What's in a Name?

There's a most memorable scene from the movie “Good Morning, Vietnam” in which airman first class and disc jockey Adrian Cronauer (played by Robin Williams) facetiously questions an Army lieutenant about a press conference to be given by former Vice President Richard Nixon in 1965: “Excuse me, sir. Seeing as how the VP is such a VIP, shouldn't we keep the PC on the QT? 'Cause if it leaks to the VC he could end up MIA, and then we'd all be put out in KP.”

This quote stuck with me, especially because I began to notice more and more people actually talking that way. Is it because we're pressed for time and influenced by the deluge of acronyms in business lingo, phone communications and on the Internet? Or is it just how things are done these days?

When you give it some thought, you'll find that many company names no longer consist of a string of words; they've evolved into letters. Some well-known names are just familiar acronyms. And there's a good chance you won't even know the firm's original name.

The easy ones pop into your mind first, like Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) or Abercrombie and Fitch (A&F) or newbies such as a.n.a (A New Approach), one of J.C. Penney's latest. (Interesting revisionist history note about KFC: Recent commercials imply that, in order to avoid the “fried” connection, KFC really means “Kentucky Fresh Chicken.”)

When you try guessing the original names of some of the following companies you come to understand that acronyms, once absorbed into the mainstream, replace what is an older, less-fashionable concept with a spiffier, more “with-it” set of letters. There are two big advantages to this:

• The firm is no longer boxed into its earliest positioning.

• Under its new name, the company can gain cachet that may open up merchandising possibilities.

In some cases it's also instantly evident that there's no way the current image or advertising approach would have worked with the old name.

Try to guess the original names of the following firms. (See answers at lower right.)

1. 3M
2. AOL
3. AT&T
4. A|X
5. BMW
6. CK
7. CVS
8. DKNY
9. Fannie Mae
10. GEICO
11. IBM
12. J.C. Penney
13. JVC
14. Nabisco
15. Quantas
16. REI
17. Yahoo!

Another likely reason for the increase in acronym use is the need for easily remembered and found Web domain names. Nobody wants to type, say, 27 letters when they can type just three. On the other hand, it's been said that those businesses still struggling to establish a reputation may find an acronym doesn't offer adequate brand ID, and that only well-known outfits are ripe for name adaptation.

Even so, a cursory look around the catalog industry reveals that a lot of books could use some freshening with a new name. Granted, changing the name without altering the attitude is like painting a building that has a shaky foundation. But just considering such a major change could lead to improvements that'd be more than merely cosmetic.

With that thought in mind, I grabbed a few catalogs that happened to be in my mailbox at the time I was writing this column. This does not mean these books need a name change — just that their bad luck put them in my clutches when the mood hit.

• Ballard Designs to BAD

  If nothing else, it could be a hot spinoff of much more contemporary goodies.

• L.L. Bean to BEAN

  Why not this somewhat flippant-sounding acronym for Best Engineered Apparel Nowadays (or Best Ever Apparel Now…and Forever)?

• J.C. Penney to JC

  Penney's changed its name early on. But with the new look, maybe it should shift to initials that suggest something truly “above it all.”

• Soft Surroundings to SOFT

  Sounds like something from a spy novel but adds a bit of intrigue not in the current (rather generic) title.

• Sharper Image to SHARP

  For Sophisticated Harbinger of Resourceful Pioneering.

• Touch of Class to TOC

  Too easy, you say? Nah, a natural!

• Walter Drake to WD10

  There's a relatively well-known lubricant called WD-40. Still, doesn't WD10 sound like getting the highest score in something wild, or a hot radio station's ID? Suffice to say it'd be an improvement.

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KATIE MULDOON (kmuldoon@muldoonandbaer.com) is president of DM/catalog consulting firm Muldoon & Baer Inc., Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

ANSWERS

1. Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co.
2. America Online
3. American Telephone and Telegraph Co.
4. Armani Exchange
5. Bayerische Motoren Werke (Bavarian Motor Works)
6. Calvin Klein
7. Consumer Value Stores
8. Donna Karan New York
9. Federal National Mortgage Association
10. Government Employees Insurance Co.
11. International Business Machines Corp.
12. James Cash Penney
13. Victor Co. of Japan
14. National Biscuit Co.
15. Queensland & Northern Territory Aerial Services
16. Recreational Equipment Inc.
17. Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle