MAM

Corporate Name Change Challenges

Published

20 years ago

October 13, 2005

Every hour round the clock and every single day of the year, a major corporation is forced to change its name for several reasons, such as that the name becomes a liability or is no longer appropriate due to changes of businesses models or technology or trademark litigation. Nonetheless, corporate name changes are done all the time and often very successfully.

To change or not to change, that’s the big question. A very large number of corporations, big and small, are faced with the question of how and when they should bite the bullet and change their name or whether they should simply do nothing. Why?

Sometimes — and more often it is like an underground movement — almost the entire staff whispers about the problem with the corporate name; after all, they are on the frontlines and confronted daily with some kind of a backlash for not having a clear message or a distinct connection with their corporate name.

There are always talks, jokes, suggestions and ideas. However, this underground movement of a silent majority is never heard at the top, as there is no direct platform or single critical element that would put this on top of the agenda. No one dares bring it up, and the problem goes on for years and sometimes decades. Mum is the word.

Fear of Change

Out of fear of change, management often brushes off all the rumors. For instance, a fictitious company called REDCOM might have to repaint hundreds of trucks and change thousands of red uniforms. What about changing all the stationery and billboards? The entire organization trembles with this notion that it might end up with BlueCOM, as a preferred choice of half of the entire staff, while the other half refuses to wear baby-blue uniforms and are threatening to quit.

Of course they have also read some of the horror stories of corporate name changes and how others ended up with dumb names. The fear keeps the murmur from becoming a thunder and life goes on. Agony is prolonged.

Very often at the very top, in the darkly lit boardrooms, the deeper voices think very differently. Just don’t rock the boat. Why fix it, if it ain’t broke? Let REDCOM, for the traditional Redmond Construction Management, continue, let our logo of a red phone shine. Who cares? If people think that we are a communications company selling red phones, call the lawyer and give them more budgets to fight it out, and run some more ads explaining that we will never sell red phones.

These kinds of short quips take place every other day of the year and sometimes continue for decades.

Ideas, Solutions

To find ideas and a solution, create a forum and invite candid and previously hidden comments, while carefully monitoring and measuring the problems of public misperceptions. Try to measure the pros and cons.

If a large majority of the general customer base believes that REDCOM is in the communications business and fails to see that it is really drawn from the name “Redmond” and not the color red, then what is the real cost of such lost opportunities? The issue is not how many customers like you and are happy to call you REDCOM. Rather it’s how many customers are ignoring you because of your image while many are calling you to buy red phones.

Most importantly, how is this name creating more difficulties for your regional and global expansion.

Facing Realities

For management to explore this issue with a serious plan is the first step. To proceed, it would be best to select a small team and let it search out a professional strategy with a proven track record. Explore the Internet and build a solid case.

Incidentally, very often, and totally unknown to the customer base, there are numerous successful adventures and various victories that a corporation has. As long as the old perception of a red telephone inhibits the incubation of other brighter and newer perceptions in the minds of the potential customer base, this corporate image is a cumbersome liability. The older the companies, the more their hidden achievements.

Fresh corporate name changes are great opportunities to embrace the future, start of a new journey and open the gates to new customers. It is a proven fact that modern names attract customers and old dysfunctional names don’t ring the cash registers. Let the bells ring.

Two Options

Today, the power of a company, apart from financials and delivery of quality products and services, lays in visibility and image perception. In the old days with fewer companies, most corporations simply got along as long as they had a good business process.

Today, it’s a real battle. Either you are clearly visible and have a clear identity or you’re simply lost and all the goods and innovation is sitting on the shelf, collecting dust.

The rules of corporate naming and establishing of global identity and corporate image have become very sophisticated and are no longer the common branding games. Cyber-branding and global domain name management is now a very advanced technique and critical to expanding businesses.

Two options: Do something today, or stay on course. It’s time to make a call on a hotline — perhaps a red phone.

Brands

Netflix India names Rekha Rane director of films and series marketing

Streaming giant bets on a seasoned marketer who helped build Amazon and Netflix into household names

Published

1 month ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Netflix has put a proven brand builder at the helm of its films and series marketing in India, naming Rekha Rane as director in a move that signals sharper focus on audience growth and cultural cut-through in one of its most hotly contested markets.

Rane steps into the role after seven years at Netflix, where she has quietly shaped how the platform sells stories to India. Her latest promotion, effective February 2026, crowns a run that spans brand, slate and product marketing across originals, licensed content and new verticals such as games.

A strategic marketing and communications professional with roughly 15 years’ experience, Rane has spent much of her career building technology-led consumer businesses and new categories, notably e-commerce and subscription video on demand. She was part of the early push that introduced Amazon.in, Prime Video and Netflix to Indian homes, then helped turn them into everyday brands.

At Netflix, she most recently served as head of brand and slate marketing for India from March 2024 to February 2026, leading teams across media and marketing for global and local content portfolios. Before that, as manager for original films and series marketing, she led IP creation and go-to-market strategy for titles including Guns and Gulaabs, Kaala Paani, The Railway Men* and The Great Indian Kapil Show, spanning both binge and weekly-release formats.

Her earlier Netflix roles covered product discovery and promotion in India and integrated campaign strategy to drive conversations around the content slate, product awareness and brand-equity metrics.

Before Netflix, Rane logged more than three years at Amazon in brand marketing roles in Bengaluru. There she handled national and regional campaigns for Amazon.in, worked on customer assistance programmes in growth geographies and contributed to the go-to-market strategy for the launch of Prime Video India.

