ISIS Pharmaceuticals Inc. headquarter http://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.2037012!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg
What does ISIS stand for? Is it the Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., the Isis Bridal and Formal, or the Islamic militant group that the United States is fighting with in Iraq and Syria? If it is the latter one, this could be a lot of problem for businesses with the same acronym, as they already have their name damaged.
Ries and Trout have explained that using acronym to represent the company’s brand name is extremely dangerous, due to the fact that smaller companies will lose their identity. This proves true to these smaller businesses, and as a result, many companies are changing their name to avoid misconceptions. All but, Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc, where they refuse to give up on a name they developed for 25 years.
Although, it would be ashamed to abandon a name that they worked so hard and long for, I would rather start new than have a brand image that is so scarred and misrepresented.
ISIS Militant group in Iraq http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/06/isis_photographs_det.php
Even if Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. is confident that they can overcome this challenge, the name ISIS is already a taboo. Not only do they have to convince their customers that they are not associated with the militant group in Iraq, but they have to convince their customers that they are an honest company. There are just too much risk and cost if Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. continues to keep the name.
After all, brand image is extremely important, as we have discussed in class. It is what distinguish themselves from their competitors and what imprint their names into a consumer’s mind. Like Ries and Trout explained, “it is quite difficult to change a consumer’s impression once it is formed” since there are so many alternatives and so much information that are constantly put upon consumers.
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Works Cited:
Murphy, Tom. “There’s No Terror Here, Isis Proprietor Declares.” The Vancouver Sun. The Associated Press, 3 Oct. 2014. Web. <http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Businesses with name Isis battle image cast Islamic militant/10259609/story.html>.
Ries, Al., and Jack Trout. Positioning the Battle for Your Mind. 20th Anniversary ed. New York, N.W.: McGraw-Hill, 2000. Print.
Roggio, Bill. “ISIS Photographs Detail Execution of Iraqi Soldiers.” The Long War Journal. Public Multimedia Inc., 15 June 2014. Web. <http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/06/isis_photographs_det.php>.