前不久，雅虎宣布，將核心業(yè)務(wù)轉(zhuǎn)讓給威瑞森電信（Verizon Communications）后，剩余資產(chǎn)將納入一家名為Altaba的控股公司——這個(gè)名字聽起來更像是嬰兒牙牙學(xué)語，而非一家曾經(jīng)前途光明的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)巨擘留下的東西。

這樣的意見來自于手腳勤快的推特（Twitter）用戶。消息公布后，他們迅速群起而攻之。Altaba將持有阿里巴巴15%的股份以及雅虎日本35.5%的股權(quán)。

一位推特用戶嘲諷道：“去問問醫(yī)生，叫Altaba合適嗎?！?

另一位用戶寫道：“‘Altaba’是拉丁文，意思是‘2008年我們應(yīng)該接受微軟450億美元的收購報(bào)價(jià)’?！?

“Altaba”看來是由“alternative”和“Alibaba”組合而來，看到雅虎給自己剩下的資產(chǎn)起了這樣一個(gè)名字后，《財(cái)富》雜志決定回顧一下其他曾經(jīng)更名改姓但未能得償所愿的公司。

本文不會(huì)涉及那些效果欠佳的企業(yè)品牌重塑項(xiàng)目，那是另一個(gè)非常棘手的問題。

Tribune Publishing將名稱縮減為tronc，2016年

不，這不是拼寫錯(cuò)誤。就在半年前，正在設(shè)法抵御甘尼特集團(tuán)（Gannett）敵意收購的新聞出版機(jī)構(gòu)Tribune Publishing決定更名為“tronc Inc.”，后者代表“tribune online content”。這次更名有點(diǎn)兒許下諾言的意思，承諾的內(nèi)容包括跟上當(dāng)今技術(shù)的腳步,以及開始在“內(nèi)容變現(xiàn)引擎”中使用機(jī)器學(xué)習(xí)和人工智能技術(shù)。

谷歌將母公司命名為Alphabet，2015年

在林林總總的名稱中，Alphabet是個(gè)相當(dāng)無害的名字，因?yàn)槠渲袥]有擬聲成分。但對(duì)一些批評(píng)者來說，給谷歌母公司起個(gè)新名字的決定似乎略顯任性。還有人開玩笑說，對(duì)于一家當(dāng)時(shí)市值超過3,000億美元的科技公司來說，這個(gè)名字可謂天真爛漫。現(xiàn)在谷歌的市值已經(jīng)超過5,600億美元。

甘尼特將剝離后的數(shù)字媒體業(yè)務(wù)稱為TEGNA，2015年

作為《今日美國(guó)》（USA Today）的出版方，甘尼特集團(tuán)決定剝離數(shù)字媒體業(yè)務(wù)。通過重新排列自己名號(hào)中的一些字母，甘尼特給了后者一個(gè)新名稱，還將其完全資本化。當(dāng)時(shí)的集團(tuán)CEO加西亞·莫托爾說，這個(gè)名字是“對(duì)甘尼特逾百年歷史的總結(jié)?！痹S多推特用戶都覺得無法從這個(gè)新名稱中領(lǐng)略到百年老店的高貴氣質(zhì)。

Netflix將DVD郵寄業(yè)務(wù)更名為Qwikster，2011年

2011年9月，首席執(zhí)行官里德·黑斯廷斯宣布Netflix將拆分為兩家公司——一家從事DVD郵寄業(yè)務(wù)，另一家為流媒體視頻服務(wù)商。前者更名為Qwikster，以體現(xiàn)其遞送之迅速。然而，此舉等于放棄了一個(gè)有十幾年價(jià)值的品牌，拆分后的提價(jià)也很快惹怒了消費(fèi)者。發(fā)布公告僅僅幾個(gè)月后，黑斯廷斯就收回了這項(xiàng)決定。

從Blackwater到2009年的Xe Services，再到2011年的Academi

2009年，Blackwater對(duì)軍工承包商來說已經(jīng)變成了一個(gè)“有毒”的名字，原因是2007年該公司的5名員工被指與17名赤手空拳的伊拉克平民喪生有關(guān)。這迫使它更名為Xe Services，以便遠(yuǎn)離是非。2010年，一些個(gè)人投資者買下了這家公司，隨后將其名稱變更為Academi。時(shí)任CEO的泰德·賴特告訴《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》（Wall Street Journal），他想讓公司變得更加“無趣”。

