The stories of brands that changed their naming are very important, because they give a lot of information about how a brand is perceived before and after a major change. Comparing the periods before and after the name change of big brands gives valuable data to analyse. Hopefully this data can help small brands and new businesses make the best decisions when naming of their own assets – whether they need a renaming or should think in particular direction for naming. The possible scenarios are hundreds and if you don’t have the time to analyse and research, you can always ask a service for brand naming for help.
1. Sci Fi channel became SyFy
In 2009 NBC Universal took the decision to change the name of their Sci Fi channel in order to broaden its audience. The change in the name is not a major one. The phonetic sound of the old name is entirely kept in the new one, the only change in the name is the spelling – Sci Fi became SyFy. One of the big perks of the new name is the opportunity to be copyrighted.
2. Stag Party became Playboy
You know Playboy. The most popular magazine for men. It is curious that the magazine was almost named differently. Hugh Hefner, the creator of Playboy, said that he originally intended to name the magazine “Stag Party”. However, before publishing the first issue Hefner was notified by Stag magazine that the name “Stag Party” would be copyright infringement. Therefore he had to change the it. That’s when Playboy came about. And obviously – stayed.
3. Confinity became PayPal
The interesting word “Confinity” was the initial name of Paypal. It is a merger of two words – confidence and infinity. The later renaming of the company to Paypal resulted in the development of a demo that allowed people to email payments.
4. Kraft became Mondelez
Kraft changed its name to Mondelez around the time they launched their cookies business. When they announced the renaming, they also sent a guide to the media that instructed everyone how to pronounce the new name – “mohn-dah-leez”. The the new name derives from the idea of “sweet/declicious world”. Monde is the Latin word for “world” and “delez” resembles the word “delicious”, but in more fancy way.
I didn’t know about Paypal… I heard about playboy is not the initial name they started with.. anyhow I nice article to read, thanks for sharing!