media.toolbox 30|07|2002 * Branding dangerously Naseem Javed explains why you need to choose your company name with care, and muses on the drawbacks of "Monday", formerly known as PWC Consulting. CONTACT & (UN)SUBSCRIBE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
INSIGHT: Branding dangerously
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Julian calendar is full of powerful names with rich histories. But we don't want to go there. Let's leave Augustus, who gave us August, and Julian, July, alone. Borrowing a name from a calendar will only make you spin out of time. So why did the venerable PWC Consulting become MONDAY? Days of the week have their own charm. To start with, Monday to us is the first day of the working week, as in most industrial countries, while others see it as an extension of Sunday. Monday is when the struggles begin, from fighting the blues to mild hangovers. Tuesday is when movies become cheap. Wednesday, for the child of woe. Thursday ... who cares? And, let's Thank God It's Friday, because this is the day when the world population takes off; half going to the bars and the other half heading to the mosques. The word Monday also varies by country: in Italian Lunedi, in French Lundi and so on. How a global corporation explains this dysfunctionality to its populous is still a very big question. MONDAY INC., the new name of PWC Consulting, will result in a struggle between deep blues and lingering hangovers. The army of bright, clear eyed, highly educated consultants marching on Mondays will have to explain if they are working Tuesdays or taking the rest of the week off. The issue of Monday morning's fresh thinking, as outlined in the PWC strategy, may be slightly flawed as new thinking really starts much earlier in the day, in the shower that is. SHOWERS INC.? Hello Deloitte. It was tough for PWC to select a day from a short list of seven. Sunday would have been the best choice, as everybody in cyber living, thinks, sorts, strategizes and sends email on this day of rest. But then, how can we forget Sabbaths and Fridays, so, why not call it FridaySaturdaySunday Inc? After all, these are the same people who gave us the longest name in recent history, PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Borrowing a company name from a calendar is deadly. An interesting case is a chain with 57 stores across the Southwest that closes seven months of the year, because, they say, most consumers do not purchase gifts and linens year around. The store is called TUESDAY MORNING and opens seven days a week, five months a year. They chose that name because its founder and chairman believes that Tuesday is the most positive day of the week. Maybe so, but at least a dozen times, every day, each one of the 57 stores receives a call asking, "Are you open today?" MarchFirst, an e-commerce consulting company, valued at a couple of billion dollars during the peak of the DotCom Bubble, did not start in March, but in April, and AprilFirst was already taken by some fool. Most people were convinced the firm started in March - while they were marching straight into a brick wall - and no amount of advertising could save them from their demise. Naming is a very serious business. It is an exercise in pursuing the rules of corporate nomenclature, trademark and domain registration laws, global languages, translations, and, most important, understanding how corporate names really work in the marketplace. Names should never be confused with logos, graphic design, packaging and advertising strategies, which are only important after a name has been properly selected under professional guidance and a global strategy.
Naseem Javed is author of Naming for Power, a syndicated columnist and a renowned lecturer on Corporate Naming. Online at www.naseemjaved.com and www.abcnamebank.com
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