Changing your name or brand is an important decision

When is it right to change the name of your brand?  It is a big decision.

Social media has meant that we can all be better known by our own name which consequently becomes a more valued business asset.

A flurry of name changes have been recently taken place in Britain.  197 people changed their name by deedpoll in 2000, but 60,000 are expected to do the same in 2011.  Reasons for this include the fact that it is now a simpler and easier process, and immigration, debt or bankruptcy  may contribute to a wish for a change of perceived identity.  Many of the changes are for more light-hearted reasons. Miss Jelly St Tots or Ned Rocknroll may come to be seen as less strange choices if more people constantly make name changes in the future.

When would you change your business name? It can be a difficult decision because you can throw away all the recognition that has already built up, but if the name is not serving you it can be better to start again.  There are situations where a strategic name change can be to your advantage.

1.  When a better known individual in the same field has the same name.  If for example you have a book published but someone else has exactly the same name and your audience is likely to get confused, it could be a good idea to change it. I can think of one well-known entrepreneur who identified a different part of his first name in order to make his name unique.  A “pen name” has been a well-known device in the publishing industry for many years but is more related to privacy of identity.

2. If your name or business name means something offensive in any language.  Slang comes and goes and there may be times when it is simply advantageous to abandon a name which has become tainted with another meaning.  This includes in other languages.  There have been certain makes of car which have been renamed for certain markets.

3. If the original name is too long and complicated.  PriceWaterhouse Coopers was the fusion of Price Waterhouse and Coopers and Lybrand but became reinvented as PWC.  If you are a smaller company with less access to advertising and brand building budgets I would avoid initials and use keywords for SEO and memorability.

4. If you need a new logo and want a complete brand re-fresh.  Take time to involve your team, get feedback and make the changes slowly.  Change tends to be resisted at first, so the more that clients and your team are involved with the decision the more easily it will be accepted. You won’t get everyone to agree so be prepared for lively discussion – if not fights!

5. If the name seems out of step with your market.  Markets change and fashions come and go.  Sometimes an old-fashioned name is a valuable asset, sometimes it strangles the business.  It all depends on the market you are in.

6. If you are bored of the name I suggest you don’t change it.  Remember it can take the market some time to catch up, and you don’t want to waste all that goodwill or recognition. If you have a new sparky idea develop a product or service with the name.

7.  When you decide to change the name do so very clearly, and give lots of notice for all stakeholders.  It will be like a supertanker turning 360 degrees in the water. It can’t go fast but it can be deliberate and spend time on the change process. Change is more likely to be resisted where there is a takeover or merger but persistence and involvement of all parties will eventually win.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

As a marketer I am always interested in how events and people communicate their brand.  Quite apart from the training (which I will save for another post) I did have two overwhelming impressions even before the first speaker spoke the first word.  The list of speakers was announed on a video screen, and I watched in amazement as man after man was announced.

All the speakers were men.  Every single one.

Once I had got over that, I was intrigued by the one-liner underneath each picture.  In the vast majority of cases the speaker was presented as the expert in a particular aspect of internet marketing which was briefly described, followed by the word “guy”. So we had  the webinar guy.. the easy cash projects guy.. the lead generation guy etc.

What a nice easy word “guy” is.  It sounds warm and approachable but with a hint of ruggedness and reliability.  It is more relaxed than “man” and even “gentleman”.

Even if there had been female speakers wall to wall what is the equivalent modern word for women?  I don’t think there is one .  Which is why there is a whole slew of “divas” and “queens” and goddesses”.  There simply isn’t a relaxed word.   “Gal” or Girl is OK for someone younger, Chick can give the wrong impression, Lady is very formal, Woman sounds too dull.

C’mon guys ( I mean women / gals / you gorgeous ladies  what can we call ourselves?

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

A new look for twitter has just been launched which makes it easier to navigate and follow links.

You get a double page spread effect – rather like the Read mode in Word, which looks a little more relaxed on the page.

The interesting aspect of this for me was the video about the new twitter which I imagined was going to be about information on how to use it, and is actually an atmospheric branding piece.  Twitter positioned as cool rather than functional, shaking off its origins in geek-dom.

Plus a move away from the word “twitter” or the “t” logo instead focussing on the bird symbol as grey and iconic rather than cheeky and friendly.

Have a look here at the video if you haven’t seen it yet.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

How could a business owner benefit from the programme?

Mary herself comes across as very authentic and natural.  She doesn’t do consultant-speak, she is very unstuffy and wears cool funky clothes (I especially like the ankle boots!) , she gets up early cheerfully if she has to, and she is sensitive to others feelings but not afraid of confrontation, nor of saying when she feels down.  Above all the has a great energy and sense of purpose…and a sense of humour!  All very refreshing and a good role model.

