Updated: 2021/10/16
Why change a company and brand name
There may be many reasons for the change of a company name - also called renaming. Often it's more than a single reason, but rather a combination of circumstances that makes a name change necessary.
When considering changing a company name, you need to answer the question: In terms of the potential benefits, is the name change going to be cost-effective? The fact that a CEO doesn't like the name anymore, or it sounds a bit old-fashioned, may not be sufficient reason for a major modification of the name.
A name change involves high administrative and communicative expenditure, which requires more than a simple change of business address and letterhead. The to-do list includes, for example:
- Notifying the relevant authorities and departments of the name change
- Updating all marketing materials, websites, social media profiles, etc.
- Not to forget business accounts, insurances, commercial register, trademark office etc.
- Announcement of the new name, with reasons, to employees, customers and business partners
- Application for trademark protection for the new name (if necessary)
- Registering new domains
It is clear that a name change is a complex issue and should therefore only be conducted if there is sufficient justification. What might the reasons be? Let's take a look at them!
Administrative reasons for a business name change
Mergers
In this case, it may make sense to keep parts of the old name. The "parent names" can be merged into a new name, or an acronym can be formed from the original names.
One example is the French conglomerate Thomson-CSF, which changed its name to Thales several years ago. Thales is an acronym consisting of the letter combinations TH for Thomson, AL for the then newly acquired companies Racal and Signaal, and ES for Electronic Systems. If you think of the philosopher and mathematician Thales of Miletus ("Know thyself!"), you are certainly not wrong. The new name was necessary for administrative reasons, but should also reflect a new corporate identity.
However, one does not necessarily have to stick to components of the old name(s): For example, the name Leonine which was created in 2019 for a merger of several Munich media companies, does not refer to the previous names, but to the connection to Bavaria or to the Bavarian heraldic animal (leonine = lion-like) as well as to the international orientation of the company.
No naming rights
It is common for unprofitable divisions of companies to be sold. However, the naming rights are not always sold as well. When this is the case, the division's products will need to be sold under a different name in the future.
It is often useful to create a transition phase in which both names are used simultaneously. During this time, the name change can be communicated to consumers. This was the case for the German dishwasher tablet Finish* (formerly Calgonit*).
Trademark problems
If a company uses a name for which it has no rights, the actual owners of the name may eventually issue a notification letter. The violation of trademark rights is usually unintentional. Most often, companies are not aware that their name, or a similar name, is already trademark-protected by a third party.
If a notification letter is received, the most frequent result is a forced change of name. When looking for a replacement name, make sure not to make the same mistake twice: check your ideas first through your own research (using e.g. Domain Name Check or Trademark Check), and make sure to get a specialist lawyer to confirm your name and even file a trademark application.
Especially when a formerly "small" brand grows and thus becomes bigger and better known, it can happen that a warning suddenly flutters into the house. This can result in an involuntary change of name. There are enough well-known examples to show how unpleasant and lengthy such a name dispute can be. For example, it recently became known that the VW subsidiary Bentley Motors had to sell its clothes under a different name because it lost a lawsuit against the company Bentley Clothing, which held earlier rights to the name. The lawsuit had already started in 1998 and almost ruined the company Bentley Clothing.
It can therefore not be said often enough: If a new name is found, it has to be checked for older name rights by research (e.g. with the tools Domain Check and Trademark Check) and finally by a specialized lawyer and if necessary registered as a trademark.
Name Check: How good is my company name?
Marketing reasons for a business name change
International standardization
Therefore, while structures are being unified, brand names are sometimes altered in countries where they carry different names. Usually, the most established name is chosen, which is often the original name of the brand.
Product name is better known than the company name
Sometimes a product is so successful that it is much better known than its manufacturer or the company that stands behind it. In certain situations, consumers don't know the company name, whereas everyone has heard of the product.
In this case, it is worthwhile thinking about a name change for the company. By renaming it after the product, the strong brand radiates back to the entire company. This happened for example with RIM* (Research in Motion) who changed their name to BlackBerry* in 2013.
Changed target audience
However, as a name change is a complex issue, it may interfere with a strong brand, or even destroy it. Adaptation of the target group is therefore often better done by changing the claim instead.
The Jägermeister brand shows that even products with old-fashioned names can be accepted by target audiences under 30 through a marketing makeover. Therefore, it is not always necessary to introduce a completely new name.
Renaming due to changed core products
The world is changing, the market is changing, and businesses also need to change to keep pace. In technological areas, it is therefore sometimes necessary to reflect changes in the product portfolio in the company name. This is especially the case with names that denote technical components or trends.
Floppy disks, CDs and DVDs are yesterday's news. You wouldn't want to carry forward these relics from the past in your name! If renaming the company is necessary, be careful not to make the same mistake again. A business called Rent-a-DVD should not be renamed Rent-a-BluRay. Get a more general term like Stories-on-Demand.
The company name just doesn't appeal
Of course, there will also be more mundane reasons for a name change, especially in owner-managed businesses: It may be that you simply don't like the name and therefore want to change it.
This is often the case when the initial search for a business name wasn't taken seriously enough and its importance underestimated. Not to worry, changing to a new name is tedious but it's manageable!
Often, there are other reasons for a new name. For example, the name of the film and event agency "EA Emotional", which was the result of a former youth project of the founder, was no longer considered appropriate. Because new company divisions were added and the company grew. With the new name Yuper, a fresh and young name was finally found, which at the same time expresses the quality and emotionality "super!" and the uniqueness through the word transformation.
Change your product or company name - Tips
It is easy to use the business name generators from NameRobot's Toolbox: the Fantasizer gives you unique, modern fantasy names and the Supplementer combines your keywords with great-sounding suffixes to create new names. If you want to keep old name components, Acronyms or Merger are your tools of choice. You should choose this approach if you anticipate that loyal customers or employees might react with skepticism to your name change.
Once numerous ideas have been found, these must of course also be able to withstand a trademark screening.
If you want to save yourself the trouble and simply want to have names developed and tested by professionals, you can hire a professional naming agency for the renaming.
Ready for a new name? We have summarized how you can prepare the name change of your company or product.
