Dubai: When PwC announced the name Strategy& for the newly combined entity after its acquisition of Booz & Company, opinions differed on the nomenclature prompting the ‘Wall Street Journal’ to point out that the name was not, in fact, a typo.
PwC executives say while the name is the result of a conscious effort to reflect the essence of the new entity, it was also partly because Booz & Co’s branding was no longer available for use.
To be fair, PwC had no choice but to rebrand since they had to relinquish the name because of the terms settled on when Booz & Company split from Booz Allen Hamilton back in 2008. The terms of that transaction meant that Booz & Co, subject to a change of control, would not be able to retain the name. “So, following this merger we didn’t have the name available. If that was not the case we would have retained that name, particularly in the Middle East that had a lot of brand equity,” Hani Ashkar, PwC Middle East Senior Partner.
“The new Strategy& links back to our capabilities in strategy and the & connects us to the additional services and capabilities we bring to the table. We wanted a word that was naturally descriptive, but one that was not closed. I think clients get it,” he said.
Officials said the new branding is fast getting accepted by our clients. “Strategy and… what? Strategy and Tax, Strategy and Assurance and more. “Once you go down the path of explaining it to your clients and what it means and the possibilities, it’s incredibly exciting and the name on its own initiates a conversation,” Per-Ola Karlsson, Senior Partner, Strategy&.
