate brands are cohesion, uniqueness, principle’ and the ‘Joyce principle’. The
intangibility, complexity and responsibility ‘Juliet principle’ draws from the answer to
(Ind, 1998), a new corporate name must Shakespeare’s illustrious question: ‘What’s
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6. What is in a Name Change?
in a name? — That which we call a rose, constructed corporate brands.
by any other name would not smell as
sweet’. The principle states that the mean- METHODOLOGY
ing of a name is not determined by its A sample of 166 companies was chosen for
verbal form but by the associations that the exploratory research. Using the search
arise over time. The ‘Joyce principle’ states engine Power Search on the Financial
that the phonetics of a word symbolize its Times website (www.ft.com), one can
meaning. It is derived from James Joyce’s retrieve articles on companies having chan-
creation of hundreds of new words that ged their name. A search on ‘name
sound to the reader somewhat like what he changes’ from January 1, 2001 to January
meant them to denote. Accordingly, cor- 31, 2003 (a 25-month period) returned 314
porate names might be classified along a articles. Due to redundancies of articles
spectrum from totally descriptive to totally and/or companies, this number was
freestanding, as shown in Table 2. reduced to 116 when it came to identifying
This review of the literature compares companies. Another 50 examples of re-
the differences between the characteristics branded companies were found via other
of brand names as informed by branding secondary sources (newspapers, websites,
theory and the properties of corporate advertisements) and were added to reach a
names as implied by the corporate identity critical sample size. Old and new names
literature. This reveals a series of challenges were classified according to their name
for corporate brand naming which has type (descriptive, geographic, patronymic,
been analysed by reviewing a database of acronym, associative, freestanding). The
166 re-named companies. Two main first four categories were easily assigned
aspects of name change were under consid- but distinguishing between associative and
eration. The type and level of name change freestanding names proved to be a more
provide indications as to whether the heri- difficult exercise. Names were classified as
tage of the corporation is taken into con- associative when an etymological study
sideration in the new name. The meaning provided some meaning and/or a plausible
and connotations evoked by new corporate name explanation was found on the com-
names, particularly those derived from pany’s website; otherwise, names were
Latin, were also considered to determine classified as freestanding. To reduce biased
whether new names are shaped to appeal interpretation, two independent readers
to the marketplace or to the internal audi- reviewed the categorization afterwards
ence; and whether they strongly differenti- and pointed out potential disagreements.
ate the company or are embodied in an Consequently, 15 names were reclassified.
industry-specific isomorphism. More This approach allowed further investiga-
importantly, the etymology of new corpo- tion and categorization of the associative
rate names can reveal the essence of newly names.
Table 2: Types of Corporate Brand Names
From the most ? ? ? ? to the most
descriptive abstract
Descriptive Geographic Patronymic Acronymic Associative Freestanding
names names names names names names
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7. Muzellec
Replicating Delattre’s methodology the theme brought out by new corporate
(2002), the changes were also divided into brand names.
two levels: Level 1 comprises names that
display permanence or continuity. Perma- RESULTS
nence is reflected in a change of spelling
(eg from Ebookers.com to Ebookers). Review of the Database
Continuity in the naming patterns refers to
a combinative change in which the system Type of name and type of change
is relatively unchanged; this includes sim- The review of the database revealed that
plification, name lengthening, initialization, previous names were predominantly
or a combinative modification (eg from descriptive (31.8 per cent) or person-based
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter to Morgan (24 per cent). Acronymic (14 per cent) and
Stanley or from S.J. Berwin & Co to geographic names (6.9 per cent) also feature
S.J.B.). Level 2 refers to names that have quite strongly among the old names. Free-
been created from scratch and which have standing and associative names represent 15
no commonalities with the previous name per cent and 8 per cent, respectively, of the
(eg from Andersen Consulting to Accent- old names. By contrast, the new names tend
ure). to be more abstract. More than 60 per cent
Since several business articles have of them are either freestanding (32.5 per
suggested that numerous companies adopt cent) or associative (32.5 per cent). Descrip-
Latin-coined words when they change tive names account for only 18 per cent and
their names (Dickson, 2002; Kella geographic names are down to 1.2 per cent.
way, 2002; Lamont, 2003), a category The data support the supposition that
including Latin or Latin-based names was corporations are moving along the spec-
created. trum from highly descriptive names to
Finally a semantic analysis of associative highly conceptual names as demonstrated
names was carried out in order to reveal by the graph in Figure 1.
