Anderson Consulting has announced that its new name will be Accenture, after the name was approved by its executive committee yesterday.
[AUDIO]The change comes after a selection process of 80 days in which thousands of names were considered and examined for suitability and their translation into different languages. More than 3 000 trademark searches were also conducted.
CEO Joe Forehand says it is pure coincidence that the new name starts with the letters AC, the acronym by which Andersen Consulting has come to be called.
"One of the things in the brand positioning and the strategy was to move to a new beginning and to have a name that moved away from where we had our roots in the past," he said in a conference call announcing the name. "It just happened accidentally to have the letters AC and there will be no connection in any of our logos. There will be absolutely no attempt to build up from Andersen Consulting in any way."
Under the terms of the arbitration between Andersen Consulting and erstwhile parent Arthur Andersen, the former may not use the name or any derivative of it. The settlement also cost Andersen Consulting a $1 billion payment.
[AUDIO]Accenture says it will add $175 million to its advertising budget next year to re-brand the company, but says it is a small price to pay for the chance to differentiate itself clearly from Arthur Andersen.
The name will also be a starting point for the complete repositioning of the company, Forehand said. "We want to become a market-maker, architect and builder of the new economy."
The new name came from an employee in Norway that links it to the words "future", "adventure" and "excellence". In return for his effort, he has been invited to the world matchplay golf championships in Australia next year, one of the first events to be sponsored by the re-named company.
Related stories:
Andersens satisfied with arbitration ruling
Share