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WebWord Weblog Posting Posting Date: October 03, 2002 KPMG Consulting changes name to BearingPoint -- "The company evaluated the names (approx. 550) for usability and meaning within the 134 countries in which its clients operate. " (Mac comments: How do you test a name for usability? Does it's score in Scrabble have any bearing on it? )
Reader Comments...
Well, Andersen Consulting became Accenture, PriceWaterhouseCoopers became Monday, and Deloitte Consulting became Braxton... it was only a matter of time before KPMG followed suit in the silly name game. Say... Isn't WebWord a consulting company? Isn't it about time for a name change here? Here are some ideas: GreenTide
“In BearingPoint, we created a brand that reflects what our clients say they value most: a business partner who helps them set direction, gain access to the right information, transfer knowledge, and achieve results for their long-term success,” said Linda Rebrovick, chief marketing officer of BearingPoint. Good to see that at least now they've decided to do things like help partners set direction, transfer knowledge, and achieve results. With that sad old name earlier, they didn't do any of that. (But some of us already knew that) :p Posted by: MadMan on October 3, 2002 06:22 AM
So, instead of using a name which people are familiar with, yet another consultancy is playing the "who the f*** are they?" game. And the name they've come up with is a piece of consultancy speak - Bearing Point? We synergistically leverage your competencies to maximise your bearing point throughput (or something). Somebody shoot them, please. I like Verdant as a new name for WebWord. It's better than other green-related names, like er.... Snot, for example. And Martin, I've just read your piece on Sunpig about our government's stance on The War On Terrorism (tm). I wish I'd written it - it's spot on. Posted by: Alan Fisher on October 3, 2002 06:54 AM
I imagine the tests were around spelling, meaning, "translateability" etc. Kinda funny - BearingPoint strikes me as an oxymoron...bearings are usually round... Posted by: on October 3, 2002 08:03 AM
Odd that this topic would distract me from my thoughts about whether or not Mac is the usability guru of the Internet. I had to do a double take and a search to find out what the heck a bearing point is... I am shocked at the concept of this company spending money on the Sunday morning news talk shows, supporting a name that forces people to do double-takes and scurry for their dictionaries. But maybe more of their clients sail, and will recognize this... It just sounds weird. The focus groups must have been pure agony to watch -- how many hear have seen a focus group where the moderator introduces an idea and is greeted by blank stares? It must have worked better after the moderator explained... Posted by: Frank on October 3, 2002 09:16 AM
BTW, guess which site is #1 on Google for KPMG idiots? Posted by: MadMan - the Indian usability king on October 3, 2002 11:21 AM
Congratulations! Now read this part - - Last update: 14 December 2002 1930 GMT Posted by: Frank on October 3, 2002 11:54 AM
Hm, that seems really bone-headed to me. I followed your link, MadMan and was amused to see the link to Joel's column on how excellence does not scale - I was just thinking of that! Posted by: Lydia on October 3, 2002 04:00 PM
An additional thought... One thing they apparently didn't think about is how easy it would be to switch to a far more common term in their name, and make a mockery of it. It's easy to get to "BreakingPoint," which is not pleasant. These considerations are usually an issue -- wonder why not here? When brand awareness fails, it's sometimes because someone has misunderstood the stimulus, and on recall reconstructs to the familiar. Posted by: Frank on October 4, 2002 08:00 AM
That's a really good point, Frank. You'd think someone would have raised a hand at some point and said something!! Posted by: Lydia on October 4, 2002 01:57 PM
Martin, for a few hours, I thought your logo was a real one. I later read Franks message and couldn't understand what he was getting at. I've just twigged it's a spoof, which shows how memorable their version is. Posted by: Mac on October 4, 2002 01:58 PM
Holey Moley, Mac, I missed that... The only difference I saw, first time I saw Martin's logo was the bit at the bottom. I dind't notice he'd tweaked the actual name! Talk about pattern recognition issues! Posted by: Frank on October 4, 2002 07:36 PM
A sack of weasels by any other name is still a sack of weasels Posted by: CB on October 11, 2002 07:57 AM
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