Can a name change affect the marketing, positioning and awareness of a business or product? Here are some famous examples that illustrate the power of a name change:
Original Name |
Present Name |
|
|
Cosmair
|
L’Oréal | |
|
ZimRide
|
Lyft | |
|
Brad’s Drink
|
Pepsi Cola | |
|
Backrub
|
||
|
Software Development Labs
|
Oracle | |
|
AuctionWeb
|
EBay | |
|
Bridge Gate Computers
|
Compaq (on insistence of Ben Rosen, one of first investors, NameLab was called in) | |
|
AT&T GIS
|
NCR (back to their original name) | |
|
Brad’s Drink
|
Pepsi Cola | |
|
i586
|
Pentium | |
|
Anderson Consulting
|
Accenture (name change required by “divorce” – in hindsight magic after Anderson Accounting’s scandals) | |
|
Price Waterhouse Coopers
|
Bearing Point | |
|
Oak (Software) and Green before that!
|
Java | |
|
Tokyo Telecom. Engr. Corp.
|
Sony (when the product became more famous than the parent company) | |
|
World Communications
|
MCI (back to its original name) | |
|
Sound Around
|
Walkman | |
|
Cellular One (and others)
|
Cingular | |
|
Mosaic Systems
|
Netscape | |
|
Marafuku
|
Nintendo | |
|
Radar Oven
|
Microwave | |
|
Salton Cooker
|
George Foreman’s Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine. | |
|
Wards
|
Circuit City | |
|
Active Touch
|
Webex | |
|
DrivUrSelf
|
Hertz Rent-A-Car | |
|
The Mining Co.
|
About.com | |
|
International Harvester
|
Navistar | |
|
Tricord
(and before that Pepsi) |
Yum! Brands (holding co. for KFC, Taco Bell, Round Table Pizza, A&W, Long John Silver, etc.) | |
|
Blue Ribbon Sports
|
Nike | |
|
Stag Party
|
Playboy | |
|
Firebird
|
Firefox (browser) | |
|
FreeDiskSpace.com
|
MySpace.com | |
|
Confinity
|
Paypal | |
|
Peter’s Super Submarines
|
SUBWAY | |
|
Sound of Music
|
Best Buy | |
|
Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web
|
Yahoo | |
|
Il Giornale Coffee Company
|
Starbucks | |
|
Computing Tabulating Recording Company
|
International Business Machines – IBM | |
|
Datsun
|
Nissan | |
|
Quantum Computer Services
|
America Online | |
|
America Online
|
AOL | |
|
KW Transport
|
TNT Express | |
|
American Messenger Company
|
United Parcel Service (UPS) | |
|
dreft
|
Tide | |
|
Merchant’s Parcel Delivery
|
UPS United Parcel Service |
See also Celebrity and Hollywood Name changes.
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