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There are thousands of massive branding campaigns taking place throughout the world. This is what happens when panic and creativity collide with the human psyche in hyper-accelerated, happy-go-lucky consumerism, desperately trying to create pyramids of wealth that reach the sky.
Few succeed, and mostly fail, as their burn-rate of advertising is faster then the buy-in of the name identity in the global marketplace which directly impacts sales and market share. This also explains why there are hardly any globally respected, equally protected name identities, as currently, most of the hype and fanfare outlining new mergers and name identities are based on short-lived promotions wrapped around common look-alikes. Good names grow and attract customers.

When the killer "A" virus became loose, desperate ad agencies seeking fame and glory came up with the idea of adding the letter "A" to just about everything in an attempt to appear unique and exotic. Hence, ALTIMA, ACHIEVA, ASUNA and AROURA came about. The glut of "A" names became confusing and meaningless, as monikers with even more A's began to appear, such as APAYA, AVAVYA or AVAVA. After many thousands of these look-alikes, sound-alike, naming accidents later, the trend finally died.

Now does this mean that we should start discussing prospects for abusing the letters "B" "C" or "D"? No, please don't. Because each letter of the alphabet has some powerful hidden characters, strengths and weaknesses amidst alpha structural related trends. Without a solid understanding of what a brand must ultimately deliver, one is simply shooting in the dark. Corporate Name branding is a very serious issue and is not a question of simply inserting letters into already existing or famous name brands.

The solution is to stop the denial of ever-lingering name problems and to put an end to bandage branding; attempting to "cure" an injured name by adding "One" "PLUS" "FIRST" "WORLD" or the letter "E" to an existing brand with the intention of appearing unique.

The question is, why are so many business names so dysfunctional and poorly chosen, especially when they continuously hurt their owners who waste huge amounts in advertising fireworks and eventually end up in smoke while going nowhere? Does this explain why there are endless daily name changes? Further, why are these desperate name change processes producing even more "dumb and dumber" identities?

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Naseem Javed, recognized as a world authority on corporate image and global name identities, is a harsh critic of casual and accidental naming. He is a dynamic speaker on corporate image and branding issues, and is also the author of Naming for Power. He founded ABC Namebank International, an image and branding consultancy over 25 years ago.
Website: www.abcnamebank.com