Reply to: Anyone know why The Norwich Union has been renamed Aviva ?

[Mich the Tester]

I'm still failing to see your point here Mitch. Are you annoyed with the name change?

Not with the one particular name change, no. I'm annoyed with the kind of management quackery that involves spending silly amounts of money on name changes, rebranding and image engineering, when the really effective way to get a good name in the market is to spend years, or even decades, building, selling and servicing good products and services that please the customer, and also please the employees and suppliers who feel satisfaction at contributing to the product. I see too many of these 'Avivas', 'Capitas', 'Vitens', 'Essents' and so on who provide tulip service and dissatisfy their customers but think that yet another flash rebranding exercise will save their bacon. It's especially annoying when in some merger the quality of service you've come to expect from an organisation is destroyed due to the big job cuts and the difficulties of merging two firms with completely different cultures and histories.

I used to be insured for health costs by 'Het Groene Land' which was an insurer based locally; they were very good, with excellent service. They were swallowed by 'Achmea', which sounds like a scouser's cat in a bad mood, and their service is now tulipe because they've had to merge their admin with umpteen other insurers in the same group. I was always pleased with the helpful and knowledgeable people at WMO, who knew just about every water pipe in the area like the back of their hands, but now I have to ring some helpdesk in Amsterdam and talk to Vitens customer service who don't even know where Overijssel is.

Honestly, it's tulipe and I've had enough of it.

[NickNick]

I'm still failing to see your point here Mitch. Are you annoyed with the name change?

[Mich the Tester]

Or this lot

[Mich the Tester]

Although the Norwich Union brand is old, tried and trusted in England, noone will have heard of it in other parts of the world so it is not viewed as helpful towards their mission to "keep up with the 'pru", sorry, expand globally.

It wasn't a problem for these guys

[Metal Mickey]

Anyone know why The Norwich Union has been renamed Aviva ? ......

Is it because the holding company have decided to dump the 200 year old 'Norwich Union' title as they think that anything that is British or sounds British is a 'risky' asset /gamble and is therefore a 'bad' bet ?????

or is it just to do with economies (savings) made on re-branding under one single name ?

Probably some smart branding company that reckons it will have more "international appeal"... the Norwich Union brand is "holding them back" from becomming even bigger....

I worked in one of the group companies for a while and the reason for the rebranding is exactly that.

Although the Norwich Union brand is old, tried and trusted in England, noone will have heard of it in other parts of the world so it is not viewed as helpful towards their mission to "keep up with the 'pru", sorry, expand globally.

The cynic in me might be sceptical of these attempts by Senior Management to grow the business once they have saturated their home market, but it means ongoing work for web developers so it is not all bad.

[Doggy Styles]

The Manchester United brand works wordwide.

Although it is usually abbreviated to Man Yu, probably for the chinese market.

[NickNick]

Oh I agree that some 'local' brand names work well internationally, but I also think that others don't. HSBC and BMW work better that their full names, in my opinion. Cheddar works very well (and yes I know it's cheddar and not Cheddar, but still)

One thing that people need to take into consideration on the international stage is how a name is pronounced around the world, and I would hazard a guess that Avivia works better than "Commercial Union General Accident Norwich Union (CGNU)" which is what it replaced.

[Mich the Tester]

Heh, aye, cos nothing says "international company" like Norwich and Gloucester. ;o)

That's the point; there's nothing wrong with a regional name if you want to trade internationally. It gives people something they can identify. People buy pensions from Swiss Life. They put their money into the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank long before it was called HSBC. People bought into San Pellegrino, which is a place (and a rip off, but that's besides the point). Wine isn't sold under names like 'Boozions'; it's sold by it's regional name. Stop trying to make believe that a company can't have a strong regional identity AND be succesful internationally. It can, and I've already given you some examples.

[NickNick]

SO they could easily have researched which was more popular of 'Cheltenham and Gloucester' or 'Norwich Union' and plumped for that one. Or indeed 'Norwich and Gloucester'.

Heh, aye, cos nothing says "international company" like Norwich and Gloucester. ;o)

[AlfredJPruffock]

Some kind of Tax Dodge no doubt.

[Foxy Moron]

[Clippy]

Isn't Aviva what Speedy Gonzales used to shout before shooting off.

Aviva, Aviva, Andalay, Andalay....

[Foxy Moron]

i think they should have called it Wallace Willis

[Mich the Tester]

Thing is that Aviva DID try and use the abbreviation CGNU, but no one liked it, so they plumped for the Aviva brand some years back.

SO they could easily have researched which was more popular of 'Cheltenham and Gloucester' or 'Norwich Union' and plumped for that one. Or indeed 'Norwich and Gloucester'.

[NickNick]

So use the abbreviation. As soon as someone's interested in the brand, tell them what it means. But don't go calling German cars from Munich 'Automens' or 'Drivans'.

All these tw@tty names make me think of another 'great enterprise' of the motor industry; Trabant.

Thing is that Aviva DID try and use the abbreviation CGNU, but no one liked it, so they plumped for the Aviva brand some years back.