Abrdn is victim of ‘corporate bullying’, says company executive
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Abrdn has been the victim of “corporate bullying” since changing its company name, an executive at the asset manager has claimed.
Peter Branner, Abrdn’s chief investment officer, accused the media of being “childish” after ridiculing the fund’s decision to drop most of the vowels in its name.
The global investment company, which has ￡495bn of assets under management, changed its name from Standard Life Aberdeen to Abrdn in 2021 as part of a major rebrand.
It triggered a wave of mockery in the press, which referred to the company “dropping Es” and developing a case of “irritable vowel syndrome”.
Stephen Bird, the company’s chief executive, was referred to as Stphn Brd.
At the time, the business insisted that changing to Abrdn – pronounced Aberdeen – would create a “modern, agile, digitally enabled brand”.
The rebrand replaced five different brand names which had each been operating independently and used a logo designed by Wolff Olins, a key agency behind the 2012 London Olympics.
Speaking to Financial News, Mr Branner said: “I understand that corporate bullying to some extent is part of the game with the press, even though it’s a little childish to keep hammering the missing vowels in our name.”
“Would you do that with an individual? How would you look at a person who makes fun of your name day in, day out? It’s probably not ethical to do it. But apparently with companies it is different.”
It was hoped that the rebrand would end confusion after the company sold its Standard Life brand to insurer Phoenix Group in February 2021.
It was also thought that the name change was driven by the company’s desire to own its internet domain name while maintaining ties to its origins, given that Aberdeen.com already belonged to a strategy and research business.
However, critics said that pronouncing the new name was confusing while Julie McDowell, a former senior executive at the company, posted on LinkedIn: “This is a joke, right?”
Mr Bird, chief executive of Abrdn, publicly defended the controversial name change months after it was announced.
He said at the time: “Good brands get noticed, great brands start a conversation and we’ve started a conversation.”
An Abrdn spokesman said: ‘‘As Peter made clear in his interview, we appreciate it is for the media to make their own assessments about the companies they wish to write about.”