Preposterous 'Abrdn' rebrand is at risk of not sticking

But as we arrive in May, there is a small feeling of let-down. Let’s face it, 'may' is not the most positive of words. And the month itself is a little uninspiring, being simply a bridge between the excitement of April’s celebration of spring and just before the longest day of the year in June.

What is clearly needed is a rebrand and refresh to give the month an extra bit of oomph. After consulting an expensive brand agency, I have come up with the perfect answer. ‘May’ will be rebranded as ‘My’ – putting you and your hopes at the centre of the month.

Convinced? Of course you are not. It is a preposterous idea. But not the most preposterous rebrand I have heard about recently.

That honour goes to Standard Life Aberdeen, which has hilariously rebranded as Abrdn. I have no idea how long the business mulled over the idea or what other names they considered. I can only guess they did not bother to give it any thought at all.

The real problem the company had is that they licensed the Standard Life name to Phoenix, and so had already created confusion among consumers

Boss Stephen Bird explained the move: “Abrdn builds on our heritage and is modern, dynamic and, most importantly, engaging.” He added: “Our new name reflects the clarity of focus that the leadership team are bringing to the business.”

Let’s consider that clarity of focus. Have they come up with a clever name that reflects the company’s rich history? After all, Standard Life was established back in 1825, almost 200 years ago. Surely a new brand would be poised to make capital out of the 2025 anniversary?

Seemingly, that is unimportant – or maybe it has deliberately been cast aside. Maybe they have been taking inspiration from playwright George Bernard Shaw’s quote: “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

The quote is often thrown at people who are perceived as fuddy-duddies, still stuck in the past when there is a future to look forward to. But it ignores the fact that progress can only be made by building on past achievements.

I guess the real problem the company had is that they licensed the Standard Life name to Phoenix, and so had already created confusion among consumers. And that is the last thing they wanted to do, hence the new Abrdn brand.

But let’s look in full at what they actually did to create the new brand: they took all the ‘E’s out of the word Aberdeen, and that was it.

Pleasingly, the Financial Times caught up with Aberdeen-based 90s techno band The Shamen to ask their view. As you will recall, the band hit number one in 1992 with the single "Ebeneezer Goode", which the BBC initially banned because of its “E's are good” chorus.

Founder Colin Angus told the paper: “Ditch standard life and drop three E’s, indeed a most commendable notion.”

That’s the most positive quote I have been able to rustle up among a lot of negative reaction to the new name.

The FT itself, among many others, warned that the new name was “at risk of joining the category of brand changes that do not stick”, such as the short-lived rebrands of the Post Office – which disastrously became Consignia – and PwC Consulting, which laughably became Monday.

I guess one thing you could say is that such brand disasters live long in the memory, so I would like to raise a glass to design agency Wolff Olins, which was behind the Monday debacle that, if memory serves, hardly lasted until Tuesday.

PwC’s slogan to launch the Monday brand was: “Sharpen your pencil, iron your crispy white shirts, set the alarm clock, relish the challenge, listen, be fulfilled, make an impact, take a risk." I reckon the design agency that persuaded the business to publish such tosh deserves a thumping reward, or at least a kick up the proverbial.

Surprisingly, they are still up to their old tricks. Yes, Wolff Olins is the agency behind the Abrdn name. I bet their creatives relished the challenge.

Judging by the result, the conversation could have gone along the lines of: 'We need a new brand.' 'How about an anagram?' 'Great idea, the client will love it.'

I suspect they did not expect an anagram of ‘brand’, but then again, they probably loved that aspect of it. 

As an aside, I worked out that an anagram of Standard Life Aberdeen is 'learn brand is defeated'. I do not think I would last long at a design agency. But then finance and design are uncomfortable bedfellows.

I reckon most financial advisers want to be able to mention companies to clients that they recognise and feel reassured by. An investment company that generates the response 'pardon?' is not an easy sell.

Simon Read is a freelance journalist