It takes a while, and sometimes, forever to convince customers that a business is not called that name anymore. It is even harder to convince them when the name they use was a brand they loved and often frequented.

The affiliation is hard to forget, or to ignore.

For many customers, Atlantic convenience stores were forever called AM PM.  Years after I had left Sunoco, which was years…after the rebranding to APlus even, I still heard people call it that. Now, flash forward years again and 7-Eleven has taken over. Whether they will choose to rebrand all of the units still, I think, has not been decided. Even if they do, there will people who will still insist on using that old name. At this point, it might be a lost cause.

Another name change or acquisition-led rebranding that comes to mind is Fedex and Kinkos. I don’t have any clue as to how long ago that change took place, but the brands were (are) both positive in many eyes. High end and a great level of service. Delivering on promises with consistency. I may never call it the “FedEx Store” but will try very hard to improve upon my insistence on calling it Kinkos. (Maybe it is just that they were the only goto place, in the middle of the night, a service on which a college student could depend on quality printing; no doubt at a cost – but one that would illicit an A for all the extra effort. I do owe them something; if only using their name with the highest regard.)

Married…new name – same person. A personal decision for many, a traditional decision for others. Some won’t change on principal. Others may think it is too confusing if they do and yet, still others think more confusing if they don’t. Hyphenating is a solution for some (not for me…) the original name hard enough to spell when spoken over the phone, the new name fairly intimidating but at least I am no longer called Don Johnson by the receptionist.

Thank goodness they don’t call me that anymore.

I am sure that I could go on (actually, I know I could) and summarize by example, several companies (or people) who still exist even if they are not called that name any longer. I think you get the idea…if the name wasn’t all that wonderful before, it would probably be easier to forget.

~ Dawn aka Hat Girl