why change firm name? e.g from phillip morris to altria?

Question

is there any "proof" that such practices benefit the company? are there any studies that show favorable maket treatment after name change? (please include a link, or name of the study) i am looking for some psychology and marketing behind it.

Answer 1

((how else can they re-brand if they don't chaneg the name?))

Answer 2

The most obvious reason is that the corporate officers believe that the corporation's new name better reflects who they are and what they do and, thus, will suit their business interests better than the old name. Pardon me from being a bit cynical but I've seen some decent names get trashed for the likes of Synergis and other examples of "word smashing".

I suspect that the good folks of Phillip Morris wanted a name that no longer affected their tobacco heritage so they picked Altria. I have no idea what an altria is or what it represents. "Alt" suggests high and "ria" is a soft, non-confrontational syllable. Did it help? Well, the Altria stock has done very well over the past several years. The new name is some part of this.

Answer 3

In Phillip Morris' case, they wanted to shed their tarnished reputation as being a tobacco company (which they always also owned other businesses) however they were thought to be a tobacco company and with the lawsuits of the late 90s/early 2000s, their reputation suffered tremendously. Now most people probably don't know Altria is really the old Phillip Morris, their "goodwill" has been altered both positively and negatively, but the net result is positively.

Answer 4

The purpose of a change like this seems to be to "modernize" the company image. If often comes when a company is looking to change product offerings or get into new businesses. In the particular case that you cite, they wanted to put mileage between them and smokes. I think it is a fad or trend that will change in the future.