It’s not often a business owner actually asks for an opinion, but here I am… asking. I really do want your input. Here’s the deal: I’m considering a rebrand. I mean, I’m in the branding space and my own brand doesn’t truly represent what we do as a business. So I’m putting it out there to the people and I’d love your feedback.
Here’s some background:
When we left NYC to start a life in Louisville, Kentucky, we wanted the business I was starting to pay homage to our favorite city. We had successfully named our dog after our favorite neighborhood, SoHo, and wanted to keep the theme going (later dogs were then named Gramercy and TriBeCa and I won’t talk about future dog names because these two are going to live forever). We looked into naming the business SoHo but do you know how much a URL with “soho” can cost? So we decided that since I’d be representing lots of brands in this new endeavor we’d name it after our old address (520 East 72nd Street) and call the company “520 East Brands.”
Two problems with that name:
- It does not say who we are or what we do.
- It is inevitably mistaken for “502” brands because the area code in Louisville, Kentucky, is 502.
So. More than 15 years into the business and I am still reckoning with the name I chose back before even I understood the monumental importance of a name. Locally, there is some brand recognition (@520eastbrands is my Twitter/X handle, for instance, though I am hardly on that platform anymore). I have a URL, business cards, etcetera. Is the name SO bad that I need to jump through hoops at this point, or should I just double down on it and deal with it? Do I keep the name and change the business to a “DBA” situation?
I’m really asking. This isn’t rhetorical. I’d love to know what you think on this subject. And I’m really not afraid of your feedback.
by 