Table 3: Name Types
Old name New name
Name type Frequency (%) Frequency (%)
Acronym 24 13.87 13 7.83
Associative 14 8.09 54 32.53
Descriptive 55 31.79 30 18.07
Freestanding 26 15.03 54 32.53
Geographic 12 6.93 2 1.20
Person-based 42 24.28 13 7.83
Total 173* 100.00 166 100.00
*The total number of old names is greater than the total of the re-branded companies because in
the case of a merger and when the two previous names belong to a different name category; the
names of both companies have been included.
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8. What is in a Name Change?
Figure 1: Evolution of corporate names
35
30
25
20 Old name
15 New name
10
5
0
As nym
e
so tive
ng
d
Ac ic
iv
se
h
di
at
ap
ip
ba
ro
an
ci
cr
gr
n-
so
st
es
eo
ee
D
G
r
Fr
Pe
Level of name change origin. Table 3 combines Latin or Greek
In total, 31 name changes (18.7 per cent) names, names derived from Latin and
displaying permanence or continuity were names attributed to Latin.
classified as Level 1. A total of 135 new
corporate names (81.3 per cent) showed no Etymological analysis of newly created
similarities with the previous name (Level associative names
2 change). The meaning of the associative names is
now investigated. Corporate websites were
Latin and Greek connotations visited in search of an explanation for the
A total of 34 per cent (47 names) of the choice of a new name. Only 33 companies
names that had changed dramatically actually provided any explanation of their
(Level 2) did so to become Latin or Greek new name on their website. For 21 cor-
in sound or in derivation. It is difficult to porations, the name meaning was revealed
define what makes a word sound Latin. through an etymological approach particu-
The ‘Latinity’ of a name is often suggested larly in the case of Latin and Greek names.
through its ending, for instance ‘a’, ‘i’, ‘is’, Table 5 provides some examples of the
‘ys’ and ‘us’ are Latin or imply a Latin explanations supplied by the companies
Table 4: Latin and Greek Coined Names
End with the letter ‘a’ Altria, Aga, Areva, Avaya, Aviva, Capitalia, Centrica,
Consignia, Dexia, Encana, Glambia, Izodia, Kelda,
Olimpia, Permira, Ramada, Sonera, Syngenta, Zeneca,
Xansa
End with ‘i’, ‘is’ and ‘ys’ Acambis, Acordis, Altadis, Aventis, Elementis, Enodis,
Invensys, Marconi, Misys, Novartis, Vernalis, Vivendi
End with ‘us’ Chorus, Corus, Lorus, Mobius, Thus, Rubus
Other Accenture, Agilent, Agere, Diageo, Lumen, Lucent,
Thales, Visteon, Verizon
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9. Muzellec
Table 5: Meaning and Wishful Meaning of Brand Name
Name Meaning Source*
Accenture ‘Today we are re-named, redefined and reborn. The www.accenture.com
Accenture name connotes putting an ‘accent on the future’
Agilent Derived from the word ‘agile’, which means nimble and Etymology
well-coordinated
Altria ‘The name ‘‘Altria’’ derives from the Latin word www.altria.com
‘‘altus’’, meaning high. It connotes an enterprise that aims
for peak performance and constant improvement’
Aventis From avere (avens, aventis), which means ‘desiring www.aventis.com/
intensely’ or willing, with pleasure; eager etymology
Aviva ‘The Aviva name tested positively in consumer www.aviva.com
research around the world, bringing with it
associations of life, vitality and living well’
BearingPoint ‘Set direction, gain access to the right information, www.bearingpoint.com
transfer knowledge, and achieve results for their
long-term success’
Centrica ‘The name Centrica was selected because of its ease www.centrica.com
of use internationally. In many languages the word
Centrica is meaningless and therefore cannot conflict
with overseas language translations’{
Diageo ‘The word Diageo comes from the Latin word for ‘‘day’’ www.diageo.co.uk
and the Greek word for ‘‘world’’ or ‘‘every day, everywhere’’
Enodis Derived from Latin and means ‘solutions’ Etymology
Exelon ‘Exelon stands for experience and excellence, and www.exelon.com
that’s what the new company will be all about’
Kforce ‘In 1999, the company changed its name to Kforce, www.kforce.com
an abbreviation for Knowledgeforce, with the ‘‘K’’
representing knowledge, (. . .) and the ‘‘force’’ signifies the
knowledgeable team of people with a clear focus and
commitment to the goal’
Lucent Marked by ‘clarity’ or ‘glowing with light’ www.lucent.com
Novartis Novartis comes from the Latin term novae artes, www.novartis.com
which means ‘new arts’ or ‘new skills’
Permira Permira, a Latin word meaning ‘very surprising, www.permira.com
very different’
Thales Name of ancient Greek mathematician Etymology
Verizon Derived from the combination of ‘veritas’, which means Etymology
truth in Latin, and ‘horizon’
