It comes as a surprise to many to see how many companies changed their names over the years. Even Google itself isn’t immune! Even more surprising, many of these businesses continue to enjoy a thriving customer base even with a significant shift in their entire branding strategy. Clearly, even a decision this significant could be the right one in some situations.
Choosing a new name and branding strategy for your business is not a decision to be made lightly. But for many companies, potentially including yours, there may come a time when changing your name and pressing forward with a new strategy is the right choice to make. But what is that time? And how exactly do you move forward with such a significant change to your brand identity? Let’s take a closer look.
Companies changing their names or branding strategy is hardly new. But before you follow in their footsteps, make sure you know why you’re doing it and how it will help you. Learn more about renaming and rebranding your business here. #ITVibes Click To Tweet
Why Your Business Name Might be Bad
While there are any number of reasons a business name may fall flat, a few common reasons companies have given for changing their name include:
- Their original name was too vague or too complicated for customers to remember.
- The original name didn’t capture (or no longer captures) the true purpose and focus of the company.
- The original name had implications the owners were unaware of at the time.
Why are you trying to rename your business? Make sure your reasoning will hold water and this isn’t just a case of being bored with the original name you chose.
Pro Tip: When you’re deciding on a name for your company, take the time to Google your potential name and see what others think of it. You don’t want to accidentally name your company after an offensive term in another language, after all!
Reputation Management via Name Changing
Sometimes, a company will try to reduce the damage done by a reputation crisis with a renaming and/or rebranding campaign. Depending on the nature of the reputation crisis, this strategy may pay off. However, a company that does this regularly is sure to raise suspicion from potential customers. After all, if you’ve renamed and revamped your business five times in the last ten years, customers will wonder if you’re hiding from poor reviews or bad business decisions in the past without actually improving anything. Be very careful when changing your name as part of a reputation management campaign.
How to Implement Your New Name
Depending on how big your company is, you’ll have to adapt your strategy to roll out your new name. But the most important thing to remember is to make sure your customers know you’re rebranding. Don’t keep the renaming a secret. Publicize the new name and give people time to get used to it before completely eliminating your old one. Your customers deserve to be informed, and of course, you don’t want to lose anyone over a case of mistaken identity!
Outside the marketing realm, make sure to inform the proper governmental bodies of your business’s name change as well. You could get in trouble for tax fraud if you don’t update all your paperwork and records.Â
Renaming & Rebranding Success
Changing a well-established company’s name and branding strategy is a significant decision that requires a lot of forethought, planning, and strategic implementation. But with everything done correctly, your name change could alter your business for the better in the future.
Connect with us to learn more about updating your brand and company name for improved marketing results.