‘Brand name changes’ have become the latest trend. Recently, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company would be hereby referred to as ‘Meta’. The grand announcement is a move to rebrand the company’s concept as metaverse—a concept from science-fiction novels.
The latest Facebook name change news has become the talk of the town. Although they gain abundant attention, rebranding or brand name changes are not new thing. Renaming is another attempt at rebranding the company’s image and strategic directions by keeping the core values intact. But rebranding is not a cakewalk, as a minute mistake can shatter the entire tower to the ground. From logo revamps to brand name changes, the industry has witnessed every form of rebranding carried out by the existing popular brands.
As the phrase goes “its all in the name,” below listed are 5 popular companies that went through a brand name change.
1. Meta Facebook
It is time to officially bid farewell to Facebook and welcome Meta. Facebook is trending in the zone of recent company name changes. From October 28, the company is going to be referred to as ‘Meta’. On 28 October 2021, Mark Zuckerberg announced the company’s name change during the company’s annual Connect conference. Facebook employees have unveiled a new logo along with the name of the company ‘Meta’ sign in front of the company’s headquarters.
Although the company strives to expand its vision to virtual spaces where people interact using digital avatars, the company announced that it will not change its corporate structure. Facebook will keep trading under the ticker symbol MVRS. Facebook changed the name of its parent company, however, its other apps such as Instagram and Whatsapp will be housed under a separate division from Facebook Reality Labs—that makes the company’s AR and VR products.
Although Facebook’s name change to Meta is an attempt at rebranding the company’s deliveries, reports claim otherwise. According to reports, Meta is the direct result of Facebook’s current PR crisis over a cache of documents leaked by former product manager Frances Haugen and provided to Congress. Mark Zuckerberg states that the news coverage of those documents is an attempt at painting false pictures of the company.
2. Instagram Burbn
Once upon a time, Instagram did not exist. We do not mean it did not exist at all. Before selling the app to Facebook, Instagram was named Burbn by its founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. Fetus Instagram (we mean Burbn) was initially launched with the objective of location-sharing, earning points while check-ins, and post-event picture sharing for iPhone users. (Quite a surprise, isn’t it?)
The founders have tweaked the app several times before finalizing it as a photosharing app and hence, Instagram was born. Today, you can not only share pictures and edit them on Instagram via any device or from any source such as desktop or mobile. Moreover, you can also edit videos and make reels on trending songs.
A few years back, you would not have been able to share this blog on Instagram. Now that you can, do not forget to share it with your friends and surprise them!
3. Google Backrub
The search engine Einstein was initially addressed as Backrub. Surprised? This is true. In 1996, Google was called Backrub. The company name change aligns with the company’s attempts at entering the market with new initiatives and market goals.
As a matter of fact, various people are not aware of Google is one of the companies that changed their names. Brand name changes all the time for the objective of being aligned with the latest market goals or strategies. In 1998, Google’s creators Larry Page and Serge Brin’s renamed their business and technology Google. The word Google has been derived from the term ‘googol,’ a mathematical term for the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. The use of the term reflects their mission to organize a seemingly infinite amount of information on the web, says Google.
Google has become a brand in itself. Will you be able to ‘Backrub’ a foreign term after coming across it?
4. Twitter Odeo
The popular social media platform was known as Odeo during the ancient time. Thankfully, the legendary transition from Odeo to Twitter converted it from a podcast platform to a microblogging platform. The company’s name change is hailed as one of the terrific business rebrandings in the history of brand name changes.
The company feared its extinction due to the takeover of Apple iTunes on the podcast niche. The founders took a smart decision and changed it to the popular ‘tweet platform’ after Apple iTunes took over the podcast industry.
In the list of brand name changes, Twitter holds an incredible report. Today, the platform is used by billions of people throughout the world to learn about the latest and trending events and ‘tweet’ their opinions about them.
Would you rather tweet your opinions or record them and share them with the world?
5. Amazon Relentless
Once upon a time, the current richest man walking on the earth and shooting for the moon launched an online bookstore in 1996. Today, Amazon has become the go-to shopping platform for the entire world. Jeff Bezos proved how expansion, change, efforts, and changing the brand name can create a historic impact in the landscape of shopping.
During its launch, Amazon was known as Relentless. The company is currently ruling as one of the e-commerce giants and globally dominating its competitors. Relentless was a simple online bookstore. Today, you can find anything and everything on Amazon—from shoes to cable wires to groceries and refrigerators. The logo itself signifies the several sub-businesses owned and managed by the e-commerce giant. Amazon has indeed been relentless in its pursuit of e-commerce success.
In case you wanted to visit the infant bookstore, it is still there on Amazon!
It is proven that brand name changes all the time. It is not new for us to witness companies that change their names for the objective of establishing revamped brand image within the market. Although Facebook’s name change to Meta has been under the limelight lately, its outcomes are yet to be monitored and observed.
As the phrase quoted by the evergreen Shakespeare goes, “What’s in a name?” Which of the above-listed brand name changes do you think are historic?
Our Magazines →
