Facebook Inc.: A look at other corporate rebranding efforts

Facebook Inc. announced Thursday that it is changing its sanction to Meta Platforms Inc., joining a agelong database of companies that person tried to rebrand themselves implicit the years.

The determination comes arsenic the institution deals with the fallout from the Facebook Papers, a leaked papers trove that has revealed the ways Facebook ignored interior reports and warnings of the harms its societal web created oregon magnified crossed the world.

The sanction of the Facebook app itself won't change, but CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the broader institution will absorption connected the "metaverse," a virtual computer-generated abstraction wherever radical tin interact. It includes different increasing businesses that aren't its namesake site, specified arsenic virtual world hardware subdivision Oculus and Horizon Worlds, virtual world bundle that's inactive successful beta investigating mode.

A firm rebranding strategy sometimes works—such arsenic Andersen Consulting, which changed its sanction to Accenture—but sometimes fails—for example, erstwhile Tribune Co. tried to rebrand arsenic Tronc and was wide ridiculed. Here's a sampling.

1997: VALUJET TO AIRTRAN

ValuJet was founded successful 1992 arsenic a low-cost airline, but a level clang successful 1996 with 110 fatalities near the marque tarnished. It acquired AirTran Airways successful 1997 and took connected the sanction of that airline. Southwest Airlines bought AirTran successful 2011 and AirTran flights ceased successful 2014.

2001: ANDERSEN CONSULTING TO ACCENTURE

Andersen Consulting was a palmy consulting spinoff from accounting steadfast Arthur Andersen. Friction with its genitor led to a ineligible conflict that concluded with Andersen Consulting not legally capable to usage the sanction Andersen, truthful it rebranded to Accenture. The timing of the rebranding was fortunate erstwhile Arthur Andersen became embroiled successful the Enron fiscal ungraded aboriginal successful 2001.

2003: PHILIP MORRIS TO ALTRIA

Tobacco elephantine Philip Morris changed its sanction to Altria to effort to absorption the nationalist cognition much connected the user nutrient products it owned nether the Kraft marque alternatively than tobacco. But radical inactive equated Altria with cigarettes, and Altria ended up spinning disconnected Kraft successful 2007 and refocusing connected tobacco.

2011: NETFLIX TO QWIKSTER

Netflix didn't rename the full institution Qwikster, but successful 2011 it announced it was going to divided into 2 services, with the online work we cognize contiguous remaining Netflix, and the carnal DVD rental service, known for its reddish envelopes, renamed Qwikster. Coming connected the heels of a terms summation for customers who abruptly had to wage for 2 services alternatively of one, subscribers were successful nary temper to wit the whimsical sanction and lambasted it online. Netflix dropped the sanction a fewer months later.

2014: CVS CAREMARK CORP. TO CVS HEALTH

The institution present known arsenic CVS Health had a agelong past of buying up pharmacy and retail chains to expand, and successful 2006 bought pharmacy benefits manager Caremark and became CVS Caremark Corp. It changed its sanction to CVS Health successful 2014 and stopped selling cigarettes successful a bid to rebrand arsenic a health-conscious company, not conscionable a drugstore concatenation that makes wealth connected prescriptions.

2015: GOOGLE TO ALPHABET

In 2015, Google was facing expanding complaints from investors that its forays extracurricular of its halfway hunt business, dubbed "moonshots," weren't transparent enough. It was besides facing increasing antitrust concerns implicit its advertizing business. So the institution rebranded itself arsenic Alphabet, a conglomerate that breaks retired much financials for its operations beyond search.

2016: TRIBUNE PUBLISHING CO. TO TRONC

Founded successful 1847, Tribune Publishing has a storied past arsenic steadfast of the Chicago Tribune and different large regular papers. But successful 2016, paper advertizing gross was disappearing and large chains were consolidating. Tribune, trying to stave disconnected an acquisition bid by Gannett and summation online advertisement dollars, announced a sanction alteration to Tronc Inc., which stood for "Tribune online content." The sanction was wide ridiculed, and Tronc changed its sanction backmost to Tribune Publishing successful 2018.

2017: VERIZON'S OATH TO VERIZON MEDIA

Verizon had precocious hopes erstwhile it spent astir $9 cardinal buying AOL and Yahoo implicit 2 years starting successful 2015. It housed the media companies successful a part it called Oath. But the hoped-for gross from the aging online brands didn't materialize. The twelvemonth aft buying Yahoo, Verizon wrote down the worth of the combined operation, astir the worth of the $4.5 cardinal it had spent connected Yahoo, and renamed it Verizon Media. Verizon sold the part earlier this twelvemonth to a backstage equity steadfast for $5 billion, and it was renamed again, to Yahoo.

2018: PRICELINE GROUP TO BOOKINGS HOLDINGS

Priceline's sanction alteration to Bookings Holdings reflects the displacement successful popularity from Priceline.com, which started retired selling flights, to Booking.com, a Dutch edifice and abrogation rental tract Priceline bought successful 2005, which is present the company's astir profitable site. Priceline grew rapidly aft it was founded successful 1997 connected the popularity of its name-your-own terms feature, but edifice and abrogation rentals are much profitable than selling flights.

2018: WEIGHT WATCHERS TO WW

Shifting from a sanction to initials is simply a fashionable mode to rebrand: Kentucky Fried Chicken to KFC oregon Restoration Hardware to RH, for example. Weight Watchers switched to its initials successful an effort to get distant from the thought that it is simply a fare company, arsenic radical progressively go alert dieting isn't steadfast and that value isn't needfully tied to wide wellness.

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