Perhaps the board of the company formerly known as abrdn (and formerly still, Standard Life Aberdeen, and even further back, Aberdeen AM) came to the same realisation after the infamous name change of their brand back in 2021.

The asset manager found itself the butt of many jokes with the abandonment of vowels from its more famous Aberdeen name, immortalised in a now famous headline from City AM in April last year: ABRDN: AN APOLOGY – SRY WE KP TKNG TH PSS OT OF YR MSSNG VWLS.

While humorous, there is no doubt this was a PR disaster for the great asset management behemoth and it is hardly surprising that last week the company announced a new name – aberdeen group – alongside positive news of a swing back to profitability in its annual results. Apparently this name change didn’t require a team of consultants.

In a similar vein, property magazine ‘Estates Gazette’ returned to its original moniker last month after being sold to Mark Allen Group, having traded under the ‘EG’ banner for the last 20 years.

Now all things change. Famously Jif became Cif, Marathon bars became Snickers, and Twitter became X, but with aberdeen group and the Estates Gazette, both firms chose to return to previous, more traditional, brand names.

It is no wonder that some companies jealously guard their name and brand – often millions have been spent in advertising and PR spend on protecting and promoting the image and name of the firm.

But does a name change really affect a brand’s underlying strength?

Well yes and no. The original decision to change to abrdn came at an already tumultuous time in the asset management industry back in 2021, and the environment has remained tough since, albeit the company also found itself a bit of a kicking bag.

With Estates Gazette, the decision heralds both a change, but also a return, to a familiar brand name. It is probably no coincidence that the sale of the EG to Mark Allen Group prompted a rethink of what to call the widely-read trade title.

Reaching back to historic precedence is a common practice in establishing legitimacy in times of change. Perhaps longform titles, rather than abbreviation, are now in vogue at the present time.

There is no doubting the value of having a brand that stands out from the crowd, but the drive for modern and trendy rebrands can very much be an own goal – potentially eroding the reputation of a business at times when they need it most.

Hopefully other companies can take note of the examples of aberdeen group and the Estates Gazette in recognizing the value of established brand names and as the old proverb says: ‘Don’t fix what isn’t broken’.