Vernalis Pertaining to spring; used to describe plants for Etymology
instance Adonis Vernalis
Visteon ‘Coined from the words visionary and eon, Visteon is of www.visteon.com
Latin derivation and therefore recognisable in many
languages’
Vivendi Latin gerundive, means ‘vivacity’ and ‘mobility’ Etymology
Xansa ‘The name is easy to say and read in all major market www.xansa.com
places and has clear phonetic links with ‘‘answer’’. The
other inspiration has been the Sanskrit word ‘‘sanskar’’,
which, among many meanings, also refers to culture and
values which are internalized from past experience and
determine future action’
*Websites were accessed between January 2003 and October 2003. {Although the name is clearly
derived from ‘centre’, it was classified as freestanding due to this explanation.
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10. What is in a Name Change?
themselves or found through an etymolo- combining synonymous and similar terms.
gical approach. For instance, agreement is synonymous
Some key ideas emerged as central to the with union and accord; high is synon-
meaning of those new names. In order to ymous with superior, which is synon-
explore those ideas, a list of derived mean- ymous with excellent and advanced, which
ings was established through an etymologi- is similar to innovative, which is similar to
cal study of the corporate names, ie either new. Ambition is related to dream, vision
based on the proposed ‘etymology’ pro- and will, which then connects with force
vided on the corporation’s website or based and strength. Experience is synonymous
on the researcher’s own use of French, with knowledge and skill, which is also
English and Latin dictionaries. The initial similar to competence. Thanks to this tech-
investigation provided a list of 37 key- nique, a map of derived values was con-
words reflecting the ideas, concepts or structed, as shown in Figure 2.
values induced by the 54 associative brand Five clusters of values were then identi-
names, shown below in Table 6. fied: unity, life, performance, competence
The second step involved clustering and vision. In order to visualize how
these keywords into general themes by organizational names fit back into this map
Table 6: Keywords Implied by New Corporate Names
accord being energy high lively strength
advanced central excellence important new superior
agile competence experience innovative oxygen unique
agreement direction force intelligence skill unity
ambition dream future knowledge solution vision
answer drive guidance light spring vivacity
will
Figure 2: The values underlying corporate names
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11. Muzellec
Figure 3: Corporate names and corporate values
of values, they were placed back in a simi- of Nomen, a leading naming agency, cred-
lar framework (Figure 3). Fourteen associa- ited with the creation of famous new cor-
tive or suggestive names were excluded porate names such as Wanadoo, Vivendi
from this map because they did not suggest and Thales. The following section inte-
values or ideas but were associated with grates their reactions.
their respective industry (eg Capitalia, The literature review indicated that if
Omnicom, Sonera, Liberty Media) and/or corporate brand naming was to go beyond
their country of origin (eg Swiss, Eircom). corporate identity and traditional branding,
Essentially, corporations were moving it would need to overcome a series of
along the spectrum from highly descriptive dilemmas. The following summarizes the
names to more conceptual names. Among researcher’s analysis and indicates how cor-
those, associative names display a great porations elude the corporate naming pre-
level of similarity both in sound (use of dicament.
Latin terminology) and in symbolism (clus-
ter of five ‘common’ values). A New Corporate Name for Tomorrow’s
Corporate Brand
DISCUSSIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS: The types of corporate new names suggest
WHAT IS IN A CORPORATE BRAND that corporations are geared towards the
NAME? future, disregarding their roots by drop-
In order to confront corporate brand name ping the name of the founder of the com-
inventors with these initial findings and to pany, the place where it was first set up
generate discussion, two brand naming and the sector of industry from which it
specialists were consulted. Olivier Auroy is emerged. The evolution from industry
the European brand name specialist at association to non-figurative association
Landor Associates, an internationally reflects the ambition of companies to put
recognized branding and design consul- forward values rather than relying on his-
tancy. Marcel Botton, CEO and founder torical attributes.
