next naming a business story >

previous naming a company story >

Consignia readopts its old brand name:
Discovers there was nothing wrong
with its old corporate identity.

LONDON, May 6, 2002. We told you last month that Consignia, formerly the British Post Office, was suffering from a major case of buyer's remorse. Now, in a historic victory against the tsunami of obtuse names that flooded the New Economy, the chairman of Consignia announced yesterday that the company will return to its old name, Post Office, or the alternate, Royal Mail, within two years. This universally reviled name "cost £1m to create and has caused confusion among customers," according to The Guardian.

Allan Leighton, the current Consignia chairman whose tenure began after the name change,

...finds it difficult to believe that the previous management decided to ditch two of the best known names in Britain in favour of a new one that meant very little to anybody.

Mr Leighton said it was "unfortunate" the branding had been introduced at a when the firm was losing £1.5m a day.

Over the past year, Consignia has eliminated 30,000 jobs and closed a third of urban post offices. It must not be very pleasant to eat this much crow and return with tail between legs to the old name, but it is obviously the best decision in this case and should serve as a wake up call to all companies in the process of saddling themselves with meaningless, morphemic names.