These organizations join Verizon and Lucent in the realm of made-up monikers

The Name Game: Bank or disco? Consultants say `creative' names sometimes dilute corporate image AUTHOR: Jenna Schnuer SOURCE: Advertising Age; October 16, 2000; page 32. Take a guess what products or services these marketers provide: Avaya, Spherion and Venator. While an informal consumer poll brought out answers such as "a Spanish travel company," a "ball company" and "blinds and window treatment" manufacturer, respectively, their actual businesses are: networking and business communications, employment agency, and the operator of retail outlets such as Footlocker. These organizations join Verizon and Lucent in the realm of made-up monikers. With a bevy of mergers and a frenzy of start-ups changing the business landscape, the need for new company names is more prevalent than ever. But how important is the meaning? Branding experts agree that although still relevant, the overall value of a company's name has diminished. Previously "the name could do more of the business basics, it can't do that anymore," said Allen Adamson, managing director of Landor Associates, San Francisco. "Now the name, at best, can get one dimension of something about the company across. It can't get an entire value proposition across." In the past, companies focused on a who (Barnes & Noble, Ford Motor Co., Walt Disney Co.,); what (General Electric Corp., Burger King Corp., International Business Machines Corp.); and where (American Telephone & Telegraph, Texas ...