I'm writing a document for a client who's needing to generate a name
for several new sales forces, to different constituent customer groups
... and maybe a new "umbrella" name for them all.

some of the decision makers have very little experience with marketing.

i want to illustrate the IMPORTANCE of a name.

i'd love some examples where it became clear that a product name
helped cause failure.

ideally, some examples where a product was (wisely) RE-named, and that
helped led to success.

and even some examples where a great name obviously helped cause success.

I DO == NOT == need, at all, in-depth descriptions of ANY of these examples.

they should be, as far as possible, instant-recognition,
instant-comprehension "aha's"
that help raise the clients' consciousness, through illustrations from
diverse fields,
that choosing a name really MATTERS.

again -- i DON"T need, and won't use, lots of verbiage.
i COULD use a selection of apt examples, however.
i've listed the 3 categories in priority order above ...
the "bad" name leading to failure being #1.

oh yes .. i'm i a TREMENDOUS hurry. sorry!!

fingers crossed ...

mike

I have gathered some material for you about brand names and their
relation to success. For reasons of copyright, I am posting only brief
excerpts here. To read these articles in their entirety, just click
the link under each excerpt.

======================================================================

Who would want to live in a place called "Hell's Kitchen?" After this
New York City neighborhood was renamed "Clinton," it began to attract
upscale buyers.

"The expansive area from West 30th Street to West 59th Street between
Seventh Avenue and the Hudson River is known by two names, one
historic, one contemporary. While the name Hell's Kitchen comes from
this neighborhood's traditional reputation as one of New York's
toughest slums, in recent years the area has been renamed Clinton in
an attempt to make it more attractive for investment and development.
Many long-time residents, unhappy about the wave of change sweeping
the neighborhood, cling to the old name. Originally farms and
woodland, the area began to change after the construction of rail
lines along the Hudson River. As the city grew, it was the location of
slaughterhouses, warehouses, lumberyards, factories, and the docks
that lined the West Side of Manhattan. Tenements teemed with Irish and
other European immigrants and blacks coming up from the south. In
later years, Puerto Ricans moved into the neighborhood. Its long-time
status as a poor, working class section made it fertile ground for
gangs. The most famous, the 'Westies', served as enforcers for the
Mafia, which controlled much of the neighborhood from the time of
Prohibition. Recently, with the television industry based on the West
Side and its close proximity to the theaters of Broadway, the
neighborhood has become home for hundreds of up-and-coming actors,
playwrights, musicians and others in the entertainment industry. Now
Ninth Avenue is one of the busiest streets in Manhattan, with shops,
bars and restaurants open well into the night. With the revitalization
of the Times Square area, and Chelsea's upsurge in value, Hell's
Kitchen, or Clinton, has become one of Manhattan's most sought-after
neighborhoods."

Sumitomo Real Estate Sales: Manhattan Map & Neighborhoods
http://www.sumitomo-ny.com/relocation/manhattan_map.html

======================================================================

"Hong Kong's Hazel & Hawley Chemical Co. would probably still be
hawking Darkie toothpaste had the company not been acquired by
Colgate. The Darkie brand's Al Jolson-inspired logo, a grinning
caricature in blackface and a top hat, was as offensive as its name.
Colgate bought the company in 1985, and then ditched the logo and
changed the product's name to Darlie after US civil rights groups
protested. However, the Cantonese name - Haak Yahn Nga Gou (Black Man
Toothpaste) - remains."

Toothpaste World: Selected Items for Believe It Or Not
http://www.toothpasteworld.com/specials.htm

======================================================================

"Harold Von Braunhut, inventor of fun and creator of Sea-Monkeys...

Because we were able to get it to come to life right away, we called
it Instant Life. I thought the animals themselves needed a name.
Because they had these little monkey-like tails when they grow, we
changed the name to Sea-Monkeys... I came up with a different strategy
that worked fine... I went directly to the public. I went to the kids
in the comic books, I wrote some ads about Sea-Monkeys... a miracle
happened. We got a response that was absolutely unheard of."

Planet X Magazine: He Invented Sea-Monkeys and X-Ray Specs!
http://www.planetxmagazine.com/seamonkeys.htm 

====================================================================== 

Rapeseed oil had been around for quite a while without making much
impact on the food market. Once the name was changed to the more
attractive "Canola oil," its popularity boomed.

"Canola Oil: The market name for rapeseed oil which, as might be
assumed from the name, is expressed from rape seeds. For obvious
reasons, the name was changed to canola by the Canadian seed-oil
industry. Canola is, in fact, Canada's most widely used oil. It's
commonly referred to there as lear oil (for 'low erucic acid rape'
seed oil.) The popularity of canola oil is rising fast in the United
States."

