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June 18, 2009

GM Shouldn't Change Its Company Name!

GM has been the butt of many jokes lately, with some referring to it as Generous Motors, Government Motors, General Makeover, etc...

Conventional wisdom is that General Motors should change its name.

I disagree.

Chrysler is a company name and a car name. Ford is a company name and a car name. But GM is first and foremost a company name.

Yes, there are the GMC trucks and vans, but in my opinion when a consumer goes to buy a Chevy or a Buick, they don't have the GM name in mind, but instead are shopping for a specific model. For instance, they are thinking of the iconic Corvette or Silverado or Traverse.

Who remembers what Nissan was called before it was Nissan? Remember Datsun?

Who remembers what the company BP was previously called? I bet not many. It was BPAmoco after the merger with Amoco, which by the way was formerly Standard Oil of Indiana.

Who remembers what South Korean LG was previously called? Who even remembers their first products to land on the U.S. shores - some cheap, low-end microwaves branded Lucky Goldstar.

We all have short memories, since we are bombarded with loads of new information on a daily basis:

• The average adult sees 247 commercial messages a day.


• There are over 45,000 items in a typical supermarket with more brands, sub-brands and line extensions being introduced every day.

There is an interesting approach for GM to consider:

• When BPAmoco was dropped for BP, the tagline "Beyond Petroleum" was added.


• When Lucky Goldstar became LG, it adopted the "Life's Good" tagline.

Our memories are short, we are easily distracted and therefore I think GM should keep its name, but overtime, give it new meaning. A simple off the cuff example I gave in a recent AP interview was that GM could stand for Greater Mileage since they will be introducing smaller cars and electric powered vehicles.

I'm sure it would not be difficult to come up with some wonderful taglines that play off the GM acronym.

How about Good Motors? It leverages the well-known Mr. Goodwrench and has simplicity, honesty, authenticity and relevance going for it.

What positive ideas do you have for the GM acronym?

Technorati Tags: GM, Rename GM, Name Change, Taglines, Life's Good, BPAmoco

Posted by William Lozito at June 18, 2009 11:05 AM
Posted to Automotive | Brand Naming | Branding | Company Naming | Industry | Slogans | Taglines

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