October 19, 2018
Laurel Sutton, a Catchword co-founder, was quoted in a MarketPlace article about the renaming of government agencies by the Trump Administration President Donald Trump, who created a business out of licensing his name, recently tried his hand at branding something else: the North American Free Trade Agreement. The United States, Canada and Mexico struck a […]
October 20, 2016
In advance of their IPO, Snapchat is lopping off the “chat” part of their name. Among certain circles, this happened a while ago. For years, teens could be found sitting on the floor of the mall chained to an outlet declaiming, “Gotta check my snaps” or “Just sent you a snap” or “I can’t believe you […]
March 9, 2016
The gammadion cross is an ancient religious symbol that Hindus and Buddhists have considered sacred and auspicious since the second century B.C. A plus sign with its four legs bent at 90 degrees, the cross is known better by a different name–the swastika. With some pretty far-reaching marketing, Nazi Germany effectively destroyed any peaceful, auspicious associations with […]
October 7, 2015
In the wake of a long bout of family brand therapy, they just decided to abandon the family. Yes, after 3,000 name candidates and 1,200 focus group testers, ABC Family has arrived at its new name – Freeform. ABC Family has come a long way. It first launched in 1961 as the Christian Broadcasting Network, […]
September 25, 2015
Get off your meditation cushion because Zen is out. Well, a small piece of it anyway. Last week, payroll startup ZenPayroll changed its name to Gusto as it plans to move beyond payroll, into benefits such as health insurance and workers’ compensation. But don’t confuse your chakras, the unicorn-status, HR benefits company Zenefits is keeping […]
September 1, 2015
President Obama officially reinstated Denali as the primary name for the highest peak in North America. In several Native Alaskan dialects, Denali means “the tall one” or “big mountain.” The people who have lived in its shadow for thousands of years call the mountain Denali, and it is just to restore the traditional name. And […]
June 16, 2014
As a brand naming specialist who’s done product naming and company naming for hundreds of brands, it’s rare that a new brand name will surprise me. But when Booz & Company recently renamed itself Strategy& (as part of its acquisition by by Pricewaterhouse Coopers)—well, that was a new one. You read it right: Strategy&. The […]
November 15, 2013
Naming a new company is hard enough. Renaming it can be downright painful. (And expensive: the corporate rebranding of Andersen Consulting as Accenture, for example, cost an estimated $100 million.) So it’s not a decision to be undertaken lightly. A company needs to weigh whatever equity and good will their existing brand name has already […]
April 25, 2013
Quick: What do Gucci, Yves St. Laurent, Balenciaga, Puma and Bottega Venetta have in common? If you’ve been following the marketing news, you’ll know that they’re all subsidiaries of the French holding company formerly known as PPR (an initialism for Pinault-Printemps-Redoute), which was recently renamed Kering (pronounced “caring”). The rename was triggered when the company […]
February 13, 2013
We hope our piece on pet names through the ages has brought new inspiration and some old-fashioned class back to your pillow talk. But what if you’re just not satisfied with your significant other’s first name? Companies rename and rebrand themselves all the time. Using similar techniques, we’re confident you can do the same for […]