What’s in a name?

Yesterday we announced the launch of our exciting new brand identity. Part of the rebrand focuses on our brand name change from Cobus Spaces, to Cobus.

We were keen to explore the idea of renaming the company, to make it more befitting of where we are today. However, for 40 years we’ve worked incredibly hard to build a solid, and positive reputation with the name Cobus Spaces. We were unsure about the risk of jeopardizing that reputation by removing the name and replacing it with one that no one will be familiar with. We took the time to consider the decision carefully, conducting research and having thorough discussions with our brand consultants, Studio Mono. Eventually we arrived at the decision that it was the right move for us to make.  

New brand name: A bold move?

Although it can be perceived as potentially risky, when brands change their name is doesn’t always have to spell a loss of equity. I’m sure we all remember the (somewhat overstated) outrage when Marathon changed to Snickers back in 1990. Fast forward 27 years and Snickers is still one of the best selling confectionery brands in the UK, and the rest of the world. We knew we wanted to be more Snickers than Consignia, in renaming terms.Choosing the right brand name to reflect your business is something that’s worth taking time to get right. We all have a number of associations, positive and negative, with each word in the English language. For example, the word football for many may trigger feelings of passion; elation; belonging and fun. However, for others the word football may hold associations of frustration; abandonment or even violence.

With over 171,000 words in the English language alone, it’s a tough task to find a single word that will resonate well with everyone, hence it’s important for brands to find, or even create words with as much meaning relating to them to elicit positive associations as possible. The more positive associations you can encourage with your brand’s audiences, the more likely they are to engage, long term, with you.

Why a new brand name now?

For Cobus, our name change was necessary. As a growing, nationwide business, the name Cobus Spaces was beginning to risk standing in our way. We are very proud of our provenance, however we needed to be able to communicate to people that we’re more than just a small business based in the Cotswolds. We’re a cutting-edge, progressive design business that delivers superior standards of environmental design to leading companies across the UK from Lands End to John O’Groats, not just in the Cotswolds.

However, with all the pre-existing positive associations with Cobus Spaces we wanted to be sure we didn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. So, we explored the option of using our existing equity, but also delivering something new and more appropriate for our business as it stands today.

Cobus was born.

Cobus is simply a marriage of Cotswold shortened to ‘Co’, and Business shortened to ‘bus’. The name Cobus is still packed with meaning and positive association as it draws on our heritage and all the goodwill/reputation that we built. However it feels more suitable to the progressive design-led business we’ve grown into over the past 40 years.

Cobus is our future…without forgetting our past.

#InspiringSpaces