Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Ekrem Dupanović
It’s always interesting to hear that an established company has changed its name. It may seem to you that such cases are rare, but some famous examples show that this happens more often than you think. Google is perhaps the most famous one. This name, which we say every day many times, and is a word that has officially entered the English language dictionary, is actually the second name of the company. When Page and Brin started working on a search engine they called it Backrub. Imagine if they hadn’t changed the name. You would be “back-rubbing” the net right now, huh? (“let me just backrub that…”) And this is not an isolated case. Datsun was renamed Nissan, Blue Ribbon Sports became Nike etc. It’s not uncommon in our region either.
There are many reasons why a company might change its name, but the most common are acquisitions and mergers, or to “escape” from a negative reputation. But why would a successful company also change their name, and how do they maintain their positive image in the midst of such changes?
Two days ago, the Zagreb based agency Abrakadabra changed its name to Komunikacijski Laboratorij (Communications Laboratory). Of course, the change came with a fresh visual identity. A crystal-clear, concise and simple visual with a red dot that “runs away” a bit to the right from the disciplined system, which clearly indicates that Komunikacijski Laboratorij intends to act outside the box, which has been one of the characteristics of Abrakadabra over the past 12 years. Don’t copy anyone, be yourself, be original, be creative…
A change of name and visual identity is one of the most important strategic changes in an organization, and this was a great occasion for us to talk with Manuela Šola, General Manager of Komunikacijski Laboratorij.
Media Marketing: What drove you to this kind of change?
Manuela Šola: The answer to this question is actually impossible to give without looking back at the previous twelve years and the agency’s history. When I started the agency, I was looking for a name that would stand out from the others in the market, but one that would at the same time communicate the creativity, dynamism and magic that we generate. Abrakadabra was an absolutely perfect word that contained everything in one word, and I also think that it perfectly transcended all language barriers.
Media Marketing: And yet?
Manuela Šola: Over the years, the agency grew, expanded its portfolio of services and its list of clients, and developed into what it is today – one of the most successful agencies in the market. Our name was our best recommendation, and many companies knew of us. And then, in the last couple of years, some potential clients began expressing a certain “objection” towards our name. Especially some of the older managers, who clearly communicated that the name seemed “frivolous” to them. When we first heard this, we quite simply didn’t pay any attention, but when you repeatedly hear the same thing you have to stop and wonder. For a while we weighed up whether to make a change or not and then we realized that it was high time. Since a lot has changed in the past year, both in the agency and in the market, we decided that there was no reason to procrastinate any longer.
Media Marketing: It’s interesting that three months ago you changed your visual identity, and now you’ve decided to change everything. Why didn’t you simply do all that three months ago?
Manuela Šola: I wonder that myself. If we had been just a little bolder, and perhaps a bit wiser, we would have done it all at once. At that moment, it seemed to us like a Solomonic solution. We started with the change of visual identity, thinking that it would alleviate the associations the name evoked in some people. Then, when the process was finished, we realized that the fear of changing our name was quite unnecessary because we have twelve years of successful work behind us, and I am certain we will be able to communicate this change properly.
Media Marketing: You say you were a little “afraid” of change. Were you afraid that the change would have negative consequences for the image of the agency?
Manuela Šola: I believe that a certain level of fear of change is always good because it means that you are carefully considering all scenarios, you know all the good that can come of it and you foresee the potential problems. It’s only bad if you allow it to paralyze you. And we haven’t allowed that. Once we admitted to ourselves that the change was necessary, all fear vanished. We have always let our actions speak for us and have built our image on that. All our knowledge, passion for work, experience and previous work are still here, so the change of name is not something that could have any possible adverse effect on us.
Media Marketing: Why did you decide on the name Komunikacijski Laboratorij?
Manuela Šola: Frankly, we had a lot of ideas for the new name. Some were better, others worse, but none sat just right with us. So it didn’t take long for us to agree when the name Komunikacijski Laboratorij was proposed, because it accurately communicates our current position and leaves us room for further development. Communication today has developed to the level of science. The set of skills that every expert in communications today should possess is really impressive and includes knowledge that goes beyond the boundaries of traditional public relations. It may sound immodest, but that’s exactly what we came to expect from our staff long ago – a strategic and almost scientific approach to solving communication problems – from analytics to tactics.
Media Marketing: One more question, what are your plans for Komunikacijski Laboratorij now? What can we expect next?
Manuela Šola: The last few months have been extremely dynamic for our team. We are working intensively on expanding our range of services, in the desire to provide more for our existing clients, and of course to attract new ones. Accordingly, we have hired several new employees who each make an invaluable addition to the agency with their particular skills. In addition, following trends in the field of public relations, at the beginning of the year we integrated the agency Ping Pong into Komunikacijski Laboratorij, as its digital department. However, the biggest challenge still awaits us. We are now opening a new office in Ljubljana, and in the second half of the year we will continue the process we started by opening offices in Belgrade. From these three centers, we will be able to cover the region better and provide clients with more value for their brand. And, due to our very good business results in 2015, our plans for 2016 are even bigger and more challenging.