She operated in the real world and was on top of the facts. She said that 5000 small shops closed last year, and that half the number of greengrocers exist now compared to ten years ago, despite the fact that in the UK we spend 8 billion on fruit and veg a year.  Plus the salient point that sales of local produce have increased by a third, and that the veg box market is worth £ 170m.

She enrolled others in the vision and kept going despite setbacks.  One sister was on board with the new ideas (so she suggested she be in change) one was resistant to all change, and one was on the fence.  I was particularly impressed that she commented on the lack of enthusiasm even while they were in Harrods Food Hall, and was happy to challenge.

The shop moved from undifferentiated to specialist. Doing one thing well (providing quality local produce to the local community) made the shop better and more relevant than the supermarket.  Dominating a niche as a specialist is more effective than being generalist.

The personalities of the sisters became part of the brand rather than simply being all about the fruit and veg.  It made the shop more memorable with the new logo and photographs compared with its previous incarnation or a supermarket.  Small businesses naturally have loads of personality.

The physical premises became more inviting. With Mary’s magic wand and money from either the BBC or her company the shop became  more contemporary and more values-based. Local prodice was not only sourced but also described more fully.  Customers were invited to come in to a welcoming space, to read, to come to the launch party, and of course to take action and buy.

The owners’ assumptions about their customers were challenged. The sisters were shocked by the negative attitude of shoppers in the supermarket “before” and couldn’t believe “after” that providing what they thought customer wanted would be acceptable.  A woman said she would pay £ 10 – not the £8 they had imagined, and one man on the step of his house said that he would enjoy receiving a surprise box of fruit and veg for the week.  Mary made the most of this by giving him a hug!  Sometimes businesses have to listen (and it can be tough) and sometimes take the lead, and this was a lovely example.

I am sure there were other aspects which will occur to me at some point.

Did you watch the programme?  What did you like about it?

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The Simpson are 20 years old!  When the programme first started it was rebellious and iconoclastic.  It was not aired here in the UK for some time.  I  remember neighbours who had gone to live in the States saying how they loved it, but many of their new friends didn’t feel comfortable with the humour.

From rebellious child to national treasure.

Homer has been extolled as an example of fatherly virtue, (by George Bush if I remember correctly)  and the programme has included the names /voices / voice alikes of many mainstream celebrities .  After a while a new contender arrived who was more ground-breaking than the original  (in this case it was “Family Guy” )  and The Simpsons  became perceived as the  old friend we were all comfortable with.

Expectations of a product or service change as it becomes better known and liked.  Customer loyalty can become fanatical.  Star Trek fans come to mind… and I am sure there are adults in their thirties who know most of the words to the Simpons programmes!

If you have a well-loved service or product in your arsenal make sure you take the loyal fans with you when you update it. The brand they love may need to be tweaked for changing conditions, but it should still be easily recogniseable.  Customer loyalty means opportunity.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Every small business owner knows that customers who know like and trust you are more likely to stay with you.

Provided you can keep on pleasing the customer they are unlikely to want to go off into the big bad world on their own, and take the risk of disconnecting with you.  After a while the familiar seems safe, and resistance to change becomes the motivating force. As a small business you have the added potential for a more personal relationship with your customer, and they will genuinely not want to leave.

In the old days we all stayed loyal.  Loyal to our bank, loyal to our mortgage company, loyal to our insurance provider, and loyal to our utilities provider.  But we are not in the old days any longer, and in the new world it seems that the new customer hits more targets more quickly, and helps to grow market share.

I have just had a conversation with a friend of mine who noticed that her home central hearing / servicing /electricity contract had increased by 25% over the previous year.  She got an alternative quote from another supplier which was 50% cheaper, and then rang the original provider to tell them she was leaving.  Within a blink of an eye her quote had reduced from £ 40 per month to £ 10 per month.  Her first response was outrage.  Why was the price inflated for a loyal customer, and then dropped when she said she was going to leave?  If there had been no price increase, she would have been happy to pay as before.  That was her first thought.  Her second thought was to follow the money, and make the saving.

She has been retained as a customer.  But at some cost.  She now no longer feels loyal to them, and when the contract is renewed again next year will fight to the death (make a phone call) to keep the price as low as possible.  She has become a savvy customer, motivated by price, and is no longer a natural customer.  She is going to write and complain, and will expect a convincing response.

