There are names that appear so strong that we think they will always be there. Everything seems to work as it should, everyone likes the company and the name, and it is impossible to see it disappearing from the market. But in a world of mergers and other business changes and misjudgments, nothing is 100% certain. That is at least 100% certain. What do you do when your company name changes?

Why do names disappear?

Mergers. Two companies merge and, for practical reasons, they decide to use one of these names, hopefully the strongest or richest one. It could be the case of two relatively equal companies merging but it is still expedient to change to a third name, e.g., to clarify that something new and exciting is happening here.

Acquisition. Your company ends up under the wing of a larger company. Compaq was a very big computer company, but the name gradually disappeared from the map when HP (Hewlett-Packard) acquired it. In most cases, it is the name of the newer and smaller of the companies that disappears, but there could also be situations where "old money" has bought "new opportunities" and is using the new name because of its value.

Restructuring. When Johan H. Andresen, son of the tobacco baron Johan H. Andresen, sold the remaining shares in Tiedemann/Scandinavian Tobacco Company, there was no longer any point in sticking with such a smoky old name and so the company FERD rose up from the ashes. Nor did Philip Morris want to be associated with cigarettes and converted to Altria in 2001.

Rights. Suddenly a company no longer has the right to use the name and must find another. There are many, both positive and negative, opinions on the process that led to the well-established Andersen Consulting, which belonged to Arthur Andersen, changing to Accenture in 2001. In retrospect, it appears to have been a stroke of genius because the Anderson name was to become forever associated with the Enron scandal.

Bankruptcy and scandals. Enron is a good example of a gigantic company that went from riches to rags, as they say, over a short period of time. Fortune chose Enron as America's most innovative company six years in a row. Then it turned out that the giant was rotten to the core and based on fraud and corruption. The name and company suffered a sudden death.

Poor financial situation and choice of direction. There are rumours about the time when the founder of Netflix, Reed Hastings, made contact with John Antioco, the CEO of Blockbuster. This happened in 2000 and Hastings' agenda was to bring about a partnership with Blockbuster in the video outlet market they were both operating in. Blockbuster was king of the castle at the time. They were raking in the money and John Antioco was completely disinterested in having anything to do with the young start-up. Almost exactly ten years later, Blockbuster declared itself bankrupt while Netflix was setting about growing into a giant in the streaming market. A strong company name had come a cropper.

New and better name. Once upon a time, Larry Page and Sergey Brin started up the company, Back Rub, better known today as Google. Google is a paraphrasing of the word googol, which is this number 10100. The reference to this enormous number harmonises well with Google's mission, which is "to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful."

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What to do if your brand name changes?

Do you remember Bergen Bank and Den Norske Creditbank (DnC), a merger that ended in what we now know as DNB? Do you remember the petrol station chain, NOROL, which was phased out in 1991 and replaced with the name of its sole owner Statoil? The process of converting all NOROL stations to Statoil stations was the most expensive change of a company name ever in Norway at the time. In 2016, six years after Alimentation Couche-Tard took over the Statoil stations, it was the name Statoil that was removed. These days, we see how much effort is being put into getting us to remember the new name, Circle K. Our own customer EVRY was at one time the result of a merger between the companies EDB and Ergo and, when it comes to the financial alliance Terra, we helped the local banks find their new identity - Eika .

How you communicate a name change can mean the difference between a smooth transition and a disaster. Below are a few tips on how to avoid catastrophe and prepare for success.

Start with your own employees. A critical target audience too often overlooked is your own employees. Though some rumours may have escaped the board room, most likely people will not know why the change has occurred and what it means to them. Avoid further gossiping and call together all staff and let them know what these changes mean for their jobs, for their communication with clients, suppliers and other stakeholders. Keep in mind that a simple e-mail from the Managing Director won't suffice, you will have to walk the talk and actively be present with your staff and answer questions. Make sure to give this process enough time and don't rush it. Creating brand ambassadors, within your own ranks will help you tremendously with smoothing the changes in the marketplace.

Plan your work, work your plan. Have a plan for your external marketing and communication teams and launch this well ahead before the actual name change, but after your staff is informed. The more precise this plan is, the better it is. Be prepared to spend considerable amount of time and money. Write to your existing customers, be vocal on social media and tell people what this may mean to them as customers. Make sure they understand business is as usual and that their patronage is extremely important to you. Don't run the risk of undercommunicating a change in brand names. This is what happened to Royal Mail in the UK when they wanted to change their name to Consignia in 2001. Amidst protests from a public that had not understood the reasons for the change, they had eventually to abandon their plans altogether.

Time for launch. Handled well, the new brand name can create just the right kind of buzz you're after. Newspaper and blogs may pick up on your communications and help prepare the ground. Invite customers to special launches where you mark the change, turning it into an occasion for celebration. And it's okay to say "we used to be called X, now we're Y" for a while. The point is to make sure that both your staff and customers know what name you will be called from what time. So repetition of the message is only a good thing.

Make it easy. Ensure the change is as easy and effortless as possible for customers. Make sure old websites point to new ones, that no one has to do anything on social media to follow your new name if they already follow your old one. If you have customer loyalty cards or similar make sure new ones are sent out automatically to your customers.

If you follow the steps described above, you will have prepared the ground for a successful name change both internally and externally. Of course, a key factor in a successful name change is choosing a good name. Download our e-book on name development to find out more.

Darwinistic or egoistic?

Sometimes it is the survival of the fittest that causes one name to die and another to live on. One name simply fits better than the other. Other times, it's just survival of the fattest. The biggest, richest or most power-hungry party carries on its name, regardless of what is actually in the best interests of the company. There is a difference between self-actualisation and ego-tripping. A strong purpose or aim will help you do the right things - for the right reasons. But we can talk more about that another time or you can read more about what defines a brand with a purpose here.