So what does the word Consignia mean to you?

So what does the word Consignia mean to you?
From THE SUN, January 10th, 2001
Paul Crosbie and Grant Rollings At a cost of Pounds 2million it’s supposed to make you think of the Post Office. WHAT does “Consignia” mean to you? Is it Inter Milan’s new striker? A rank in the Spanish army? The name of a New York crime family? No, none of those. It’s the bizarre new name for the Post Office, which has “rebranded” itself at a cost of Pounds 2million and chosen Consignia partly because the public, apparently, liked it. The red and white brick logo is OUT and IN come the new corporate colours of blue, red and green. Chairman Neville Bain says the switch will help promote the Post Office abroad and win new business. The Post Office paid “rebranding” experts Dragon Brands Pounds 500,000 to come up with the word Consignia. It took an entire year and involved consulting senior Post Office bosses and postmen as well as market research. According to Dragon, 80 per cent of the people consulted thought Consignia was a suitable name for a company with the Post Office’s range of services. But yesterday The Sun asked members of the public what the peculiar word conjured up for them. One suggested it was the name of the new England soccer manager, another thought it sounded like a pen. Someone else said it could be the name of a new cheap fares airline and a fourth questioned whether it was some unpleasant disease. Aside from spending Pounds 500,000 for the name, the Post Office will fork out another Pounds 1.5million changing its letterheads. All this at a time when it is facing growing criticism for failing to meet delivery targets for first-class letters and for the number of letters it loses. But the Post Office called the controversial change “modern and meaningful.” It will come in to force in March when the Post Office becomes a plc and is freed of Government control. Chief executive John Roberts said:
“The new name describes the full scope of what the Post Office does in a way that the words ‘post’ and ‘office’ cannot. “To consign means to entrust to the care of – which is what each of our customers does every day.” But staff are furious. They have accused bosses of “dumping” 350 years of tradition with a change that is “rushed and ill-conceived.” The Communication Workers Union plans to try to persuade chiefs to reconsider. Deputy general secretary John Keggie said: “I cannot see the point of inventing a new name to replace a highly-respected, tried and tested brand which the public hold close to their hearts.” Colin Baker, of the Sub Postmasters’ Federation, said: “It might have value abroad where it will help the Post Office distinguish itself from other national post offices. “But it is going to cost a lot of money and I can’t see the change having much effect in the UK. It is a change which is not going to mean much to many people.” The Consumer Council For Postal Services said it would be “unacceptable” if the Pounds 2million name-change led to increased prices.
Deputy chief executive Stephen Harris said: “We feel the public is
already paying enough for the services the Post Office is providing.” The
Consignia name is designed to help the Post Office sell financial
services, telecommunications and home shopping, which account for nearly a
third of its annual Pounds 7.5billion turnover. Post Offices will keep
their name and staff uniforms will be
unaffected. Royal Mail and Parcelforce brands will also remain. Dragon
Brands
has previously dreamed up “Innogy”, which is used by National Power, and
“Techmart” for the Stock Exchange’s technology dealing arm. Nina Cooper,
of Dragon Brands, said: “The name was chosen after
consulting with senior managers and business and other customers. “We
rejected many names which were unworkable or not appropriate. We
wanted the name to have meaning and we think it does.” The Post Office had
another simple reason for choosing Consignia. “We
liked it,” a spokesman said. The Post Office is the latest in a long line
of British firms to
spend fortunes rebranding themselves. ANDERSEN CONSULTING recently spent
Pounds 117million telling other
businesses they had changed their name to Accenture. The design
consultants
charged them Pounds 67million. BP AMOCO spent Pounds 136million on a new
sunflower logo as the
public raged at high petrol prices last year. The fuel giant thought it
projected more environmentally- friendly credentials. BRITISH AIRWAYS
sparked controversy when they spent Pounds 60million
on an image overhaul. Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher described
the
decision in 1997 to replace the Union Jack on their plane tailfins with
ethnic
images as “terrible.” MIDLAND BANK became HSBC at a cost of Pounds
34million. But it
boosted the bank’s profits and customers used a wider range of its
products. © The Sun, 2001THE SUN, 10th January 2001