A Name Change Isn’t A Brand.
This just in: Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates is changing its name to Travel Leaders. Okay, I know it’s tough to come up with good names - but how long did it take (and how much did they pay somebody) to come up with “Travel Leaders?” “Leader” is one of the most abused words in the world of marketing speak.
Here’s the part that could really be the brand (the actual services):
In addition to the new name, Travel Leaders has a new Web site, www.travelleaders.com. It is also offering private shore excursions for its premium cruise customers, a certified travel specialist program to ensure staff professionalism and a personalized travel planner to provide customized information for cruise customers.
New? I typed in traveleaders.com (note the difference one little letter makes) and get a site that has a copyright of 2006. And, the site is a corporate one - with flash/splash loading, generic photos, and small text. When I click on “book your vacation” - more generic images load before I can get to anything else - and my choices range from Coral Gables to Cincinnati??? Hey, where’s Carlson? Oh well, guess I’l got to Expedia where I’ve already got an account.
Check URLs before choosing or changing a name.
Make the name memorable. If they’d asked me, I’d suggested they consider going back to their old name, “Ask Mr. Foster.” You could do a lot with that - personalized service, real humans on the other end of the line, etc. etc.
(And on a quick visit to the real web site - looks functional, but nothing exciting or “new new.”)
Tags: marketing, Carlson Travel, marketing troubleshooting, emarketing, Travel Leaders
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August 25th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Mary,
Enjoyed reading your thoughtful piece regarding our name change to Travel Leaders.
To your point, a name change does not in itself make a brand. It’s the people who make a brand. It’s our customer base who use word of mouth to define who we are.
We also know that it’s our travel experts, the Travel Leaders, who continually work to meet and exceed the expectations of their clients from the moment they book their travel right up until they’ve safely returned home.
Given our long and rich history, we believe the Travel Leaders name forcefully and dramatically captures exactly who we are, as well as who we will continually aspire to be. At its heart, the Travel Leaders name was specifically chosen in recognition of the instrumental leading role we have forged on behalf of travelers ever since our beginnings as Ask Mr. Foster (as you’ve pointed out), yet it also symbolizes our progressive approach toward travel.
Plus, for the millions of travelers we already serve, we also have a name that’s easy to pronounce and spell!
Finally, for those who inadvertently have misspelled our new name, please allow me to assure you and your readers of the following.
Prior to last week’s unveiling of our Travel Leaders name, we actually acquired the Coral Gables-based TraveLeaders of which you have referenced. While the TraveLeaders Web site has not yet officially migrated to Travel Leaders, it will be forthcoming fairly soon.
Thanks again for highlighting our new name. And great Web site, too!
Best regards,
Steve Loucks
Vice President, Communications
Travel Leaders, formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates
August 25th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Steve,
Good to see that you are paying attention! And, good luck with your new name - I still maintain, however, that “leaders” is a much over-used and abused word. Besides, I think Carlson is pretty easy to spell, but then I was an English major at one time, so whadda I know?
And, you could pretty much call yourself anything if those millions are truly loyal, including “Ask Mr. Carlson”
(Hmmm….or maybe not, “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!” )
August 26th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Mary,
Thanks again for your discussion regarding our brand.
You may not have known this but last January, the management of Carlson Leisure Group, which had been wholly-owned by Carlson and had been a sister company to the travel management company still known as Carlson Wagonlit Travel, bought the Carlson division outright from Carlson. Thus, the Carlson Wagonlit Travel name no longer belongs to us or our franchisees.
Having said that, as part of our buyout, we were able to secure the rights to use Carlson Wagonlit Travel name for up to three years for our franchised travel agencies. However, shortly after we announced the buyout, our franchisees told us they no longer wanted to invest in a name that they would not “own” for the long-term.
Instead, they asked that we expedite our process for renaming our 500+ locations sooner than later. Our management promised our franchisees that we would have a new name to roll-out at their annual convention, which took place late last week. Very aggressive timeline, to be sure.
Shortly after our management buyout, we acquired Florida-based TraveLeaders. While it was not a fait accompli that we would use that name for our agencies, we undertook an aggressive rebranding process that vetted over 2000 different names, including some that we completely made up. Only a select few had not already been registered or trademarked either here or in Europe. Since Travel Leaders was a variation on a name we now owned, and since incredibly enough, it was not already registered or trademarked, our management settled on it as the name, especially since there was already great familiarity among our franchisees with TraveLeaders.
Thanks again for your interest,
Steve Loucks
Vice President, Communications
Travel Leaders, formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates
August 27th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Steve,
Thanks - and thanks for emailing me offline. This is an excellent example of “everything you do is marketing.” In this case, the legal and logistical ramifications of a change in the company ownership and/or structure.