Her career began well away from streaming. At Reliance Brands in Mumbai, she worked on retail marketing for Diesel and Superdry. A stint at Leo Burnett saw her work on primary research for P&G Tide, mapping Indian shoppers’ paths to purchase. Earlier still, at Orange in the United Kingdom, she rose from sales assistant to store manager, running a team and owning monthly P&L for a retail outlet.

The arc is telling. As global streamers fight for attention in a crowded Indian market, executives who understand both mass retail behaviour and digital habit-building are prized. Rane’s career sits at that intersection.

For Netflix, the bet is simple: in a market spoilt for choice, sharp marketing can still tilt the screen. And with Rane now leading the charge, the streamer is signalling it wants not just viewers, but fandom.

Brands

Orient Beverages pops the fizz with steady Q3 gains and rising profits

Kolkata-based beverage maker reports stronger revenues and profits for December quarter.

Published

1 month ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: A fizzy quarter with a steady aftertaste that’s how Orient Beverages Limited, the company that manufactures and distributes packaged drinking water under the brand name Bisleri closed the December 2025 period, as the Kolkata-based drinks maker reported improved revenues and a healthy rise in profits, signalling operational stability in a competitive beverage market.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, Orient Beverages posted standalone revenue from operations of Rs 39.98 crore, up from Rs 36.42 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 33.53 crore in the same quarter last year. Total income for the quarter stood at Rs 42.24 crore, reflecting consistent demand and stable pricing across its beverage portfolio.

Profit before tax for the quarter came in at Rs 3.47 crore, a sharp improvement from Rs 1.31 crore in the September quarter and Rs 0.39 crore a year ago. After accounting for tax expenses of Rs 0.79 crore, the company reported a net profit of Rs 2.68 crore, nearly three times the Rs 0.99 crore recorded in the preceding quarter.

On a nine-month basis, the momentum remained intact. Revenue from operations for the period ended December 31, 2025 rose to Rs 117.66 crore, compared with Rs 106.95 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net profit for the nine months climbed to Rs 5.51 crore, more than double the Rs 2.18 crore reported in the same period of the previous financial year.

The consolidated numbers told a similar story. For the December quarter, consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 45.06 crore, while profit after tax came in at Rs 2.06 crore. For the nine-month period, consolidated revenue touched Rs 133.57 crore, with net profit of Rs 4.49 crore, underscoring the group’s improving profitability trajectory.

Operating expenses remained largely controlled, with cost of materials, employee benefits and other expenses broadly aligned with revenue growth. The company continued to operate within a single reportable segment beverages simplifying its cost structure and reporting framework.

The unaudited financial results were reviewed by the Audit Committee and approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting held on 7 February 2026. Statutory auditors carried out a limited review and reported no material misstatements in the results.

In a market where margins are often squeezed by input costs and competition, Orient Beverages’ latest numbers suggest the company has found a reliable rhythm not explosive, but steady enough to keep the fizz alive.

MAM

Washington Post CEO exits abruptly after newsroom cuts spark backlash

Leadership change follows layoffs, protests and a bruising battle over trust.

Published

1 month ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: When the presses are rolling but patience runs out, even the editor’s chair isn’t safe. The Washington Post announced on Saturday that its chief executive and publisher Will Lewis is stepping down with immediate effect, bringing a sudden end to a turbulent two-year tenure marked by financial strain, newsroom unrest and public backlash.

Lewis’s exit comes just days after the Bezos-owned newspaper announced sweeping job cuts that triggered protests outside its Washington headquarters and a wave of anger from readers and staff. While newspapers across the US are grappling with shrinking revenues and digital disruption, Lewis’s leadership had increasingly come under fire for how those pressures were handled.

The Post confirmed that Jeff D’Onofrio, a former Tumblr CEO who joined the organisation last year as chief financial officer, has taken over as CEO and publisher, effective immediately. In an email to staff, later shared by reporters on social media, Lewis said it was “the right time for me to step aside.”

The leadership change follows the announcement of large-scale redundancies earlier this week. While the Post did not officially confirm numbers, The New York Times reported that around 300 of the paper’s roughly 800 journalists were laid off. Entire teams were dismantled, including the Post’s Middle East bureau and its Kyiv-based correspondent covering the war in Ukraine.

Sports, graphics and local reporting were sharply reduced, and the paper’s daily podcast, Post Reports, was suspended. On Thursday, hundreds of journalists and supporters gathered outside the Post’s downtown office in protest, calling the cuts a blow to public-interest journalism.

Former executive editor Marty Baron described the moment as “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations.”

Lewis defended his record in his farewell note, saying “difficult decisions” were taken to secure the paper’s long-term future and protect its ability to publish “high-quality nonpartisan news”. But his tenure coincided with growing scrutiny of editorial independence at the Post.

Owner Jeff Bezos faced criticism for reining in the paper’s traditionally liberal editorial page and blocking an endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 US election. The move was widely seen as breaking the long-standing firewall between ownership and editorial decision-making.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, around 250,000 digital subscribers cancelled their subscriptions after the paper declined to endorse Harris. The Post reportedly lost about $100 million in 2024 as advertising and subscription revenues slid.

While the wider newspaper industry continues to battle declining print advertising and the pull of social media, some national titles have stabilised. Rivals such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have managed to build sustainable digital businesses, a turnaround that has so far eluded the Post despite its billionaire backing.

As Jeff D’Onofrio steps into the role, the challenge is stark, restore confidence inside the newsroom, win back readers who walked away, and prove that one of America’s most storied newspapers can still find its footing in a brutally competitive media landscape.