Crayola Brightens a Brand

Binney & Smith has always been known as the maker of the country's favorite crayon. Now they're letting their most popular name do the talking for them

by Reena Jana

Standing outside Binney & Smith's Easton (Penn.) headquarters on Jan. 18, chief executive Mark Schwab stood beside a duo dressed in blue and red crayon costumes and—"ta-da!"—slipped a cloth off of the corporation's new sign. Gone was the rather staid name that the company, now a subsidiary of Hallmark, has used for 104 years. In its place was a sign that read "Crayola."

Why now, after more than a century, is the company changing its name? Or maybe the question should be why didn't it happen sooner? "We've talked about the change for a while, and started to consider a switch to Crayola about two years ago," says Schwab. "The reason is simple. When you think about how Binney & Smith is known, it's for making Crayola crayons."

The name change, effective January 1, 2007, comes on the heels of a number of high-profile brands taking on new monikers. Following in the footsteps of Dell (DELL), which dropped the "Computer" part of its label when its product line expanded in 2003, Apple (AAPL) shortened its own name on Jan. 9, the same day Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone.

Short and Snappy

Speaking of the iPhone, its exclusive launch carrier, Cingular (T), "is the new AT&T," as its ads announce. (In case you haven't followed the circuitous naming history of the former Baby Bells, it should be noted that "the new AT&T" was never the old AT&T.)

Both Apple and AT&T reflect two of the typical reasons behind name changes: a shift in business and a merger. The adoption of Crayola, in contrast, reflects both the increased importance of branding in general, and the increased value of a short brand name. Ditto Citigroup (C), the financial-services giant that will soon be known as just "Citi" according to a Jan. 14 report by The New York Times. Then there's VNU Media, which announced Jan. 18 that it would rebrand as The Nielsen Group, in reference to its well-known TV-ratings systems.

Marty Neumeier, founder and president of Neutron, a San Francisco-based brand consultancy, has long advocated the power of shorter, sweeter names during his 30-year career in the branding business. He believes Crayola is making the right move. "Crayola is not only shorter and friendlier but more memorable," Neumeier says. "My rule for brand names is to use no more than four syllables. More than four, and people will shorten the name for you, in essence renaming the brand."

Nicknames that Stick

In an age of acronyms, text- and instant-messaging, and emoticons—when multi-syllable phrases are increasingly reduced to a few letters and words are expressed with punctuation—corporations are wise to condense their names.

Customers have a tendency to create nicknames for their favorite brands, anyway. Apple buyers have long referred to the company as such, dropping "Computer" long before Jobs made it official. And companies can help create a sense of consumer connection to a brand by providing a snappy, sticky nickname to buyers. Neumeier cites FedEx (FDX) as an example of a consumer nickname working out well for a corporation. "Fed-er-al-Ex-press had five syllables, so people shortened it to FedEx, which is actually a better, more distinctive name," he says. "And the company took note and adopted it."

Crayola's Schwab says Binney & Smith executives and salespeople had a history of identifying themselves as working for the company that made Crayola crayons when the name "Binney & Smith"—a relative mouthful compared to the new moniker—failed to ring a bell with colleagues, clients, and customers.