Banks, insurance companies, and mobile phone companies are notorious for giving preferential treatment to their new customers.  The net result is that existing customers feel aggrieved, and loyalty is lost.

Price is part of the reason why consumers buy.  The other parts consist of branding, values, and customer service.  Treat customers well and natural inertia will help them to stay with you.  Treat customers badly and they shop around for price.  Small businesses have a natural advantage for staying in the warm pool of customer loyalty and avoid being caught in the cold ocean of price alone.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The judges gave higher marks to Ricky Whittle, who had more talent, but Chris Hollins was the winner voted by the public. And the public had the final say.

Marketing a small business is also a talent contest: authenticity is easy as a small business, and talent is only part of the mix.

• You can be known for who you are.  You don’t have to make up cute personas because people buy from people they know like and trust.  Part of the knowing, liking and trusting comes from the fact that being authentic could even be better than being perfect.
• Chris was always the underdog and Ricky was always the most talented all the way through the competition.  Because Ricky was so good, people may have taken his talent for granted, and failed to get on his side.
• While Ricky was “cool” Chris had a sense of humour that was expressed more both in his conversation and his dance.  The Charleston was an entertainment tour de force with wit and fun as well as excellent dance steps.
• Ricky was warm and friendly but Chris was more open, and threw himself into the dancing with a refreshing exuberance and passion.
• Chris and his partner were happy to make fun of each othe.  They seemed very fond of each other but did not take their relationship too seriously, so we the audience could become part of it.
• Their partnership had strogner branding. They were referred to as “Hobbits” and as a couple as “Cola” – Ricky and his partner Natalie were not so easy to identify and know.

The people who buy your products and service may prefer a warm open personality to breathtaking talent, too.  What a relief – we can be ourselves!

Coverage in the press:

• Underdog Chris Hollins beats Ricky Whittle to take Strictly Come Dancing crown (telegraph.co.uk)
• Strictly final is watched by 11m (news.bbc.co.uk)

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I was asked this question yesterday  and had to confess I didn’t know.  The ones that say “the real Simon Cowell”  are no more likely to be right than the others.

It was easy to work out by following some of the links that they were not real. ..but it still didn’t answer the question about who is real.

Now I know the answer as it was revealed in an interview with Evan Williams who with Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey founded twitter.

Well-known people are verified on twitter and there is a blue tick / check mark to show which is the real one.

Look at Demi Moore. Looking at the Simon Cowell entries on twitter none of them have the blue verification sign.    Could it be they have not verified him?  Unlikely.   The truth is that Simon Cowell is not on twitter at all.  They are all fakes.

Shame.  Some of them are quite realistic!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This information about space is presented as an extension of Google Earth, so effectively Google lets you look around all corners of the world.   The Moon section is selected within Google Earth.

Anniversaries are always an opportunity for renewed interest about a subject, and it is no surprise that Google has launched this feature to coincide with the space anniversary.

This helps Google take its brand into the stratosphere and:

demonstrates Google as a major player in partnership with NASA and the folk-hero astronauts

subliminally gives the message that Google is master of Space as well as Earth.

The direct benefits are that Google will capitalise on and contribute to search phrases  and news stories about the space anniversary.

This information about space looks much more like an identified product than the other services available from Google.

I wonder what is next…

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

You pick from your prescribed themes and off you go. This is true for WordPress.com. At WordPress.com your blog is hosted on the WordPress.com site so effectively you have the benefit of the masses of traffic that goes to the site, it is extremely quick to set up but you don’t get your own domain name, and you are not building your own business asset.

Then it transpired that the place to go is WordPress.org where you can sign up for a blog under your own domain name. So off I went, did it all, and have got juicy statistics about 2 weeks later of 13,000 hits. If I had been on the .com site they would all have gone to the greater WordPress site not to my domain specifically.

Having got the .com / .org division clear in my mind at last I was completely bemused by the instruction to get an API key from WordPress.com. Not being naturally technical I felt rather exhausted by the whole thing and procrastinated. I had separated the two WordPress sites and couldn’t put them back together again. I thought I was going to be forcefully swept into some blog vault from which I would never appear… and my blog would be torn apart by ravening wolves.

I so completely didn’t trust the instruction that I put a comment on twitter and asked for help but none appeared. So a week later I decided to believe the instruction and obey it. I have just been over to WordPress.com, filled out the profile and signed up, and now am the proud owner of an API key.

Wordpress.com - get the key

The point of the API key is to help remove spam from your blog. I am glad to say I have had no spam yet, but know that the client blogs I work on get a lot. So spammers I am ready for you. Bring it on. Let’s test this API key – and make sure it is worth it!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.