菲利普-莫里斯為消除不健康形象更名為高特利，2003年

從前，煙草和癌癥的關(guān)系還不廣為人知，菲利普-莫里斯（Philip Morris）也是一個(gè)絕對(duì)可用的公司名稱。然后就到了1994年，該公司高管知道尼古丁可致人上癮以及香煙可能導(dǎo)致肺癌的事遭曝光，公眾隨即和大型煙草公司對(duì)立起來。到2003年，菲利普-莫里斯希望顧客了解到自己“不光是一家煙草公司”。它選擇了高特利這個(gè)名字，并為之配上了馬賽克一樣的標(biāo)識(shí)，和自己扎在煙草堆里的根沒有任何瓜葛。 （財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

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作者：Lucinda Shen

譯者：Charlie

Recently, Yahoo announced that following the sale of its core business to Verizon Communications, the leftover assets would placed under a holding company termed "Altaba"—a name that sounded more like infantile babble than the remnants of a once-promising internet giant.

That's according to industrious Twitter users, who quickly swooped in following the announcement to take jabs at the company that will include Yahoo's 15% stake in Alibaba and its 35.5% stake in Yahoo Japan.

"Ask your Doctor If Altaba is right for you," one user quipped.

"'Altaba' is Latin for 'We should have taken Microsoft's $45 billion offer in 2008'," another wrote.

In light of Yahoo's decision to name its remaining holdings "Altaba,"—apparently a portmanteau of "alternative" and "Alibaba"—Fortune decided to revisit other companies that launched a new name—and fell short.

We won't be tackling corporate rebranding projects that fell flat. That's a whole different monster.

Tribune Publishing truncates its name to tronc in 2016

Yes, that is not a typo. Just half-a-year ago, newspaper chain Tribune Publishing decided to rename its self "tronc Inc.," which stands for "tribune online content" while it was trying to fend off a hostile takeover from Gannett. The rebranding was a kind of pledge of sorts, that Tribune would catch up with current technology and start using machine learning and artificial intelligence in its "content monetization engine."

Google goes under parent company named Alphabet in 2015

In the grand scheme of things, "Alphabet" is a fairly harmless moniker given its lack of onomatopoeia. But to some critics, the decision to use a new name for Google's umbrella company seemed a bit arbitrary. Others joked that the name was childlike for a tech company with a market cap that was, at the time, in excess of $300 billion. Now it's over $560 billion.

Gannett spins off its digital media business, calls it TEGNA in 2015

When the publisher of USA Today decided to spin off its digital media business, it made a new name for itself by rearranging a few letters in its name, and capitalizing the whole thing. Then-Gannett CEO Garcia Mortore said that the name was "a nod to the more than 100 year-old history of Gannett." Many Twitter users failed to find the dignity associated with a century-long heritage in the new name.

Netflix renames its DVD-by-mail service Qwikster in 2011

In September 2011, CEO Reed Hastings announced it would split into two separate companies: a DVD-by-mail service, and a streaming service. The former would be renamed "Qwikster" to reflect the company's speedy delivery. In doing so however, the company foresook more than a decade's worth of branding, and quickly enraged consumers with price increases associated with the split. Just months after the announcement, the CEO was forced to backpedal.

From Blackwater to Xe Services in 2009, then to Academi in 2011

By 2009, Blackwater's own name had become toxic to the military contractor. Five of its employees were indicted in 2007 in relation to the deaths of 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians—forcing the company to change its name to Xe Services in a bid to distance itself from the controversy. In 2010, the company was sold to a group of private investor, and it's name was later changed to Academi. Then-CEO Ted Wright told the Wall Street Journal he was trying to make the company more "boring."

Philip Morris tries to shed its unhealthy image by renaming itself Altria in 2003

Once upon a time, tobacco's links to cancer weren't well-known, and Philip Morris was a perfectly viable name for a company. Then 1994 happened, and the public turned against big tobacco amid revelations that the companies' executives were exposed to research that suggested nicotine was addictive and cigarettes could cause lung cancer. By 2003, Philip Morris wanted its consumers to know that it was "more than a tobacco company." It adopted the name Altria, and paired it with a mosaic logo that made no reference to its tobacco-laden roots.