It's not uncommon for a troubled company to attempt to change its luck with a new name, but neither Weight Watchers (NYSE:WTW) nor Dunkin' Donuts (NASDAQ:DNKN) is suffering. Yet both are adjusting their brands with an eye on expanding their markets. In this segment from the Motley Fool Money podcast, host Chris Hill and Fool senior analysts David Kretzmann, Seth Jayson, and Jason Moser reflect on whether new names will bring any benefit to the companies involved.
A full transcript follows the video.
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This video was recorded on Sept. 28, 2018.
Chris Hill: This week, Weight Watchers announced it is changing its name to WW as part of its focus on overall health and wellness. And Dunkin' Donuts is dropping the Donuts. Starting in January, the company will officially be called Dunkin'. I'm not sure how to feel about any of this.
Jason Moser: Are you kidding me?! I love Dunkin', guy!
Seth Jayson: Dunkin' sounds good. WW is hard to say. And the URL sounds terrible. www.ww.com?
Hill: See, that actually works. Dunkin.com belongs to a small consulting firm in San Jose, California.
Jayson: Not for long, right?
David Kretzmann: Probably not a coincidence, Dunkin' just opened their first location in San Jose in July.
Moser: What if they just went with W²? Maybe that's a bit more catchy.
Jayson: W2, it would look.
Moser: And then everybody gets all bummed out because no one likes taxes.
Hill: By the way, to go back to Michael Kors, capriholdings.com does not appear to be a working URL, either.
Jayson: Oof, they need to get on that.
Hill: Let's go to our man behind the glass, Steve Broido. Steve, of these three rebrandings, is there one you're particularly excited about?
Steve Broido: I don't think so. Dunkin', I guess. Moving away from donuts probably makes sense, because they do sell more than just donuts. I guess that makes the most sense. I don't know. Dunkin' sounds very royal.
Moser: To that point with Dunkin', remember, Domino's was very successful with that transition. They went from Domino's Pizza to simply Domino's. That's worked out pretty well for them. Not to mention that Papa John's just continues to step in it on a daily basis.
