The Promoters/Founders would always want their names to be remembered with the Companies / Brands they founded. Indeed! But that was possible back then in the Conservative Era, wherein only the names mattered! From a boutique Tailor, to Bakery, to a Mechanic etc. all ran on the Goodwill & Reputation Capital of any Surname or Name back then. But today, that runs on the Reputation Capital created by the Name of any Company or Brand!
NOW:
This is true that not all Brands excel! But once they pass a certain litmus test, then their names play an important role for Future M&As; especially in the case, wherein the Company’s Promotors/Founders at some point, have entangled themselves with some serious legal troubles!
I’ll give you some examples! The brand name Nirav Modi, once being considered as one of the most famous & reputed brand names in India, further that opened diamond & jewellery stores across World, erecting maybe billions of dollars’ worth business empire! But once, the Promoter / Founder under whose name the brand name itself was created, landed into serious legal troubles, then, that Brand itself collapsed, which created more issues, as now, no one even wants to carry forward that Brand Name ahead via merger or acquisition, even if some deal is struck! Or until, that brand name only is changed / re-branded altogether!Contrary to this, take another hypothetical example of Kingfisher brand! Now imagine, if the said brand name, when it was Re-launched, had been replaced & renamed with Vijay Mallaya’s name in India in the late 1970s! And as being its Promotor, his reputation capital was lost later, decades after, as was declared A Fugitive; thus imagine, what would’ve happened to Kingfisher Brand altogether, that later Survived, even after landing into serious troubles! And it survived because it didn’t hold its Promoter’s / Founder’s name on it!
Dolce & Gabbana, albeit the ruling against them was later overturned by the Higher Court, YET, back then, the brand name suffered a dent in its reputation capital, as the brand name itself carried the name of its Founders / Promoters, with a dented image!
One would now question me, that most of the companies selling High End products, they either carry a name, or, surname in their brand! So, my answer to that would be, it worked back then in the Conservative Era wherein the name mattered, but, today and henceforth, it won’t work! The Brands like Gucci, Tata, Hermes, Armani, Louis Vuitton, Godrej etc. already created a Family Legacy for Decades or maybe for more than a Century! And further took steps, whatever possible, to maintain the Reputation Capital of the Family name, come what may! Thus, it worked! But if you look further closely on the other side, the Ambanis’ mostly marketed their Brand Name as Reliance, and Not by their Name or Surname.
Furthermore, would the Twitter’s valuation back then be around $44B, if Twitter had traded as Jack Sparrow ERR Dorsey? Nope! The valuation of TESLA wouldn’t be of a Trillion Dollar, had its name been changed to Elon Musk; AS, a decade back, the Conservatives would’ve avoided buying Tesla & its related Products; and after 2022, Liberals and Leftists would’ve avoided owning anything that held the name Elon Musk! Hence, this is the reason, you don’t know when, where, how, and in which direction, the Promotors or Founders or Subsequent Proprietors of any brand, or of any Company, will sail; thence, the name of any new Company or Brand in today’s World should Not be associated to any name or surname! BTW, in any case, it is difficult to get a trademark or a company’s registration, that carries a name or surname; the reasons, which I’ve already explained in one of my earlier blogs.
Thus, if in case you’re a Startup or landing into a new Venture, then, I would suggest and request, never to start that with your own name or surname, if you’re the Promotor / Founder / Subsequent Proprietors; at least in the Today’s world. Take this example: The Brand Name TRUMP thrives, irrespective of the allegations against him, for the reasons as I explained above, as the Legacy it had already created, long back!
That’s why every Company carries a different identity, and is considered altogether as a different entity, distinguishing itself from the Proprietorship, Partnerships VS Private / Pubic Limited or LLPs!
And this is also true that more than name, how any company or brand evolves, that matters! Names are secondary!😊
© Pranav Chaturvedi
No comments:
Post a Comment