Rebranding - NameStormers

Once a company or brand name is established, it can be expensive and time consuming to change. And the equity in the current name is difficult and costly to measure.

Trademark Issues

If trademark infringement is the issue, you have to weigh the cost of legal fees versus a name change. If you are on the losing side of trademark litigation, then rebranding has to be done.

Cultural Incorrectness

Maybe your brand or company name has become politically insensitive? It may damage your reputation and potentially alienate customers. Perceptions can shift rapidly in today’s social media landscape, making previously acceptable names suddenly problematic for your brand image.

Forgettability

Perhaps your name is so complicated or unwieldy that no one can search for it, pronounce it or remember it. Then it may not be worth saving.

Limiting Growth

Over time you may have outgrown your name. If you were only selling sawdust at first and now have branched out to treehouses, your name probably did not grow along with your business.

We can help you explore your options. Don’t assume we will automatically recommend rebranding in every situation. If a name change doesn’t make sense, we’ll tell you. In fact, we’ve advised several potential clients against rebranding when there is no compelling reason to do it.

Our priority is always what’s best for you. Our proven process will get you to the answer.

Proven Process

Name Fluency Matters

In the article, Company Name Fluency, Investor Recognition, and Firm Value, renaming a company with a more “fluent” name can have positive effects on your bottom line. The benefits may outweigh the short-term costs of a rebrand.

What makes a name fluent?

Man relaxing with feet on desk, holding coffee cup, while colleague stands nearby at a computer in a modern office setting

Glowing digital illustration of a human brain with neural connections and bright synapses on a dark background

Cognitive Bias

Winning employees over to a new company name or consumers over to a new brand name can be a tough challenge. Our brains are wired to prefer the familiar—a phenomenon known as the mere exposure effect, which Daniel Kahneman discusses in his book “Thinking, Fast and Slow.”

This cognitive bias explains why we instinctively resist change and gravitate toward what we already know. For this reason, you may need help convincing others to adopt a new name over an existing one. We know how to navigate this.

Let Us Help

How Stanley transformed itself

A rebrand that paid off

Find out how the Stanley brand came back from near extinction.

Rebranding example

outdoor scene of someone pouring a thermos of coffee into the coffee cups of 2 gals - looks cold

Xanterra
Amfac Resorts needed a name change after Amfac Hawaii went bankrupt. Their reputation was at stake.

Xanterra story
Puron
United Technologies needed to replace its old Freon product with a new, environmentally-friendly refrigerant. Puron was born.

Puron story
Sage Capital
American National Bank was expanding its footprint but realized that its name was too common and could be confused with many other banks.

Sage Capital story
Fresh Energy
Minnesotans for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ME3) was just not memorable. A rename was important.

Fresh Energy story
Brident
Premier Dental Holdings needed to avoid trademark infringement litigation with its existing dental facility name.

Brident story
Nationstar
Centex Home Equity wanted to go national and needed a more compelling name.

Nationstar story
Clear Digital
Web Enertia, a tech firm, had an outdated name in an industry where innovation is market currency.

Clear Digital story
Evari
Micro Turbo Technologies was a mouthful and was being shortened to MTT. Time for a new name.

Evari story
IgniteTech
The CABC acronym was confused with ABC and the long form of the name was not memorable. Something more creative was needed.

IgniteTech story

The NameStormers team has a broad set of backgrounds, allowing them to draw from a lot of experience.
When it comes to creating a name in a logical way, NameStormers is the best.
Their flexibility and professionalism set them apart from other vendors.
Their ability to do consumer testing and give us that insight into what consumers think (was critical).
NameStormers went above and beyond to help the business select a suitable name while taking into consideration the trademark risks.
In the end, they felt confident that they had the best names for their product.
They save you a lot of time by pre-vetting names with their own trademark issue elimination process.
The thing I found most impressive about their company was the amount of true experience they had in the industry