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12. What is in a Name Change?
In addition, according to brand specia- A New Corporate Name to Resonate
lists, naming decisions are often made by with all Corporate Brand Audiences
top management. As a result, there is an The process used to select the best name for
emphasis on vision and future; indeed a corporation may also explain some simi-
many corporations such as Visteon, Veri- larities between the new corporate names.
zon, Accenture and BearingPoint have Names are not selected based on their sal-
adopted names that suggest the idea of ience but on their capacity to be accepted
vision. If corporate brand management is a by a wide audience (Kohli and Labahn,
dynamic process that involves continuous 1997). As a result, a dull name might be
adjustments between vision, culture and more acceptable than an eccentric one.
peoples’ images (Hatch and Schultz 2003),
preferring one element at the expense of ‘The name that is selected in the end —
the other might become problematic. which is not always the one that we
recommended — is the result of a compro-
A New Corporate Name for a Global mise reached in a corporate committee.
Corporate Brand Everybody has an idea about what consti-
The large number of names that sound alike tutes a good name; eventually, it ends up
(Accambis, Altadis, Altria, Aventis, Aviva, with what I would call an ‘‘idiominys’’3
etc.) suggests that names were selected on (An ‘‘ignominious’’ Latin-coined word
their ability to be widely accepted by the for ‘‘idiot’’, ‘‘idiom’’ and ‘‘mini’’). The
lowest common denominator in the mar- least audacious option wins!’. (Auray,
ketplace. As explained by brand naming personal interview, 06/02/2004).
specialists, Latin is the common denomina-
tor of all European languages, including A New Corporate Name to Conform with
English, which is increasingly used as the Prevalent Practices
international business language: The natural apprehension towards novelty
and the common inclination to repeat what
‘Ok, so you think that all those names seems to have worked elsewhere constitutes
sound Latin because of the suffix ‘‘is’’; so a related explanation. Corporations con-
let’s take Altadis, (the Hispano-French form to prevalent practices in their industry
tobacco company) for example, and the and create names that follow institutiona-
core word ‘‘Altad’’: Altade, with a lized models that suggest category member-
voiceless ‘‘e’’, it’s necessarily French; ship (Glynn and Abzug, 2002). Just like ‘oo’
otherwise it’s Italian, Altadou, it’s also became the distinctive feature of internet
French. Altada, Altadi, Altado, it’s Italian. brand names (Yahoo, Google, Kelkoo,
Altadas, Altada, it’s Spanish. Altadu, it’s Wanadoo etc), Latin-coined names may be
Romanian. Altady, Altadey it’s English. becoming the common feature of newly
Altader, Altaden, it’s German. Altadis, it’s created corporate brands. Since ‘Lucent,
more international . . . However, for the Thales, Vivendi’ have arguably reached
record, Altadis, it’s Alliance, Tabac and high levels of awareness, it was believed that
Distribution.’ (Bottom, personal followers like ‘Aventis, Aviva and Elemen-
interview, 06/02/2004). tis’ would reach the same level of visibility
with similar names.
The similarities in sound are due to a belief
that an international corporation must A New Corporate Name to Induce
not bear a name denoting its country of Universal Corporate Brand Values
origin. To initiate positive associations, brand
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13. Muzellec
names suggesting key values are being poration (Ind, 1998; Einwiller and Will,
chosen. The semantic analysis revealed five 2002). The collection of perceptions that
summary values that occur frequently: per- defines a brand can be intrinsically influ-
formance, competence, unity, vision and enced by the semantics of the name (Klink,
liveliness. The extent to which a name 2001). Three options are available to man-
actually succeeds in inducing positive agers when it comes to choosing the name
associations is beyond the scope of the pre- of the corporate brand.
sent research. A review of articles on the The first option is to keep the current
re-naming of CGNU (Aviva), Scottish name of the corporation. Just like most
Power (Thus) and KPMG Consulting brands were product names before they
(BearingPoint), however, can certainly became brands, corporate names can be
help managers to identify the potential pit- transformed into corporate brands without
falls of tampering with established names, being modified or with little modification.
