If you're an insurance company whose name hasn't changed in 30 years, customers may think of you as "the company my dad used" - as in a paragon of financial stability and
tradition. If you're a tech firm that manufactures software for insurance companies, and your name hasn't changed in 30 years, clients may think of you as "the company my dad
used" - as in a bunch of guys in plaid pants, perched in front of a mainframe.
Which explains why insurance software developer Policy Management Systems Corp. (PMSC) two weeks ago announced plans to change its name to Mynd. In May the Columbia, S.C.-
based firm will ditch its birth name - and 11 syllables - for the more cerebral, dotcom-friendly moniker. (Yes, they own the URL, and they have a funky new logo to boot.)
"The [original] PMSC name comes from a piece of software our president developed 30 years ago," says spokesman Jim Beasley. "While we're still focusing on insurance and
related financial services, today we've diversified. We're now into mortgage banking and ecommerce. We are now so much more than the [old] name says."
Isn't everybody. On the road to prosperity, companies are outgrowing their names at a record pace in the wake of technological advances, globalization, mergers, spin-offs and
new ventures. "The most common reason for a name change today is that the nature of the business has so fundamentally changed that it's time to either remove a limiting
descriptor or change the description entirely" says Tony Spaeth, a brand identity consultant in Rye, N.Y., whose past clients include Eastman Chemical and Pfizer.
Bring it On
Oh yes, the name game is a PR responsibility - on both the front and back ends. "PR provides a window into the company as well as a window looking out," says Tom Martin,
senior VP and director, corporate relations for ITT Industries in White Plains, N.Y. "If investors or potential employees or customers are saying, 'I don't understand [what your
company stands for]' then it becomes the corporate communicator's role to lead that charge."
In the case of PMSC, communications execs were the first to spot weaknesses in the company's aging identity. "We had grown through acquisitions, but allowed each corporation to
keep its culture and name," says Charlie Conway, director of corporate communications and advertising. "This made it impossible for us to [communicate] on a global scale. People
were confused about who we were."
Brand of One
Of course, there are few rules when it comes to coining a nomenclature strategy that breaks the proverbial mold. Choosing the right name, "is one of the most fundamental,
soul-searching processes a company can engage in," Spaeth says. Sometimes completely new identities (such as Mynd) emerge. Other times, the best branding solution involves
keeping the best of what you've got.
This was the case with Federal Express, which, in 1995, officially adopted its colloquial nickname "FedEx." Martin oversaw the PR campaign for the FedEx branding shift before
he joined ITT Industries as senior VP/director, corporate relations in 1996. At the time, parent company ITT Corp. - a massive conglomerate of hotels, casinos, sports
franchises, insurance and manufacturing entities - had just split into three parts. Martin's team was charged with evaluating whether the newly separated manufacturing company
should keep its 75-year-old name. "Research showed that more than 90 percent of people knew the name, so we decided it would be better to keep [it] and build a new identity
around it," he says.
But this was no easy prescription, considering the manufacturing body still housed products ranging from defense machinery, to fluid technology to electrical connectors.
Instead of scrapping the ITT acronym, the company homed in on the common link among its products: precision engineering.
In the end, ITT Industries added the tagline, "Engineered for life," and put the phrase in motion. The business cards of CEO Travis Engen (an engineer by trade) were
reprinted to read, "Aeronautical Engineer, Chairman, President and CEO." After launching its new identity with fanfare during a bell-ringing ceremony at the New York Stock
Exchange, the company, uh, engineered a satellite media tour featuring not only Engen, but other engineers on staff. "We really made our engineers the heroes of this whole
process," Martin says. "They were featured in our launch ads. They were on the podium. Their stories are on our Web site. It's a way of both talking about our employees and
making them a focal point of our identity."
Common Threads
If there is one consistency among name-changing corporations, it's a near-unanimous vote to seek outside counsel for assistance with research, strategy, nomenclature systems
and graphic standards - despite the price tag, which can run anywhere from $10,000 to $5 million. "No matter what its size, it's very unusual for a company to have the specific
expertise [in-house] that a branding consultant brings to the equation," says Martin, whose firm turned to Landor Associates in repackaging the ITT brand. "It's about much more
than designing a logo or picking a name [out of a hat]."
Landor helped shepherd ITT's initial research, strategy and the "101 details" of implementation, Martin says. The firm even provided an on-site consultant for several months
following the brand launch to act as a bridge between the company's field units and headquarters.
PMSC hired Duffy Design New York for guidance in identifying its core strengths and articulating them, both verbally and graphically. "Our final decision [to be called Mynd]
was heavily driven by research," Conway says. "We spoke to employees, clients, prospects, analysts and community leaders to get their opinion of the company."
In the end, interviews showed that the software maker was well-respected in the insurance industry. "We captured that vision and began looking at ourselves as a knowledge
center," Conway says. "Knowledge was what separated us from our competition." Knowledge translated into brainpower, which translated into the name Mynd.
Brand-oriented strategies may have risen to power in the packaged goods arena, but today strong identities are just as critical for corporations as they are for individual
products and services. "The New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ aren't much different than shopping markets," Martin says. "People's decisions about what to buy are not just
driven by financial performance." Personality counts.
(Conway, 803/333-5348; Martin, 914/641-2157; Spaeth, 914/967-6018)
More Than A Mouthful ?
A fragmented brand image cannot be patched with the addition of a few strategically savvy words. "The rule of thumb is that if [your name] is over five syllables, it will be
truncated by users," says branding consultant Tony Spaeth. "People will shorten it, or [turn it into an acronymn]. You can either control that or you're at the mercy of
the marketplace to decide what your name will be." FedEx made out okay. The European company SAP wasn't so lucky.
How Do I Brand Thee?
The only way to go with the implementation of a new brand name (without breaking the bank) is in phases, says Tom Martin, SVP at ITT Industries. You don't have to trash all
of your existing packaging and signage on day one. Replace your core materials upfront and then plan to update peripherals as existing inventory runs out, or as old equipment
becomes outdated. It can be a long list...
Let Me Count The Ways...
- Letterhead
- Envelopes
- Mailing labels
- Business cards
- Fax and memo templates
- Invoices & forms
- Collateral & brochures
- Media/press kits
- Powerpoint presentations
- Product packaging
- Signage
- Trade show displays
- Web site graphics
- Advertising
- Fleet graphics
- Newsletters
- Automated voice recordings
- Promotional products
- Uniforms