CyberParent: Canola Oil
http://www.cyberparent.com/nutrition/canola.htm

======================================================================

"Soft-drink makers are racing to replace or play lown the word "diet"
in brand names in favor of alternative terms that they hope will help
fatten sales.

The Coca-Cola Co. kicked off the trend in September by renaming the
diet version of its Sprite lemon-lime soda Diet Sprite Zero. That name
will probably be changed before long to Sprite Zero, as the soda is
called in more than 20 markets overseas.

The Pepsi-Cola Co. division of PepsiCo. last month changed the name of
the diet version of its lemon-lime soda, Sierra Mist, to Sierra Mist
Free. Both Sierra Mist Free and Diet Sprite Zero are being promoted in
multimillion-dollar campaigns on television, in print, on posters and
in stores.

The rebrandings come as marketers are struggling to inject some
effervescence into sales of carbonated soft drinks, which have been
losing luster? particularly among younger consumers ? to products like
water, tea and energy beverages. About the only sodas gaining sales
are those without sugar, so the renamings are intended to capitalize
on that momentum."

Deseret News: What's in a name? Higher sales, some soft drink makers hope
http://deseretnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,595113585,00.html

======================================================================

"An American company had recently introduced to Japan an exciting soft
drink that was highly successful in the United States. Many bottles
and cans of the product were produced and mass-marketed in Japan. The
result was a complete failure. The American manufacturer of the soft
drink conducted research to find out why. What they discovered was
that the soft drink's name coincided with an event that usually is
frowned upon in Japan both culturally and socially. The soft drink
manufacturer immediately changed the product's name to one that is
perceived very positively by the Japanese people. The sales
flourished. The moral of the story is very simple - the name of the
product is vitally important to its success."

TMCnet: The Right Name Is The Key To The Success Of Your Company Or Product
http://www.tmcnet.com/articles/ccsmag/0299/0299pubout.htm 

======================================================================

"Paradise Island, located on the northern edge of Nassau (New
Providence) the capital of the Bahamas, is 826 acres, 4 -1/2 miles
long and ¾ of a mile wide. Formerly known as Hog Island, Paradise
Island first became a tourist destination in 1921. In 1962, the
Bahamian Parliament and commercial developers were in agreement that
the name Hog Island did not reflect the natural beauty and tourist
appeal of the island, and therefore deemed 'Paradise' a more
appropriate name for this oasis."

Majestic Holidays: Atlantis Paradise Island
http://www.majesticholidays.com/asi/atlantis_resort.htm

======================================================================

"Sohio was a growing oil company that couldn't attract the investment
capital it needed because investors saw them as a small regional
refinery, until they changed their name to Standard Oil. Eastern
Airlines had similar problems, not being perceived as a national
carrier even though they were once close behind United and American.
Travelers equated them with much smaller regional operators like
Piedmont, Ozark and Southern. Mallory had always sold batteries under
their own name, but with limited success until they marketed under
Duracell. Fortune is a short, catchy and memorable name for a
magazine, but it is ambiguous. Fortune could be a magazine for
stockbrokers, commodity traders or gamblers. The more generic Business
Week is actually a better name - and a more successful magazine."

Everette Jones, Inc: On Product Names
http://www.everettejones.com/productnames.pdf

======================================================================

"Some mutual fund firms are giving themselves fresh starts with
revamped names. New England Investment Co. decided after 67 years in
the mutual fund business that its name sounded too regional, and might
repel any prospective investors outside the New England area. So, it
changed its company name to Nvest.

New England isn't the first to think a regional name might put off
potential investors. Four years ago, the Southeastern fund family
decided that it might convince more investors to place their money in
its funds if it changed its name to Longleaf. Unlike Nvest's fund
family, Southeastern's name change filtered through to its individual
mutual funds.

It seems to have worked. For instance, the fund currently called
Longleaf Partners had taken seven years to surpass $500 million in
assets. After the name change, the fund's assets doubled within nine
months to $1 billion, and three years later is still growing steady at
$3.4 billion...

After a horrendous plane crash, ValuJet bought AirTran Airways and
assumed AirTran's name. Perhaps it learned a lesson from PanAm, which,
after its own bankruptcy bout following the disastrous Flight 103
crash over Lockerbie, Scotland, decided to resurface using the same
brand name. PanAm eventually failed again."