at least in terms of public relations (Brier- For instance, the name Banco Bilbao Viz-
ley, 2002; Dickson, 2002; Kellaway, 2002). caya Argentaria (BBVA) went from being
Additionally, the fact that the underly- a ‘simple instrument of recognition’ to
ing meaning of newly created corporate being assimilated to an explicit brand
names can be narrowed down to five prin- experience (Alloza et al., 2004).
ciples suggests convergence rather than dif- The second option is to use the Joyce
ferentiation. Surely, most companies want principle to define the organization. The
to perform well, to be coherent and to dis- role of influencing stakeholders’ percep-
play some level of competency in their tions could very well be assumed by
respective fields. They most likely want to descriptive and suggestive corporate brand
be seen as lively as well. Indeed, a survey names. A descriptive or suggestive name
conducted by the American Management can infer what the corporation does (indus-
Association (2002) revealed that profitabil- try-related attributes) or what it stands for
ity, innovation and ‘have fun’ were among (business values/culture attributes).
the most cited values. Aviva for example is Descriptive names displayed in the FT
associated with ‘vitality and living well’, database often described the organizations’
but can Aviva ‘own’ — to paraphrase Ries activity, for example, Ebookers, ITV Digi-
and Trout (2001) — the terms ‘vitality and tal, EasyInternetCafe and Nationwide
living well’? It is difficult to understand Accident Repair Services, but never
what constitutes the distinguishing features depicted a feature of the corporation, ie
of such companies. All those names seem there was no corporation with a name such
to be interchangeable. Could Altria be a as Greatcorp, SuperServ, or Fast&Reliable.
consulting firm company, Aviva a food Descriptive names are diminishing in
and tobacco holding and BearingPoint an popularity, essentially because they offer
insurance group — probably. the lowest level of protection in terms of
trade mark (Davies, 2002). A suggestive
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: name such as Capitalia (ex-Banca di
CREATING A NAME TO CAPTURE THE Roma) may also succeed in representing
CORPORATE BRAND ESSENCE the corporation’s sector of activity.
Developing a corporate brand is about Expressing what the company ‘stands
defining the organization in a way that is for’ is done through the use of associative
unique and distinctive. The goal of corpo- brand names that refer to the company’s
rate branding is indeed primarily to create way of doing business or, in other words,
a favorable image and differentiate the cor- its business culture. Corporate brands can
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14. What is in a Name Change?
be defined as internal meanings formed existing words that are easily remembered
within the organizational culture (Berg- but applied in a new context. For example,
strom et al., 2002; de Chernatony, 2002). a colour or a fruit like Orange is applied to
According to the ‘Joyce principle’, names the context of a telecommunications com-
can carry intrinsically positive values that pany. This strategy presents some advan-
provide the basis for a corporate communi- tages. Starting from a clean sheet might
cation programme which will reinforce give corporations the opportunity to build
initial beneficial associations. The name an ad hoc identity and create differentiation.
Altria, which suggests ‘an enterprise that If identity is an abstract concept (Czar-
aims for peak performance and constant niawska, 2000), then a name should be able
improvement’4 is typical of this category. to carry the fashionable values that domi-
When the corporate brand is supposed to nate at a certain time and place, ie a green
resonate to a wide audience, it becomes company or a fun company.
more difficult to find values that appeal to An ‘empty vessel’ name, free of intrinsic
all kinds of stakeholders. It is interesting to associations, combined with thematic cor-
note that many names suggesting perfor- porate branding campaigns allows some
mance such as Altria, Altadis or Excellon variability in the positioning of the cor-
are being promoted mainly to investors. poration. For instance, today ‘Orange, an
These corporate brands do not deal directly innovative company’; tomorrow, ‘Orange,
with consumers; they either hide behind a reliable partner’. The only thing Orange
their brand portfolio or are solely engaged might find difficult to claim is ‘Orange, a
in BtoB relationships. Corporate brands green enterprise’! Unfortunately, since
suggesting the idea of life such as Aviva, ‘empty vessel’ names are meaningless, they
O2 or Vivendi are more exposed to consu- do not necessarily provide the company
mers and are being communicated through with a credible story to tell. The conse-
mass media. For many corporate brands, quences in terms of acceptance levels can
however, it seems difficult to determine be dramatic, particularly among staff.
who is their primary audience. As seen ear- ‘Monday’, the briefly adopted name of
lier, the cornelian choice between differen- PWC Consulting, is a freestanding name.
tiation and acceptance among a variety of A public relations exercise was supposed to
stakeholders has led many corporations to explain that Monday stood for ‘fresh think-
articulate universal values in a universal ing, doughnuts and hot coffee’. Employees
manner. Applying the Joyce principle and other stakeholders, however, started to
might sometimes be too constraining associate ‘Monday’ with less favorable
because it forces corporations to induce although quite amusing images:
associations within a restrictive framework.
