What's In A Name?
RECENTLY a German Namibian daily newspaper and an English Namibian weekly proudly announced a three million Namibia dollar revamping of a popular former entertainment spot in Windhoek.
The new, upgraded and improved theatre venue would not only cater for activities and support activities no one ever dreamed of before, but would also carry the name of the radio station that is to be housed there. The new operator forgot, however, to ask authorisation from the previous owner of the business venture for the legal use and attachment of the name so proudly advertised. Maybe the new owners thought the name comes with the premises – naturally, like the walls, the toilets, the facade. Any child knows: a name used in trade over a certain period of time eventually turns into a brand, a trademark in the original sense. The originator and perpetuator of the name/brand acquires an inherent right to the name. The oversight was courteously pointed out to the new operator and this led to the two parties entering into bona fide negotiations over a probable transfer of the name – business is business! This, again, confronted the parties with some challenging questions. What value is to be attached to a name? What would a soft drink giant, for example, charge for its brand, when negotiating the sale of its business? What would the company be worth without the brand? What figure, on the other hand, is be attached to a name, if the product changes? Should one look at the time frame and determine how much was invested in the brand over the period? How long did it take to create the good name - because good it has to be in order to sell! Or, for how long does the new owner hope to benefit from the name and the reputation attached to it? And then, how can the value of a name be sustained? What would an oil company spilling millions of barrels of oil into the Golf of Mexico get for their brand after the catastrophe? How much worth does a jeweller attach to the name of a golf player who ventures onto new playing grounds - and overplays, just a tiny little bit? Questions over questions! In Namibia we approach matters of such, rather complicated nature with a healthy degree of pragmatism. We are natural born traders. Thus, one party blurts out an amount, say, for arguments sake, N$200 000, and the other makes a counter offer, say N$2. And then one meets somewhere in the middle, that is how business is done ... or is it? Maybe the parties got lost in translation. Truth is we will not be able to find out what this particular trade mark is, or was, worth - at least not in the near future. It has been registered, nonetheless … one never knows! One thing is certain: the radio now has to find a new name. That is the easy part. Names are abundant. The actual challenge lies in turning the name into a good, solid new brand. The net costs are calculable – in fact, they will appear in the financials at year end, with a little bit of luck, black on white. Ernst Herma (previous owner Warehouse Theatre)