Landor to create Andersen name

International branding giant Landor Associates has been appointed to create a new name and corporate identity for Andersen Consulting, which will be launched early next year. Landor’s US office will head the project, with collaboration from other offices around the world.

The rebranding follows a French court’s ruling last month that Andersen Consulting would have to give up its name as part of a separation from Andersen Worldwide and Arthur Andersen, instead of paying $14.5bn (£9.7bn) compensation. Andersen Consulting is an $8.9bn (£5.7bn) global management and technology consulting organisation employing 65 000 people in 48 countries.

Landor director Alec Rattray says: “We have been retained as brand consultants for the past five years and have been appointed globally for a new naming exercise and visual identity system for Andersen Consulting. The intended launch of the name and marque will be at the turn of the year.” This is because of the court’s judgement that the company will lose its rights to use the existing name from 1 January.

“It’s basically a clean slate as Andersen Consulting is fully embracing the challenges of the ‘new economy’,” explains Rattray. “The firm is repositioning itself and this is a real opportunity to signal a repositioning of itself in the digital age.”

He refuses to comment on whether “consulting” will be included in the company’s new name, adding: “It’s about finding a name which does the best job for the brand as it’s one of the major forces in world business.”

Arthur Andersen has dismissed reports that it will adopt the Andersen Consulting name. It completed its own rebranding programme at the start of this year, which was undertaken by Enterprise IG.