Damodaran Online: Brand Name Value among Mutual Funds
http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/invmgmt/ch1/brand.htm

======================================================================

"After splitting up with sister company Arthur Andersen, Andersen
Consulting changed its name to Accenture, to communicate a 'new
company that places emphasis on the future.'
 
The Royal Mail (UK) became Consignia to reflect the shift to a more
commercial and international approach to business.

Boston Chicken changed its name to Boston Market to communicate the
company?s shift from rotisserie chicken to family meals. It also
maintained the 'wholesomeness and freshness' of the brand.

Bass changed their name to Six Continents Hotels to expand perceptions
in the eyes of the consumer from a brewer to a global hospitality
group...

The Philip Morris name is equivalent to cigarettes. The decision to
change the name to Altria, helped disassociate the holding company
from the negative image of cigarettes, indicating that it is made up
of several other brands beyond cigarettes...

Wunderman Cato Johnson had initially changed its name to Impiric to
reflect the new, future-forward personality. It recently went back to
Wunderman since it realized that the old name had a lot of equity in
the marketplace that the new name lacked."
 
BrandChannel: Successfully Navigating a Name Change 
http://www.brandchannel.com/papers_review.asp?sp_id=108

======================================================================

One last tidbit, some interesting brief histories of company names:

Wikipedia: List of company name etymologies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_company_name_etymologies

======================================================================

My Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: "after it was renamed"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22after+it+was+renamed

Google Web Search: "name change" success product
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22name+change%22+success+product

Google Web Search: "until they changed * name"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22until+they+changed+*+name

======================================================================

I hope this is useful. If anything is unclear or incomplete, or if a
link doesn't work for you, please request clarification; I'll be glad
to offer further assistance before you rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

---

Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 27 Dec 2004 21:54 PST

You might find this book to be of use. I have not read it, so I can't
give a personal endorsement, but some of the reviews sound promising:

Brand Failures: The Truth About the 100 Biggest Branding Mistakes of All Time
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0749439270/

i don't have time to check the links right now ... i'm ASSUMING i can
always come back here and leave a "clarification" question (if i have
trouble) and pinkfreud-ga will get my query and answer? (or if there's
some other way to "flag" him/her if needed?)  but in the meantime,
here's my rating: WOWIE-ZOWIE!! (AND THANK YOU!!!) for content AND
speed ... and attitude (re offer of clarification) SUPERIOR. mike

Thank you very much for the "wowie-zowie" rating and the generous tip!
Since you said you were in a hurry, I put this together with an eye on
the clock. If you'd like me to fine-tune or retarget my research, just
let me know.

~pinkfreud

Phew - that is an impressive haul.

A few more bits :
After much mockery the UK Post Office quietly dropped the name 'Consignia'

A classic from advertising, in the UK was 'Britvic Orange' which
became the generic name for fruit juice rather than 'orange squash'
A bit like the 'Electrolux Hoover'

The Germans are/were very amused by a Scotch whisky called 'Highland Mist'
( Mist is another word for sh*t in German )

I was told that in the 60's the Chinese would gawp at the translation
of ICI's name at China based trade fairs - Imperial Chemical
Industries
- the equivalent of: 'Capitalist Running Dog Manufacturing'

I once worked for a package holiday company called 'Rank Travel'

i still don't completely "get" the system, motivation, structure, etc., here.
i DO know that i value this service tremendously.
For the quality of answers i get ... the speed with which i can get them ...
and the HUMANITY of the answerers.  That Humanity is illustrated, additionally,
by frde-ga dropping by "for free" to add add'l information.
thank you.

i also, of course, appreciate pinkfreud-ga's postscript.  i'm
ASSUMING, i hope this is
correct, that i could always (??) come back here ... add a comment to
my own question ...
and that Pinkfreud-ga would learn of it? (since i have no email
addresses for you folks.)

i used to think that "ga" meant you were all from georgia!
but then i also used to think, when my mother said oatmeal would
"stick to my ribs",
that that's EXACTLY what it would do!

anyway ... i love THIS little corner of the 21st century,
and certainly plan to use this service many, many more times.

mike in nyc

Mike,

If you need me, just click the button that says "Request Answer
Clarification" and let me know what I can do for you. This will
automatically trigger an email which will notify me that one of my
customers needs assistance, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
If you post in the "Comments" section, I won't be notified, so it is
best to post any kind of urgent request as a request for
clarification. The "Comments" section is more general-purpose.

Regarding your mother's statement that oatmeal would stick to your
ribs: my mother told me that, too. And she was nearly correct. Turns
out that oatmeal (like almost everything else that is tasty) actually
sticks to my hips.

~Pink