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"What’s in a name?” Shakespeare’s
Juliet once asked. Very little, she thought. However, top
executives at Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Disney, and Mercedes might
beg to differ. Their company names are in the top ten of Interbrand’s
annual ranking of the world’s leading brand names.
Creating, changing, maintaining, and protecting a name is
no simple matter. Naming involves many choices. Indeed, company
names have the potential to be more than merely descriptive
or functional. A name can signify a rich heritage or a powerful
identity. It can suggest greater meaning, purpose, and aspirations
that transcend the products and services they offer. A good
name is like gold, as the proverb goes. To be sure, a name
in and of itself may not always have intrinsic meaning. In
such cases, we imbue the name with meaning based on perception
and experience. Indeed, some names become so ubiquitous they
become synonymous with a generic product – think of
Kleenex or “to Xerox.” Naming can also cause unintentional
embarrassment, particularly in the international arena, where
translated or transliterated names may have unintended meanings
in other languages.
Large companies routinely spend hundreds of thousands of
dollars to develop a new name or to change their name. They
are aided by market research and design firms that specialize
in the creation, test, and implementation of corporate names
and logos. Once a name is created, companies turn to law firms
who specialize in protecting names from trademark abuse and
misuse. With over 290,000 federal trademark applications for
new names filed in 2000, naming has become an industry in
its own right.
There are many approaches to corporate naming. Historically,
in pre-industrial times, people were often named after their
trade – think of the Baker, the Miller, and the Smith.
In industrial times, the reverse occurred; businesses were
often named after their founders – think of JC Penny
or JP Morgan. Corporate naming patterns changed again as the
concept of multinational corporations developed. Even relatively
small companies chose bold names suggesting global reach –
think of the newly established International Business Machines
in 1924. In later decades, however, big was not viewed as
necessarily better, as consumers began to distrust large seemingly
faceless bureaucracies. Some companies responded by truncating
their names into acronyms – think of AT&T or NABISCO.
Other companies faced a new naming challenge caused by waves
of mergers and acquisitions. Some responded, albeit ungainly,
by including prior names in the new name – think of
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Discover & Company or PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
Others, hoping to connote new images and meanings used artificial
words and made up names – think of Unisys or Verizon.
Finally, a recent but mercifully short-lived naming trend
was to include dot.com at the end of every company name.
Change complicates the corporate naming scene. One study
found that mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures account
for 58% of name changes. The remaining 42% of name changes
are driven by marketing and other reasons. Some companies
decide to distance themselves from their corporate history
and use completely new names – think of Lucent Technologies
(formerly Bell Labs) or Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting).
Other name changes are intended to help customers forget prior
scandals or disasters, hoping that the name “makeover”
will connote a new message and meaning to clients –
think of AirTran Airways (formerly Value Jet Airline).
To be sure, name changing is not just a cosmetic or mechanical
exercise. Indeed, it can suggest a positive and life-changing
transformation. Nor is name changing just a new phenomenon.
Recall that in ancient times, Abram was renamed Abraham after
receiving the covenant from God; Jacob was renamed Israel
after wrestling with the Divine; and Saul was renamed Paul
after encountering God on the road to Damascus.
In 1999, we were faced with the question of “what’s
in a name” for our new organization. Our mission statement
is to “help leaders integrate the claims of their faith
with the demands of their work.” Should we call the
organization something self-explanatory, such as “the
center for integrating faith and work,” or something
pithier like “soul at work”? A professional marketing
and name researcher volunteered to give us guidance on our
choice of name. She tested a wide variety of names. At the
last moment, I asked her to test the name “The Avodah
Institute,” as well. She came back with a clear answer.
On no account should we use “Avodah,” as it is
hard to spell, awkward to pronounce, and worst of all, we’d
spend all of our time explaining it. She was absolutely right
on all three accounts. And precisely because of the last reason
– we’d spend all of our time explaining it –
we decided to call our organization The Avodah Institute.
Avodah is a Hebrew word found in the Bible. Avodah has multiple
meanings. In some verses the word means work, as in to work
in the field and to do common labor. In other verses, the
word means worship, as in to worship God. Taken together,
Avodah suggests that our work can be a form of worship where
we honor God and serve neighbor.
So what’s in a name? In some cases, perhaps very little.
It is a neutral factor that rises or falls on its record.
Yet in many cases, the name is everything. It signifies something
larger. It anchors us, guides us, and motivates us toward
greater things. The company name can be aspirational, reminding
us and telling the world who we are, why we exist, and who
we are trying to become. That’s what’s in a name.
By David W. Miller, President of The Avodah
Institute
Permission to copy or distribute may be granted
by contacting:
David W. Miller, The Avodah Institute, 240 Greenwood Drive,
Key Biscayne, FL 33149, USA.
Tel: 305-361-2267, DavidMiller@AvodahInstitute.com.
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