By Ed Avis
The world of reprographics probably has more name changes than any other industry. Remember all the companies that used to have “blueprint” in their name? National Blueprint (now called NRI), Miller Blueprint (now called Miller Imaging & Digital Solutions), and Barker Blueprint (now just Barkerblue) come to mind, but there are dozens of others.
Many of the companies that removed “blueprint” from their names added “reprographics,” but that word is now fading (see related story about the name change at Thomas Printworks.)
If you are faced with the decision to drop “blueprint” or “reprographics” from your name, you probably hope your next name will last. Here are five tips from various experts on choosing a name that will endure:
1) Decide what you want your name to convey. Do you want describe what you do? Or do you want to get attention? Naming experts often say a name that does not describe your business is valuable because it is flexible – think of Apple vs. Microsoft. Apple can make watches and phones and ipods and everyone thinks the name works. Microsoft sounds so computery that it’s hard to imagine Microsoft making anything other than a computer. On the other hand, your reprographics firm is probably not going to get into the mobile phone business, so a more descriptive name may be called for. Shooting for a combination – a word that describes what you do, but is still flexible, seems reasonable. The word “imaging,” for example, has been chosen by many repro shop owners as suitably descriptive yet still vague enough to endure the inevitable changes in this industry.
2) Get input. Don’t choose a name in a vacuum. Hold a brainstorming session or employee contest to tap the insight of your staff. You might be pleasantly surprised by the ideas your delivery guy comes up with – after all, he’s probably hanging around your most creative customers a lot more than anyone else on your staff. In fact, invite your customers to participate, too. They’ll definitely have more interest in your new name if they helped choose it. Write down all the options, rearrange them, say them out loud over and over, and see if something sticks. Pick the three or four best options.
3) Do your homework. Once you have some good options, make sure the names are available in your state and beyond. Also see if the URLs are available (if a particular URL is not available, you probably don’t want that name). You don’t want to change all your signage and discover a month later that someone else already owns the name. Also, if you choose an unconventional word as part of your name, make sure it doesn’t mean something odd or embarrassing in another language. Speaking of odd words, remember that a word that’s hard to pronounce or spell will be a hassle for customers. Don’t burden them with that.
4) Test it. Take your best options, after you’re sure they’re available and not embarrassing in Spanish, and see which one your customers like best. Do a SurveyMonkey poll and put the poll on your website. Mention the options in your advertising, on your invoices, in your company newsletter, and anywhere else you think customers will see it. You don’t need to accept the results of the poll as the final word, but if there’s an overwhelming favorite, it better be one of your favorites, too!
5) Make the plunge. Once you’ve assembled all the data from the surveys, talked to staff and lawyers, and picked the winner, don’t hold back. Go through the legal paperwork, announce the name, change your signage, and promote the heck out of it. Keep your old URL, but forward it to the new one. There will probably be plenty of people who will say they preferred the old name and you may lose a few customers – at least temporarily – but if you stick to your guns eventually everyone will see the new name from your perspective.
One last point – should you use your last name? There are pros and cons. If your company already has a long reputation with “Johnson Blueprint,” changing to “Johnson Imaging” probably makes sense. But if your last name is hard to pronounce or other companies near you use the same or similar name, it’s probably not a good idea. Also, remember that if you ever sell your company you’ll lose control of your name. Do you want that?
In the end, remember that you’re going to be looking at that new name for (hopefully) decades to come. So take the time and energy now to choose wisely!
Click here to read a 2007 article from Repro Report on this topic.