A good day to change your image

By IRENE CHAPPLE

Monday is a day full of fresh thinking, doughnuts and hot coffee.

At least according to the branding experts at PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting.

For others - arguably a majority of the workforce - Monday is the worst day of the week, full of hangovers, party regrets and a reminder that weekends should be three days long.

Last week PricewaterhouseCoopers announced the name for its consulting arm, due to be spun off and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in August.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting is to be called Monday, just like the day that comes after Sunday.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has been trying to offload its main consulting business since 2000, when an US$18 billion ($37 billion) deal with Hewlett-Packard fell through.

It is trailing some competitors: KPMG and Ernst & Young both sold their consulting arms two years ago.

The Enron collapse and criticisms of the close relationships between consultants and auditors has added impetus to making the split.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting's branding consultants Wolff Olins took two months to decide on Monday as the name - and in strategic branding terms, that is a rushed job.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting says it will spend US$110 million ($226 million) promoting the new name.

It already has a website: www.introducingmonday.com, that runs through the fledging Monday brand. One of its images instructs: Don't skip breakfast, do great work, be happy, repeat.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting president Greg Brenneman says the name will give the firm a new heritage.

"Our new name is exactly what we want it to be as we create our new business: A real word, concise, recognisable, global and the right fit for a company that works hard to deliver results."

Spokeswoman Sehra Eusufzai said the firm wanted to buck a trend towards made up monikers and adopt a globally recognisable word.

"It is a real word and has real connotations, and that is the key," she says. "A made up moniker can mean so many different things to different people. [Monday] is a fresh start, and new beginnings."

Eusufzai says responses to the name's announcement have been varied, but that was expected. Though she agrees the Monday isn't always the week's highlight, PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting branding is "looking at [Monday] from a fresh viewpoint."

Monday will be used as the brand name throughout non-English speaking countries and will always stand out, says Eusufzai.

"The name has cut through the clutter."

It's a valid point: As commented in Sunday Business this week, a more conventional name such as Egg, or Thus or Accenture would have generated far fewer headlines and be quickly forgotten.

But the choice has also gathered sceptical comments, and flabbergasted Auckland branding strategist Brian Richards.

He says the choice appears naive, and seems more a short-term campaign name than a brand.

"It is a name [made for] television and radio, that has a genre of freshness and newness that lends itself to the news media. The correct genre should [include] wisdom and knowledge, and futurism."

Richards - creator of the Cervena brand - is an advocate of the made-up moniker. He believes it enables the corporate to create a story behind the name, to own public perception and in turn ensure longevity of the brand.

Monday - a word so entrenched in the public domain - will be very hard to fit into a mould, he says.

Richards is also a fan of the Latin-based word, despite the plight of British brand name Consignia, which was dumped this week in favour of a return to the blander, but more descriptive Royal Mail.

While some commentators are saying dropping Consignia indicates a departure from pretentiousness, Richards is adamant a clean, simple word with Latin roots is ideal for a global brand.

"They should be looking for something for wisdom and insight and perceptiveness - that doesn't have to be grey and dusty, which is what they are afraid of.

"The kind of intellect that Monday gives is bouncy and preppy. It's about as bad as puppy."

Howard Russell, of Strategic Insight, is also sceptical of the name's future.

"It sounds a bit too cute and clever ... I think they have consciously decided to take what appears to be a gamble. It is like they have chosen to stand up and make the name an issue - some people get new haircuts and [the haircuts] say 'look at me, pay attention to me, ask me about it'."

Acceptance of Monday as a brand name will depend on the experience received by clients, he says.

Physically, Monday in New Zealand will stay in the PricewaterhouseCoopers building where PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting is housed. It will be on a separate floor. New locking system and securities will be in place when the company lists.

Partners of PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting will become salaried employees of the public company.

Partner Sarah Adam-Gedge says the change also requires a cultural and mental shift, although it has been expected for the last two years.

The biggest shift may well be in the future connotations of the word Monday. Says Brenneman: "It is a new identity on which to build our company's future, and it will have meaning and stand for something."