What's in a Brand Name? Some Companies Just Don't Want You to Know...

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." - Verbal, The Usual Suspects

In public relations, there is a little-known segment of experts whose jobs are essentially to keep their clients names (and deeds) out of the light of public scrutiny. These men and women are almost never quoted or noted, yet they are powerful enough to pull feats worthy of David Blain by causing major negative events to literally disappear in plain sight.

Every so often in the branding world, a similar feat occurs. What do you do when your brand strategy is to be invisible, or you need to remove traces or connections of a brand to negative events? Changing your name is one way to do it; simply turn to your brand strategist of choice for guidance. But it only works if you keep your mouth shut.

Take for instance Altria Group, formerly known as Philip Morris.

This company's innocuous logo and unassuming name tells you nothing about who they are or what they do. There's a reason for this: the once-respected Philip Morris brand (the biggest member of the Big Tobacco club) needed to duck under cover from a constant barrage of media scrutiny and legal attacks. Unlike their competitor Lorillard Corp. which has always tried to keep a low profile, Philip Morris spent years building its brand around cigarettes and beer ("the companies of your pleasures").

Reinventing its brand as a brand representing "nothing" was a Seinfeld-esque stroke of genius. As Altria, the company is now able to fully express its altruistic side, because non-profit organizations that had previously distanced themselves from Philip Morris were (and are) only too happy to accept grants from Altria. And best of all, the Philip Morris name wasn't gone entirely; it could be trotted out to take the blame for corporate sins and then retired to the closet.

An unfortunate (though extremely impressive) example of marketing smarts trumping morals, as the biggest name in tobacco literally disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Corporate Culture Rules: Why Xe will likely forever remain “the company formerly known as Blackwater.”

Then you have Xe. Founded as Blackwater Group, Xe is a multi-billion dollar corporation built by CEO Eric Prince into one of the largest military contractors in the world over 6 short but tumultuous years. But the last few years have been hard on their image. As five former Blackwater employees prepared to defend themselves on charges of killing 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007, civil suits and negative press abounded. What to do? Change your name. Company spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said Blackwater was changing its name because "the idea is to define the company as what it is today and not what it used to be."

Better tell that to the CEO. Not the kind of man to hide quietly and wait anything out, former navy SEAL and billionaire auto parts heir Eric Prince took up several pages in this month’s Vanity Fair pointing out how unfairly he and his firm have been treated. That’s all well and good – but if the point of your name change is to lower your profile, well, you need to lower your profile.

Lesson learned?

Two of the three “legs” of the brand experience triangle are related to the corporation. The vision comes from the top, and ideally closely aligns with employees to drive a consistent corporate culture. We suspect that Xe has these two nailed down nice and tight. But the other leg – customer experience – is the one that drives how the world sees you. In Xe’s case, their direct customers – primarily the U.S. Government – still seem to be happy with what they’re getting. But their indirect customers – the taxpayers who ultimately pay Xe’s bills – are getting another perception entirely.

Brands succeed most powerfully when they align with the passion of their people, and tap into the passion of their customers. Just look at Apple or Pixar. But sometimes, it’s best to keep your passion, and your point of view, under wraps.

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© 2010 Michael Hinshaw and MCorp Consulting. All rights reserved. This article was originally posted on Touchpoint Insights, the MCorp Consulting blog. Touchpoint Mapping®, Brand MappingSM and Loyalty Mapping®  are registered trademarks of MCorp Consulting.