Dear Log,
So PricewaterhouseCooper Consulting is changing its name to "Monday".
I couldn't make this up if I tried.
On the one hand, the sheer awfulness of the new name is getting them publicity -- on the other hand, it's all bad publicity. Yes, there is such a thing as bad press.
«Everyone is trying to be global, abstract, rootless, mysterious. Fewer and fewer businesses possess the self-confidence to stick up for their existing name and reputation. Their corporate monikers disguise the nature of what they do.»
«With wireless companies busy inventing new names for themselves to duck justly embarrassing reputations -- GTE/Bell Atlantic, no, Verizon; SBC/Bell South, no, Cingular -- the industry and its technology have all the reliability of someone fleeing a credit fraud charge.»
To bring readers up to speed who might not be familiar with the story, some years ago, the IT Consulting arm of Arthur Anderson (the Accountancy that's in such hot water these days, ooops... Worldcom, another Anderson customer) was spun off as a totally separate company. Initially, the name was Anderson Consulting, but Arthur Anderson had something in the original spin-off agreement that they could reclaim the name if they wanted to get back into the IT Consulting biz. Well, Arthur Anderson exercised their right in 1999 and Anderson Consulting changed their name to Accenture.
At the time, I thought, "what!?", Accenture is such a artificial sounding name and Anderson Consulting (at that time) had a really good name in the Industry.
Well, enough time has past now that Accenture people don't have to explain to every customer that they aren't THAT Anderson. Very very fortunate for them, I think.
