What’s in a Name? (Everything)
If someone mentioned Brad’s Drink to you, would you know what they were talking about? Unless you’re well versed in obscure trivia, chances are the names Brad’s Drink and BackRub don’t mean anything to you. That’s because the companies those two brands morphed into, Pepsi and Google respectively, have become massive enough to eclipse some of the elements of their history.
Selecting a name isn’t the kind of thing a company takes lightly. The proper branding is something that will either help or hurt all of a company’s future efforts. And all of the best branding begins with picking the proper name. But even as that’s the case, name changes amongst companies are as much a part of the corporate landscape as company picnics and corporate mergers. These sorts of name changes are so common that we too fell victim.
Before your favorite custom challenge coin company was known as Signature Coins, we did business under the name of Challenge Coins R Us, as part of The LPRUS Network (short for Lapel Pins R Us, our original company and product).
Why The Change?
Some name changes are the result of a company meeting a new challenge and working well within it. When Sound of Music’s largest store was hit by a tornado in 1981, they organized a sale to get rid of damaged and excess stock. They promised “Best Buys” on their products, and when the sale ended, they’d made more money than ever before. The company was rebranded Best Buy, and the rest is history.
One of the primary reasons behind our change from Lapel Pins R Us to Signature Promotional Group was because we do so much more than just lapel pins. Organizing all of the individual things we do under the broad Signature Promotional Group label opened the door for consistent branding with Signature Coins, Signature Pins, Signature Patches and all of the other branches of the Signature family.
As a company grows, its identity grows and changes. These types of expansions lead to new names and a number of other considerations as well. Here at Signature Coins, we felt the need to ensure that we remained ahead of the tide when we decided to change our name. And that decision is one that has continued to pay dividends.
Aligning Our Beliefs With Our Business Branding
As a company that delivers custom promotional materials to our clients’ unique specifications, we’ve long believed in the importance of our customers’ individual voices, their signatures. It only made sense that this value be reflected in our name as well.
Given the uniqueness of our clients’ needs and requirements, it was also important that we have a brand that stands apart on its own. It’s no secret that any business branded with the R Us moniker is immediately going to bring up connections to another popular brand. Adopting the Signature Promotional Group name allowed us to stand alone. In the long run, the name change has been for the best since we’re still here and thriving while the other R Us brand isn’t doing so well.
We’ve even leveraged our experience with name changes to help create marketing materials in support of the Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services — Safway Group merger.
In the years since we shifted from Lapel Pins R Us to Signature Promotional Group, you’ve come to know us as the company that puts your needs, your voice, your signature first in everything we do. And we’ll continue earning your business and your respect with our excellent customer service for years to come. In the event that your organization sees a major rebranding effort, we hope you’ll consider partnering with us to create the materials needed for those efforts. After all, we’ve been there before and know how best to meet your needs.
