Nadia Gonzaga's Blog

Isis Pharmaceuticals is just one of many businesses feeling the effects of sharing a brand name with a terrorist group. 

ISIS, the anti-government Islamic militant group fighting in the Middle East, has affected hundreds of businesses in the United States and Europe by doing nothing in the business world itself. How? It is all in the name.

270 companies are being damaged because they share the same name as the terrorist group. Businesses  such as: Isis Bridal and Formal, Isis Collections Inc., and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., are receiving undue responses from consumers about their brand name, most of them speculating that these stores may have a connection to ISIS. Already, customers have returned various goods to the stores because of the brand label. This has affected sales and has ruined the “brand image.”

It is unfortunate for businesses to end up in this state even though the identical brand names are purely coincidental. This demonstrates how powerful brand image and reputation can be. Even if a company has an excellent reputation, once a label has a negative connotation to it, the business may start to go downhill. As evident from the article, many business owners are frustrated and tired of the attitudes of consumers who believe Isis stores support the ISIS group. Some have even considered to change their brand name and the titles of their upcoming products to try to disassociate their company from the terrorist organization. This is a costly move and, according to Ries and Trout, will take much effort for companies to re-position their brand into the mind of the consumer. It is highly important to have a memorable, distinct name out in the market to attract consumers and garner attention. “Isis” companies received attention, no doubt. But it was the wrong kind of attention. As long as ISIS continues to make news, these businesses will still continue to feel the detrimental effects of their label. I believe businesses can definitely try to change their name to something more appealing. Nonetheless, it will take time and money and effort to carry out, and it may continue to harm the business further if the new name is not positioned correctly.

References

“Positioning As Popularized by Al Ries and Jack Trout.” QuickMBA. QuickMBA.com, 2010. Web. 05 Oct. 2014. <http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/ries-trout/positioning/>

The Associated Press. “‘Isis’ Name a Black Flag for Businessess.” CBC News. CBC/Radio Canada, 03 Oct. 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2014. <http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/isis-name-a-black-flag-for-businessess-1.2786467>

Image

Ignelzi, Lenny. Digital image. The State. The State, 3 Oct. 2014. Web. 6 Oct. 2014. <http://www.thestate.com/2014/10/03/3722756_whats-in-a-name-trouble-for-firms.html?rh=1>