When MGM Mirage changed their name to MGM Resorts International, I wasn’t bowled over. “Resorts International” is forever linked in my mind to May 26, 1978, and a big red hotel on the Atlantic City Boardwalk (sure, it’s been painted white for 20 years or so, but in my mind Haddon Hall will always be red).
But I figured instead of just blathering on about it myself, it would be a good idea to find two people who specialize in corporate branding from outside Las Vegas to get a better perspective on what the name change means to people who’ve got a broader view. I was lucky to talk to Alina Wheeler and Laura Reis for today’s Vegas Seven column:
Two weeks ago, company shareholders approved a name change: MGM Mirage became MGM Resorts International. It was a major change, but was it good business? According to two corporate branding experts, it was.
MGM CEO Jim Murren outlined the change as an “evolution” that “honors our heritage, better represents the growing global presence our company has today and positions us to move forward under a unified brand strategy.”
Laura Ries, president of marketing strategy firm Ries and Ries, and co-author of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding HarperCollins Publishers, 1998, thinks this was a good move.
Really interesting stuff from both experts. I still think “MGM Resorts International” is way too long, and kept on tripping over it when I was talking about the company in a TV interview last week, but “MGM Resorts” or just “MGM” works fine.