British asset manager Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA.L) is changing its name to “Abrdn PLC”, abandoning the letter “e” in phone-text fashion as part of a plan to modernise its brand.
The new name, unveiled on Monday, will still be pronounced “Aberdeen” and comes after the company sold its Standard Life brand to life insurer Phoenix (PHNX.L) earlier this year.
The Edinburgh-headquartered company said the name change would also allow it to own digital assets such as apps and websites, without confusion with the city of Aberdeen.
“Our new brand Abrdn builds on our heritage and is modern, dynamic and, most importantly, engaging,” said Chief Executive Stephen Bird, who joined the firm last year. “It is a highly-differentiated brand that will create unity across the business, replacing five different brand names.”
The company, a sponsor of the Scottish Open golf tournament and Edinburgh International Festival, declined to disclose the amount spent on the rebrand, which was designed by agency Wolff Olins.
The Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) name change is the latest in a long line of corporate rebranding exercises, some of which have gone better than others.
Royal Mail (RMG.L) changed its name to Consignia in 2001, for example, only to drop the rebrand the following year. PwC briefly changed the name of its consulting arm to “Monday” in 2002, weeks before IBM then bought the business and dropped the name.
Source: Reuters
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