Company name changes

Late last year I wrote about an issue that my wife had with LivingSocial and a Twin Cities-based Zerona laser treatments provider named Maple Grove Wellness.

Since that post, Maple Grove Wellness changed its name to Non-Surgical Clinic of the Twin Cities. I read many other complaints online related to Zerona laser treatments and LivingSocial deals with Maple Grove Wellness, so I'm assuming that the provider changed its name to just start over with its reputation.

Sometimes that's what it takes. On a bigger scale, here's a look at some companies who changed their names presumably to avoid future controversy:

• ValuJet Airlines -- This low-cost airline carrier ran into reputation problems because of emergency landings, issues with quality assurance procedures, and one of the highest accident rates in the low-fare sector. The highest-profile incident with ValuJet came on May 11, 1996, when a plane flying from Miami to Atlanta crashed in the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 persons on board. ValuJet's reputation never recovered, and the airline merged with the much smaller parent company of AirTran Airways. After the 1997 merger, the ValuJet name disappeared. AirTran Airways was acquired by Southwest Airlines in 2011.
• Philip Morris Companies Inc. -- While the official reason for the name change in 2003 to Altria was to provide greater "clarity" reflecting the "evolution" of the company, the organization most likely just wanted to distance itself from publicity nightmares -- such as then company president William Campbell's 1994 sworn testimony to Congress that "I believe nicotine is not addictive."
• Blackwater -- The company changed its name to Xe Services LLC in an attempt to leave behind issues from the Iraq War, such as charges related to a 2007 shooting that left 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians dead. In 2011, the company changed its name again -- this time to Academi.

Some company name changes are just plain dumb, such as Netflix's abandoned plan to change the name of its DVD-by-mail service to Qwikster. Or how about when Canada's Conservative Party and Reform Party merged to form the Conservative Reform Alliance Party (C.R.A.P.)? Realizing their mistake, that name quickly was changed to Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance.

Origins of disease names

I recently read a book by Laurie Garrett called "The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance."

While reading the book I thought, "How do these diseases get their names?" Turns out that many

diseases get their names from the geographic region in which they were first discovered.

Take these diseases, for instance:

• Lyme disease -- Named after the Atlantic seaside town of Lyme, Conn. "The typical Lyme disease patient suffered localized skin reddenings that were indicative of insect bites, followed days to months later by skin lesions, meningitis, progressive muscular and joint pain, and arthritic symptoms." (pp. 553, "The Coming Plague")
• Marburg virus -- Named after Marburg, Germany, where three factory workers became ill in August 1967. The Marburg virus is a hemorrhagic disease marked by "large tender lymph nodes along the throat, inflamed spleen, a marked drop in the number of disease-fighting white blood cells, and a sudden shortage of blood platelets and other factors that are necessary to stop bleeding." (pp. 54, "The Coming Plague")
• Machupo -- Named after the Machupo River in Bolivia. Symptoms of Machupo include blood-filled eyes, leaking capillaries, and a bleeding esophageal lining. Some people with Machupo died within four days of contracting the hemorrhagic fever.
• Ebola -- Named after a little river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the disease first appeared. Ebola virus disease symptoms start with an influenza-like stage and move to fever with chills, abdominal pain, hemorrhaging and more.
• Lassa fever -- Named after the town in Nigeria were the first cases originated. Similar to Ebola, Lassa fever symptoms range from bloody vomiting and diarrhea to seizures and hemorrhaging.

In a way, I feel sorry that these geographic regions have deadly diseases named after them. I don't think that any of them are tourist hot spots (or ever will be). 

19 tips for successful public relations

I recently released an eBook to assist individuals with public relations for small business. Called "19 Tips for Successful Public Relations: Insights on Media Relations and Reputation Management," readers will learn how to do public relations through straightforward tips and by analysis of real-life examples.

The eBook consists of tips that originally ran on this blog. Here's a look at the table of contents:

1. Preparing for a newspaper or magazine interview
2. Public relations plan elements
3. What is a press release?
4. How to find media contact information
5. TV interview tips
6. How to find a public relations firm
7. The Redbox price increase: a different story
8. What to do when a reporter calls
9. What is Cyber Monday and other holiday shopping questions answered
10. Media advice for Kris Humphries
11. Will Myspace get its sexy back?
12. Optimizing your online pressroom
13. Netflix: a company without a clue
14. Creative inspiration
15. Good HR makes good PR
16. Successful event PR tips courtesy of U2
17. Inkybee review
18. TurboTax troubles in Minnesota
19. Twinkies come back to life

The eBook is available for the Kindle, NOOK, and from www.skograndpr.com as a PDF. Order it today!