These 11 Brand Names That Couldn't Survive

When starting a business, creating the name of the brand is one of the most important parts; without a good brand name. the brand can suffer and have poor marketing and public relations. The problem is that sometimes things happen that can alter the perception of a brand's name, things that have nothing to do with the actual business.

For example, the Isis candy company. The candy company has nothing to do with the group in the Middle East but when people hear "ISIS", they think of the terror group and their acts of violence, not delicious chocolate.

Not every brand has to ditch a name when they find themselves in a situation like this, there are other routes. After all, a company's branding- personality, recognition, etc.- all rest on the brand's name. It is a large step and an arduous one! As soon as you get a new brand name, you are essentially starting from square one. However, sometimes that is the only solution, such as with Isis candy, who now operates under Libeert.

Here are 11 brand names that had unfortunate situations like this:

1. Isis Chocolates. Yes, we just mentioned them but we will go into more detail. The company actually had a great name until 2013, they went by Italo Suisse. It was in 2013 when they changed their name to Isis. Too bad the execs at the company didn't know about the terror group or they wouldn't have chosen that name, according to their marketing manager. The terror group has been around for a long time but it wasn't until the summer of 2014 until the US began hearing about them, as that was when they started mass-releases of their videos. They chose Libeert since that's the last name of the owners. Good move. 
2. Ayds diet candy. There was once a candy company called Ayds. That's right, it sounded just like the disease- AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). Even when AIDS had a mass awareness in 1981, the candy company didn't think the names would conflict. Well, in 1987, they realized they were wrong. The CEO and his team created a new name for the brand, "Diet Ayds". The new name was as bad as the old one. The brand flopped and disappeared from the world. This brand could've used some serious franchise PR. 
3. United Stationers. This was a recent change, just a month ago. United Stationers decided to change their name, the one they had since 1922, to Essendant. They believed that "stationers" sounded too much like stationary, which gave an antiquated feel, according to CEO Cody Phipps. 
4. Nokia. Nokia, the once preferred famous brand of cell phones. The phones notorious for strength (at least the ones from the 90s and 00s). And then the smartphone happened. Nokia was slow to adapt and they had to partner with Microsoft to make it happen. Microsoft bought Nokia in 2014, released the Lumia without the "Nokia" name on the phone, and the rest is recent history. 
5. Sci Fi. The Sci Fi channel changed its name to SyFy. The way it sounds is exactly the same, so this name change technically worked. This name change happened so the channel could broaden its offerings and it could be copyrighted. 
6. Hot Mama. This popular clothing brand was doing very well, however, due to its name (and branding), people thought they sold maternity clothes. They changed it to Evereve. 
7. YMCA. The famous gym brand changed their name from YMCA to The Y. Very few Americans knew what the letters stood for and it drove people crazy. The solution was simple, don't use them. The new logo and name were an easy acceptance for Americans since so many people called it "The Y" for years, anyway. 
8. Philip Morris. The largest tobacco company in the world, Philip Morris, knew that they had to change their name due to its closeness to Marlboro and other cigarette brands, which drew heat. They changed their name to Altria. 
9. AIG Chartis. The company at the center of the economic fallout of 2008, which was bailed out for $85 billion. Had changed their name to AIG Chartis in 2009. However, after ranking as the most hated brand every year between 2009 and 2013, they went back to AIG. 
10. ValuJet. You might know them by the name AirTran. When a ValuJet plane crashed in the Florida Everglades in 1996, there was some serious anger that came at the airline; they were known for low-priced airfare but many believed it was due to shoddy planes and maintenance. The brand was bought out by Southwest in 2010 and is no longer operating under AirTran name. 
11. Malaysia Airlines. You could say 2014 was not a good year for the airline, since it lost two planes within five months. One is still not found over a year later. While this brand has not done anything yet, a major rebranding is in the works, which could include a name change. 

Many of these brands changed their names due to a crisis, which can happen to any company. If your brand encounters a sticky situation, make sure to contact a crisis communications agency, such as a franchise PR firm. 

5 Great Ways to Appeal to Millennials and Gen Z

Millennials, anyone 21-35 years old, and Gen Z, anyone 20 and under, are coming of age where they can make their own buying decisions. Let's pair this with the fact that they are the first two generations in the world to grow up with technology being so potent in their lives.

With their level of buying power and resources to make it happen, getting their attention is harder than ever before. Our franchise PR firm has these five proven ways to appeal to this dominating demographic.

Be relevant but not desperate. There is a difference between using terms, mannerisms, and other processes from Millennials to be more visible and trying too hard. When a company uses a modern phrase, they have to be careful the way they say it and not cringeworthy. It can be painfully obvious when a brand is not sure how to use a phrase or slang, or connect with the thought processes of Millennials, and it can have a major boomerang effect.

Learn to love creativity. The younger generations like to be creative and unique. They embrace it. This means that businesses need to follow in their footsteps. It can be intimidating to be truly creative due to the fear of messing something up and being offensive. While you need to use judgement and veto any ideas that are truly wrong, don't be afraid to be creative and fun. Nobody likes a business that is boring, especially a demographic that has resources to entertainment everywhere.

Use real-time communication. Consumers under the age of 35 (even up to 40) are big users of social media to communicate with brands for concerns, questions, compliments, or just conversation. Even if you don't want your business to be on social media, unfortunately, you don't get to make that call. Any great franchise public relations team will tell you that you not only have to be present on social media but active on it; simply posting a generic post once a week is not truly using social media.

Post useful information such as articles and stats, post questions, post fun/entertaining things, show some love to people and other companies, and show you hear people who contact you.

Allow people to find you. Even if people are searching you, it doesn't mean you don't have to make your profiles as accessible as possible. On social media profiles, make sure to do the following:

• Hashtags for industry terms
• Have brand consistent messages on all platforms but don't post the exact same content on all platforms. Ex: a new product? Post it on all platforms but change the way you post it, such as the content around it. 
• Make sure that all profile fields are filled out: URLs, bios, mission statements, everything. 

Consider utilizing user-generated content. One thing that Millennials and Gen Zers like to do is help brands with content, it makes them feel heard and appreciated. If you are willing, consider having a campaign that is user-generated. Be aware that there will be trolls and watch out for them and scan all content prior to publishing. 

As a Chicago PR agency, All Points PR is all about connecting with target markets. Does your business need help connecting with Millennials? Then email All Points PR.