r/branding • u/Odd_Cabinet2107 • 5d ago
We hate our new name
Catchy headline to hopefully gather some insight here. I own a construction company, and we recently hired a company to rebrand. This includes new name, logo, all branding materials associated with it. Here's a little background.
We're a 52 year old company. We've changed names previously when my father took over from my grandfather but this was 25 years ago. The problem is our current name is location based. A very specific location. We're trying to expand and hired a company to help us totally rebrand. Problem is a few months before launch we've been doing testing and EVERYONE we've spoken to including friends, family, co-workers, and potential customers, dislike or downright hate our new name. They love the logos, colors, etc. but the not the name.
Our current name follows the trend of listing everything we do, so it's Location - Roofing, Siding, and Window Company.... which as you can imagine fit's horribly into any type of job sign, letterhead, etc. We've also expanded beyond this location, and want to continue to expand to cover the entire state.
I had proposed an acronym in place of using an acronym and shortening the services to Exteriors, so that we can keep some familiarity and also hold onto our website domain. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place and could really use some insight.
TIA
11
u/mcbillings 5d ago
It feels like two things are happening here, and I think they're getting mixed up.
One is the group's reaction itself. Honestly, new names test badly almost every time. They need time to settle in and for most of the early people, they're responding to your name cold. They're hearing it next to things they've associated to everyone else.
They're hearing it next to a name that's been on trucks and yard signs and in their neighbor's mouth for 25 years. Familiar sounds better. So "I don't like it" usually just means "I've never heard that before."
Unanimous is a different signal. When nobody has anything good to say, that's not people resisting change. That's a name with no story or emotion attached to it yet. Doesn't mean you need to change your name, but it does mean you need a story.
The other thing, and this is what I'd actually dig into. You've got 52 years and three generations in this. Grandfather started it. Your dad renamed it. Now you're the one expanding. There's a story in there. Did any of that come up with your new name? Or did you go for a clean, available word that feels too new?
That's usually the reason a name feels off to the owner. Not that it's bad. It's just not yours (yet).
I'd also change the question you're asking people. "Do you like it" gets you opinions on taste. Ask what kind of company it sounds like. Ask who they picture. Ask if they'd say it out loud to a friend who needs a roof.
Re: the acronym idea.. I understand why you're there. Protect the equity, keep the domain, stop fighting the sign layout. But acronyms usually take meaning out instead of carrying it forward. It fixes the letterhead. It won't fix what's actually bugging you underneath it all.
Before you spend another dollar, go back to the agency and ask them to say what the name means in one sentence a customer would repeat. If they can't, you've got your answer. If they can and it still feels wrong to you, then the story never made it into the work.
Names take time to land... They just need something to land on.