Just what it says on the tin

A rose by any other name, Shakespeare maintains, would smell as sweet. But somehow plants with names like Helleborus foetidus or Scrophulariaceae just don't encourage you to put your nose anywhere near them.

The current spate of mergers, divestments, spin-offs and joint ventures has seen many companies rooting around for appropriate names for the new entities, with varying degrees of success.

Oxxon Pharmaccines, for example, has renamed itself Oxxon Therapeutics to reflect more closely its focus, and Pharmacopeia is looking to change its name to Accelrys for similar reasons. Meanwhile, all the Thermo Electron companies have been rebranded to take on their parent corporation's identity. These are all valid, logical, business-driven decisions.

There was also a lot of reasoned thinking behind the creation of the Total Processing and Packaging exhibition, which was held for the first time in the UK last month. If you merge four disparate but synergistic shows into one, Total is an obvious choice of name. But the jury is still out on whether the new identity has been successful. Many exhibitors and visitors persisted in calling it 'Pakex', demonstrating that old habits are hard to break.

And although previous participants understand the Total concept, the name itself may not at first glance have told new exhibitors or visitors, especially those from overseas, enough about the show to make them include it in their diaries.

For many pharma companies, their name embodies their heritage, tradition, business strategy and brand values. Any change is therefore not to be undertaken lightly, as getting it wrong can be costly in terms of reputation and customer loyalty.

We've all sniggered at the Greek lager called Vergina and the chewing gum called Bum Bum, but it is amazing how many multinational corporations fall into a similar trap of failing to communicate their message.

When Bayer announced that its new company - until recently dubbed somewhat unimaginatively 'Newco' - was to be called Lanxess, the image that sprang into my mind was of a new model of Japanese car. Even once the name was explained - it is, apparently, a blend of the French word for 'thrust' and the English word 'success' - I still couldn't see the connection with a German fine chemical company.

I hope that Atofina will avoid a similar pitfall when deciding on a name for its new entity.

It could do worse than follow the example of a well-known brand of British wood preservative, whose advertising slogan is that it 'does exactly what it says on the tin'.