Mary Tripsas looks at the delicate balance between maintaining a strong corporate identity, and changing a company’s name when necessary, without becoming too ambiguous to its customers:
How a company responds to today’s tumultuous technological and competitive landscape depends greatly on how it defines itself or, in some cases, redefines itself.
Questioning a company’s identity, whether or not it results in change, is something that every organization should do.
She offers the contrast between Luxottica and Bausch & Lomb as one example:
Ideally, a strong identity provides continuity and consistency, allowing a business to prioritize opportunities efficiently. For instance, when laser vision-correction surgery emerged as a possible substitute for eyeglasses, the Luxottica Group, the maker of luxury and sports eyewear brands like Chanel, Prada and Ray-Ban, chose not to participate.
In contrast, laser techniques fit well with the identity of Bausch & Lomb, a contact lens maker that defines itself as an eye health company. It developed its own laser eye treatment, called Zyoptix.
So each company responded to the opportunities of laser surgery in a way that was consistent with its identity.
