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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly e-newsletter.
The Es are again. Aberdeen, a fund supervisor with prospects as dreich (Scottish for drab) as its residence metropolis, axed the vowels in a bid to revive its fortunes in 2021. No cube: abrdn floundered simply the identical. Now a newish boss has reinstated the outdated title to “mark a brand new part for the organisation”.
Traders appear inspired by the asset supervisor’s return to profit, revamped strategy and targets. These ignited a 13 per cent mid-morning pop within the beleaguered share value. The return of the errant vowels, in the meantime, highlights the folly of eradicating them within the first place.
Disemvowelment has a spot — with Canadian electro musicians reminiscent of Mstrkrft, say, or Elon Musk’s progeny. Likewise, in literature, the place George Perec authored the lipogrammatic La Disparition, 300-odd pages with out the letter e.
Within the company world, not a lot. Altering names is a final resort in a spot the place continuity is valued. It’s no coincidence that a few of the longest-standing firms bear the identical title they did centuries in the past, reminiscent of Japan’s Mitsui and America’s DuPont.
In addition to, customers of firms’ merchandise are creatures of behavior no matter quirky leaning bosses. Greater than two years after Musk rebranded his $44bn buy X, loads of individuals nonetheless seek advice from it as Twitter.
For positive, there are occasions when a reputation change is suitable and even necessary. We’d all be backrubbing every single day if a brace of scholars referred to as Larry Web page and Sergey Brin had not renamed their search engine Google.
Firm pivots additionally justify a renaming. However, in heralding a brand new chapter, simplicity is up there with retaining vowels. After merging with Guinness in 1997, distiller Grand Metropolitan went classical: Diageo, after the Latin phrase for day and the Greek for world. Nonetheless, there’s a suitably Bacchanalian ring to a world the place individuals are ingesting each day.
That altering names and fortunes is linked just isn’t axiomatic. Have a look at the vowelless WW, most not too long ago punctured by the arrival of anti-obesity medicine and a shadow of its former Weight Watchers self.
To its credit score, aberdeen has not referred to as within the model consultants to revert to its outdated title. In contrast, the vowelless creation got here from Wolff Olins, the model consultancy additionally Diageo and a ridiculed £50mn BT rebrand within the Nineteen Nineties.
Aberdeen has not completely eschewed the typographic pretentiousness — witness its decrease case “a”. However the decanting of latest wine into the outdated bottle is a daring transfer, acknowledging its ill-judged former rebrand. Traders can concentrate on the numbers fairly than elusive vowels.
