Is it too soon to say “Rebranding Fail”?

I just got the news that Affiliate Classroom, Inc is re-branding themselves to Lurn, Inc. I must admit that my first impression of the new name is not a positive one.  I immediately wanted to ask – what was wrong with Affiliate Classroom?  Didn’t it say everything it needed to say?  The press release they sent along with the announcement email answered that question:

“We originally set out to provide training and best practices for affiliates. The name Affiliate Classroom made perfect sense,” said founder and CEO Anik Singal. “But in late 2008 as our executive team developed our strategic vision for the next two years, we felt limited by the name. What we’re able to offer now is beyond simple how-to information for affiliates. Changing our name is strategically liberating.”

Okay, I can understand that.  When your name is very specific and your goals expand to something greater, a new name is in order.  So I can support them in the decision to re-brand to a new name that’s more all-encompassing to what they want to achieve.  But Lurn?  I’m not sure I can be on board with the new name; for some reason it reminds me of names like Knol and Cuil and other recent social media-crazed names that seem to be trying harder to be “cool” or “cutting edge” than functional and appropriate.  Which made me sad to read further down in the press release to this:

Singal added, “We’ve been getting a lot of compliments on the new name. We think that it highlights our fun personality, while staying true to our vision of empowering our students to reach their goals through technology and education.”

Maybe I’m being overly critical about the name.  Afterall, that’s just my two cents.  I do have to hand it to Anik & his team that they’re awesome people who are doing a good thing for the industry so I really do wish them the best of luck with the rebranding effort.  For their sake I also hope more people like the new name more than I do

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