The name of a company is linked to its history and its founders. However, the evolution of the company sometimes leads it to change its name, for example when it comes to establishing itself internationally, during a merger or quite simply when the activity changes.
Changing your name doesn't happen with the wave of a magic wand or in the breeze. It takes careful thought to never regret the name chosen. How to do ?
Thus Private Driver has changed its name and is now called Kapten. Launched in 2012, the French private driver's platform has decided to change its name because it wants to establish itself internationally. This name change, carried out in a context of international development, shows the success of the company and therefore allows customers who were attached to the previous name to understand its meaning.
Likewise, the Total group has decided to change its name to better symbolize its investment in clean energies and its intentions to act in favor of the climate and try to suppress its image as destroyer of the planet. To mark this turning point in the direction of energy transition, TotalEnergies has made several commitments. The group wants to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050 .
“Energy reinvents itself and this path of energies is ours. Our ambition is to be a major player in the energy transition. This is why Total is transformed and becomes TotalEnergies ”.
Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of TotalEnergies
Changing your name: a very time-consuming operation
A change of name of a company generates multiple tasks which will involve all the departments because it will therefore be necessary:
create a new logo
create a new graphic charter
change the tampons
change the name on all administrative documents
change letterhead
change all business cards
change the name on the website and make a systematic referral for anyone doing research
change your name on the premises
change the name on social networks ...
It will be necessary to plan upstream to no longer order letterhead, business cards, etc. to dispose of stocks in order to avoid waste which would give employees a bad image.
It is therefore a time-consuming operation because it will also require the staff to pay attention to all the documents that no longer have to exist and to get used to the new name. The staff will have to be well involved to avoid having a negative attitude and inappropriate reflections (latest fad, it costs, they do not know how to spend their money…).
Change of name: communicate well with customers, suppliers ...
The name change is rarely accepted enthusiastically by customers and consumers. Communication will be your best ally to overcome this obstacle. It will therefore be necessary to prepare one or more press releases, a detailed brief for the attention of all employees so that they can understand and explain to customers, suppliers and partners the reasons for the change and convince them of the value of the name.
What are the reasons that lead companies to change their name?
international presence
Carpool.fr which became BlaBlaCar to develop internationally, and the name B laBlaCar has the quality of being exported in all languages. Voiturelib> Drivy. To expand internationally, the French-sounding name has become Drivy, an international name.
mergers
For example, in 2009, the French insurance companies AGF were absorbed by Allianz, which imposed its name in the 70 countries where it is established. In 1996 the merger between Axa Insurance and UAP , the Paris Insurance Union first gave Axa-UAP and finally adopted the name Axa, to correspond to the group's global image. In 2004, Sagem and Snecma joined forces to form Safran .
restore the image of a company.
The many upheavals in the telecoms market caused by the advent of the Internet in the 2000s led France Telecom to change its name to Orange in 2013. In addition, the difficulties within human resources which had made the headlines of all newspapers like a business where life was not good had tarnished the name: changing it made it possible to erase the bad image.
a new synergy for a new vision of the brand .
Le Nouvel Observateur> L'Observateur for its 50 th anniversary 50 years, "Le Nouvel Observateur" has decided to offer a new, modern identity and adapted to the web .
strategic reasons.
Google, to give more visibility to its various activities, created Alphabet, a holding company intended to oversee the companies of Google Inc. The core business activities (research and online advertising, mapping, YouTube and Android) remain under the banner Google while Alphabet carries the futuristic projects. In 2017, Voyages-Sncf.com became Oui.Sncf. This change is part of the unification of the group's marketing offer: Ouigo for low-cost TGVs, inOui for all TGVs, Ouibus for coaches or even Ouicar for car rental.
Develop your communication plan both internally and externally
Some essential points
Phase 1 :
Prepare a communication plan well in advance
Obtain the consensus of all to start such a communication operation.
Involve employees because they will be the first ambassadors of the name
Never inform the external before the internal.
Phase 2:
Inform your community, your prospects, customers and consumers, suppliers via social networks .
But above all a strategy that keeps everyone in the know at the same time. A change like this requires engaging the media and will generate a communication blow for your business. Communication passes through information or through attractive communication which will conquer the press which will relay information in a positive way.
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