Standard Life Aberdeen’s plans met with disbelief but perhaps it’s not all bad news
When global asset manager Standard Life Aberdeen announced that it has changed its name Monday, the reaction wasn’t widely welcomed.
The firm’s new name – Abrdn plc – follows a trend among tech firms such as Tumblr and Scribd which seem to have taken a dislike to the letter ‘e’. In Standard Life’s case, that strategy cut its name by three letters.
It hasn’t impressed the digital consumers they are aiming at though. Many responded to the firm’s proud Twitter proclamation with ridicule.
Today we’ve announced our change of name to Abrdn, part of a modern, digitally-enabled brand we’ll use across our businesses globally. Capital at risk. https://t.co/D5YUZx3RPO pic.twitter.com/kOw5NQVH7j
— StandardLifeAberdeen (@SLA_plc) April 26, 2021
“How do you pronounce Abrdn?” asked New York Times journalist Elizabeth Paton on Twitter, to which another user replied: “A burden.” Not a good look (the firm’s press release clarifies that Abrdn is pronounced “Aberdeen” by the way!)
Others pointed out that auto-correct would change the new name to Aberdeen anyway or asked why the firm was running their April Fool’s joke three weeks late.
Modern and engaging?
In the official release, the asset manager explained the thinking behind its name change: “The new Abrdn name will be part of a modern, agile, digitally-enabled brand that will also be used for all the Company's client-facing businesses globally.”
Chief executive, Stephen (Stphn?) Bird added that the rebrand reflects the firm’s heritage but is also modern, dynamic, and engaging.
“It is a highly-differentiated brand that will create unity across the business, replacing five different brand names that have each been operating independently,” he said. “Our new name reflects the clarity of focus that the leadership team are bringing to the business as we seek to deliver sustainable growth.”
Standard Life Aberdeen was formed in 2017 from the merger of insurance company Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management.
Despite the negative reaction to the new name, it has created a media buzz – social and otherwise – which the firm would not have otherwise had. Isn’t all publicity good?
Brand expert Jonathan Gabay told The Guardian that investors may not react well to the new name either for the simple fact that financial services firms rely on being trusted advisors.
“What they do for customers is look at details, getting rid of vowels and letters makes it look like they’ve skipped over the most basic details in their name,” he said.
Maybe the explainer video and the forthcoming “full stakeholder engagement plan” will be enough to calm the critics?
