If Twitter can change its iconic name, Should you?
We all saw that Elon Musk recently renamed Twitter into X.
Other tech companies have renamed themselves in recent years. Google turned into Alphabet. Facebook changed into Meta Platforms Inc. Square renamed into Block. And so on.
Why do companies rename a long-standing brand? And more importantly, should you?
Analysts and brand agencies have called Twitter’s renaming a mistake. Twitter is one of the most recognizable social media brands, said Todd Irwin, founder of brand agency Fazer. Bird decals adorn small businesses and websites worldwide, alongside Instagram and Facebook logos.
There are many reasons why tech companies are renaming of late.
One reason for such rebranding is to create shorter names. Shorter names in particular are also a status symbol often reserved for tech giants looking to make their brands memorable. And as companies have started to grow out of what Brentos Fernandez - partner and head of creative at brand-focused venture capital firm Listen - calls their “word smash era,” startups naming themselves things like “thisbook and that-ly” will lose popularity, he said. Adding on an interesting top-level domain to a url, such as Block and Alphabet’s websites ending in “.xyz,” also gives a tech company some clout.
“It’s easy to score a domain like scoootr.com,” Fernandez said. “Shorter names are desirable as they can be easier to tap into your browser. A common short word is often more of a luxury for large tech companies who have the cash on hand to purchase those short URLs.”
A second reason companies rename is to showcase they are evolving beyond their original scope. Google turned into Alphabet to allow different businesses within the company to grow without being tied to search. Facebook likely chose to take on Meta as the company makes it a goal to practically be synonymous with the emerging metaverse.
A third reason such companies rename is to signify that change is on the horizon. New names give companies distance from their first ideas, giving them the opportunity to reinvent themselves and the space to try new things. As sleek names and holding companies gain popularity, new names and new strategies might be in the cards for other tech giants.
How does this relate to the wealth management, accounting and legal industries?
I recently got a call from an advisor working at a large wirehouse (companies like Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, RBC are considered “wirehouse”) who was planning on going independent (starting his own shop).
He called me to help his “newco” go to market. He said he’d already done the “Renaming” process and was excited to share his new company name with me.
When he shared the name concept with me, I was floored! Was he that quick to jump to the conclusion that his newco name was unique? Did he even check the investment advisor directory to see that 19 other versions of his firm name existed? Or better yet, did he check Google?
A hastily-selected company name makes the marketing and going-to-market process THAT much harder!
Lesson to advisors: Rushing to a new firm name without the proper background investigation can cause major issues down the line. See this article (and pasted below) I was featured on about this issue of rushing into a new name!
Why should a wealth management, legal or accounting firm Rename?
Having worked with over 1,000 advisory firms and teams since 2014 and helping them transform their branding and marketing, I have been involved in several projects during which I completely RENAMED a firm.
Here are some examples of situations during which an advisory firm has decided to rename:
1) The firm includes the last names of the original founders, and the new generation doesn't feel included in that brand.
2) The firm is splitting from its original partnership, and needs a name that doesn't include the original partner on it.
3) The firm name gets lost in Google searches because it's associated with a larger brand that takes over page one of Google.
4) The firm name has too many variations of it in the wealth management or legal sectors (like this article explain).
5) The firm name is non-memorable and/or hard to pronounce.
The list goes on!
How should a firm prepare for renaming? What is the process to announcing and using this new name going forward? Is it as painful as it seems?
If you fit one of the scenarios above as a prime candidate for renaming, or thinking about making your company name more memorable, you may be concerned about how this process will work in reality.
Will you lose clients? Will you lose website traffic? How will you explain to your clients why you’re doing this? Will you have to completely rebrand your portal, letterhead, company name on your building, etc?
Most of these concerns are due to the fact that CHANGE IS HARD. And it’s hard to measure whether or not the future benefits will outweigh the cost of time and rebranding.
But brand metamorphosis can be a beautiful thing for many firms. Here are a few benefits of rebranding for your firm:
It can symbolize innovation and growth to your clients and prospects
It can improve your hiring and recruiting needs when the founder names are not on the wall
It can significantly help you with your digital presence
It can exponentially enhance your brand equity
It can help you stand apart from your competition
It can build a community by including your mission within your name
The list goes on!
Contact us today to help you through the entire process, from discovery, to build-out, client communication and transformation!
As published in Financial Planning on September 30, 2020
Wealth management has a case of déjà vu.
In an industry with tens of thousands of small advisory firms, many of the same boilerplate words and phrases crop up again and again in company names: Capital management. Partners. Wealth management. Capital Partners. Apart from giving a fledgling company a generic feel, such reptition can bury advisors online — or even become a trademark liability.
The redundancy is often an intentional choice, according to Amy Parvaneh, a former Goldman Sachs advisor who founded Select Advisor Institute, which does brand consultancy for RIAs.
“In this business you don’t want to be cute; you don’t want to be poetic,” she says.
A look at the 14,300 RIAs Form ADVs filed with the SEC in 2019 bears this out. Over 1,400 firms used “capital management” in their name last year; more than 1,250 used “partners;” 808 contained “wealth management,” and so on. And many of them are using the same terminology to describe themselves.
A downside of a generic firm name is the challenge of standing out on Google, according to Parvaneh.
“You don’t want your firm name to compete with so many others, especially if your competitors have much stronger digital marketing,” she says.
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