Isis Wallet rethinks strategy in the battle for brand recognition

The rise of militant group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as Isis or IS, has caused a political crisis that now stretches well beyond the Middle East. It has also become an issue for a plethora of companies that bear the same name.

This week Isis Wallet, a contactless payments venture by the US’s largest mobile operators, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, announced it would change its name to Softcard to avoid associations with the terrorist group, which has beheaded two US journalists in recent weeks.

“We wanted a name that brought to life our company and our values,” said Michael Abbott, chief executive, explaining why the brand Isis was chosen in 2010. “However coincidental, we have no desire to share a name with this group and our hearts go out to those affected by this violence.”

In Florida, ISIS Downtown – a 16-storey condo in West Palm Beach – has been hastily rebranded 3 Thirty Three Downtown for similar reasons.

Others businesses, however, have maintained their commitment to the name, which derives from a compassionate Egyptian goddess, and which has been historically associated with nature and integrity.

“We’ve discussed it internally,” said Isis Pharmaceuticals, a Nasdaq-listed drugs company. “It’s unfortunate, but we’ve been in business for 25 years.”

Isis fragrances are still for sale at retailer Mark & Spencer, and iSIS remains a type of high-security, sterling coin developed by the Royal Mint.

“You’d have thought they were on safe ground,” said Stephen Izatt, managing director of branding agency Thinkfarm, of the decision to choose a name of Isis’s heritage.

Outside of Egypt, perhaps the place most affected is Oxford, where dozens of businesses and other organisations are named Isis after the stretch of the river Thames on which the city is located. They include Isis Estate Agents, Isis Innovation, the technology transfer arm of the University of Oxford, and Isis magazine, a student publication once edited by George Osborne, the UK chancellor.

A local business leader told the Oxford Mail newspaper: “If such a brutal group does become associated with the ‘Isis’ name in the long term, I think some firms would ask if they should consider changing their names.”

Branding is about being efficient. When you’ve got a name like Isis, it throws a lot of friction in there. It could be not just inefficient, it could be disastrous

Established brands may be able to withstand the negative association with Isis, particularly as the militant group is now often referred to as Islamic State.

However, both Isis Wallet, now Softcard, and ISIS Downtown condo were new brands, trying to build consumer awareness.

David Placek, founder of Lexicon Branding, which worked on Isis Wallet’s behalf, said: “Branding is about being efficient. When you’ve got a name like Isis, it throws a lot of friction in there. It could be not just inefficient, it could be disastrous.”

In the past only a select group of companies have thought such a rebrand worthwhile. Kenneth Lay briefly called his energy company Enteron until discovering the word meant intestine in Greek. He renamed it Enron.

In the 1980s a slimming supplement called Ayds was unsuccessfully rebranded as Diet Ayds to distinguish it from the Aids virus. It was removed from sale soon after.

However, for large organisations, the effort to come up with a new name can be expensive, both in employing branding and marketing experts but also in terms of management time.

Some companies have, therefore, deemed it unnecessary.

London-listed Charles Taylor Insurance Services has carried on despite the name’s association with the former Liberian president convicted of aiding war crimes.

“We’re a 130-year-old company,” the company told the Financial Times. “Clearly we would prefer that the unsavoury Charles Taylor did not have our name, but we certainly had it first.”

Jim’ll Mix It, a London concrete business whose name was inspired by Jimmy Savile’s television show Jim’ll Fix It, has opted to keep its name despite the child abuse scandal surrounding the former BBC television presenter.

“I am who I am. I’m in concrete, my name’s Jim,” its founder said in 2012.

Other companies also choose to persevere despite negative press coverage. Journalists initially scoffed that Apple called its tablet device the iPad, which recalled the US name for sanitary pads. Despite such connotations, the product has become a huge success.

“Once the product’s in the marketplace, [that sort of criticism] goes away – typically over a 90-day period,” Mr Placek said.

Other brands have been able to work round negative associations caused by local sensitivities.

The mobile operator Orange did not market its 1990s slogan – “The future’s bright. The future’s Orange” – in Northern Ireland, where the colour is associated with Protestantism.

Mitsubishi, the carmaker, rebranded its Pajero SUV in Latin America and Spain, aware that the Spanish translation of the word was offensive.

For fledging commercial ventures, however, the name Isis may require a brand overhaul.