Initiating favorable associations, how- ‘The word on the street is that the PWC
ever, is only one of the two main goals of board called their creatives last Friday,
corporate brand naming. An equally cru- ‘‘Have you come up with a name yet?’’,
cial aspect of corporate branding is to dif- they asked, ‘‘Probably Monday’’, said
ferentiate the corporation in a crowded their contact’
marketplace. This might be better per-
formed with names based on the ‘Juliet or
principle’. This third option does not
necessarily mean employing newly created, ‘A quick straw poll in the office reveals
abstract, meaningless words such as Kelda that most peoples’ opinion is not ‘‘a fresh
or Zeneca. It may also include the use of start, a positive attitude’’, but ‘‘I hate
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Table 7: Corporate Brand Naming Options
Same name Names based on the Names based on the ‘Juliet
‘Joyce principle’ principle’
Main Focus on Focus on values such as: Ability to focus on anything
characteristics heritage Life
Vision
Performance
Unity
Competence
Disadvantages Stuck with Limited range of values that No story to tell. May
past negative may not equally appeal to all alienate internal stakeholders
associations stakeholders
Advantages Acceptance, Induce positive attributes Allow for greater variability
recognition, in positioning
equity
Monday’’. But that fits with their opinion sistent with previous studies regarding cor-
of management consultants too’.5 porate name changes. The contribution
resides essentially in the analysis of the
The managerial implications are summar- meaning of associative names. It reveals
ized in the simplified template in Table 7. that the values promoted by new corpo-
The template provides managers with a rate brands revolve around the key notions
framework, which informs them of the of liveliness, competence, performance,
advantages and disadvantages of each unity and vision. By inducing the same
naming option. If the corporation can be types of values through the same medium
defined by something genuinely distinctive, (the use of Latin-coined names), however,
it might be worth looking for a descriptive newly created corporate brands fail to
or suggestive name that captures the create differentiation. The use of associative
uniqueness of the organization. Unfortu- names could well be too restrictive by
nately, this study reveals that newly created nature. Corporations might be better off
brand names often capture only the general choosing less sophisticated names whose
aspirations of any corporation, eg compe- associations can be shaped by a proficient
tence and performance. If managers want branding programme. A factor that should
their brand to achieve differentiation, they influence naming decisions is who is going
should avoid those five corporate brand to be the primary audience of the newly
cliches.
´ created corporate brand. As the anecdotal
evidence suggests that either associative or
CONCLUSION freestanding names can be successful, how-
As companies are becoming increasingly ever, this paper does not conclude that
aware of the importance of corporate some name types are more suitable than
reputation, they are managing their corpo- others. Evaluating what makes a corporate
rate names more actively and treating brand name successful could offer a direc-
them as corporate brands rather than tion for further research, unless one accepts
merely as trade names. This study is con- the proposition that thriving brand names
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16. What is in a Name Change?
are the result of fine poetry rather than Critique of Corporate Communications, Holt,
obedient science. Rinehart and Winston Ltd, Eastbourne, UK.
Brierley, S. (2002) ‘The cult of the manager and the
rise of stupidity’, Marketing Week, 15 August, 23.
NOTES Brown, T.J. and Dacin, P.A. (1997) ‘The company
1 Source: Enterprise IG 2002, 2003, 2004. and the product: Corporate associations and
2 This definition, which is often used, was first consumer product responses’, Journal of Marketing,
proposed in 1960 by the American Marketing 61(1), 68–84.
Association. Collins, L. (1977) ‘A name to conjure with’,
3 Originally in French, ‘compromots’, ie a compro- European Journal of Marketing, 11(5), 339–363.
mise on words. Czarniawska, B. (2000) ‘Identity lost or identity
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altria.com/about_altria/01_01_corpidenchange.asp postmodern view of identity in social science and
(accessed September 10, 2003). fiction’, in Schultz, M., Hatch, M.J. and Larsen,
5 Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/ M.H. (eds) The Expressive Organization: Linking
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