CP+NS: What's in a name? Plenty

As railroad fans, it’s always an interesting guessing game to try to figure out what name a railroad merger might produce. Railroads themselves seem to struggle with it — in the 1960s when the Hill Lines were preparing to merge, the company was to be called Great Northern Pacific & Burlington Lines — until cooler heads prevailed and settled on the less tongue twisting Burlington Northern.

If the Canadian Pacific/Norfolk Southern merger goes through, leaders of the new company will face trying to create a new brand identity. Usually, but not always, this involves a new name. In this case, with CP acquiring NS, it might simply call the consolidated railroad Canadian Pacific, ala Union Pacific, which simply absorbs other railroads into its corporate identity giving rise to fans nickname for UP — “The Borg” — after the Star trek aliens who absorb other species into their collective.

But let’s assume that CP/NS want a new name. How do they figure out how to do it? I spoke with Jim MacLachlan, president of Tartan Marketing, a Minneapolis-based brand management agency that’s worked with both small and Fortune 500 companies. MacLachlan says the railroad industry is unique since it is an infrastructure-based industry. Often one company buys another for its brand value — if you were buying Apple, for instance, you wouldn’t be buying it so much for its infrastructure, but for the value of the Apple name. “But even in the railroad industry, the brand does matter,” MacLachlan says. The key is brand equity. “Equity is the warm feeling you get from a brand,” he says. “How do we make sure we don’t lose it from either group? Which one is better known?”

MacLachlan says the way Union Pacific has handled mergers is a viable approach, but the naming decision “is about what your brand stands for and how you communicate to customers. It’s a strategic decision that requires careful thought on product, company, and all stakeholder levels — a task not to be taken lightly,” he says. Clearly, UP values its brand — it had the higher brand equity — and wasn’t afraid to drop others brands that it felt were not as well known.

If I were to guess, and since it’s the buyer, and knowing CP’s E. Hunter Harrison’s inclinations, the safe money here is that NS will simply be assimilated into the Canadian Pacific brand. Let’s be honest, CP has been around for over 100 years and is much better known than Norfolk Southern.

But if the companies don’t take that approach, what are some possible names that would make sense? Here are some unscientific suggestions, some with tongue in cheek:

• North American Railways. What’s that you say? Isn’t that the name for the failed 1999 merger proposal of BNSF and CN? It sure is! What fun would Harrison have with this name — he can give a poke in the eye to his old railroad CN and U.S. regulators who derailed the merger. And it’s actually not a bad name to describe the new system.
• Following in the pattern of naming in the rail industry would be Canadian Pacific Norfolk Southern. Yes it’s a mouthful, but it does make sense. You keep the brand names of both companies (preserving brand equity) and don’t sacrifice the well-known CP brand. Of course, knowing how the industry operates, in a few years, it will no doubt become CPNS, which makes no sense as a brand whatsoever.
• Canada Southern. A real possibility. New York Central once had a Canada Southern Division in southern Ontario that dates to 1869, and the name makes a nice fit of Canada and the “Southern” from NS. But I’m not sure it would fly with Canadians since it seems to indicate all the action is south of Canada in the U.S.
• Way out of left field would be United Dominion, taking the United from United States combined with the Dominion of Canada. Doesn’t really describe the railroad, but its kind of a cool name.
• A perfect geographic description of the new railroad: Norfolk & Western! An unlikely name for the obvious reasons, but just picture N&W 611 in Vancouver running on “home” rails!
• International Railway of North America really fills the bill, since the railroad crosses the border and unites the two countries. The name really becomes appropriate if the new railroad ever acquires Kansas City Southern, extending its reach into Mexico.
• Thoroughbred Beaver utilizes the mascots of both railroads, NS’s thoroughbred and CP’s beaver. Think of the advertising possibilities, not to mention a logo with a beaver riding a horse — fabulous!
• Atlantic & Pacific Railway. Would work fine, except for the possibility of mix-ups with the A&P Supermarket chain.
• Canadian American Railroad pretty much sums up the consolidation. The downside to this name is it was used before by Iron Road Railways and went bankrupt in 2001. A work around could be calling it Canadian American Railway instead of railroad.
• Canada & United States Railway. A pretty good name, but would have to make sure reporting marks CUS don’t cause confusion with Chicago Union Station.

The possibilities are really endless, if the railroads only used their imagination, but the likely outcome is still on an old name for the new company: Canadian Pacific Railway.

For a discussion of factors of how companies consider names and branding go to: http://tartanmarketing.com/top-4-factors-trigger-brand-refresh.