After eleven successful years in business why change our name? Bottom line, we had outgrown it and was no longer serving us well.

A new business needs to tell its customers what it does to gain business. We chose the most descriptive name we could find in order to do that. The name, The Secret Shopper Company, worked well until the organization entered our current stage of growth. Because we are now a top-tier provider, we needed to transform and create a defined brand.

Some of the issues with surrounding the name The Secret Shopper Company:

• GENERIC NAME CREATES BRAND CONFUSION: It was a generic name, and we are definitely not a generic company!
  • For years we have been called Secret Shopper or Secret Shopper Company. Some would call us when they were trying to reach other companies and visa versa. If shoppers become confused we worried this could create breeches of confidentiality, without us even being aware of it.
  • We have been mistaken for companies that were not known for providing quality services.
  • Even our own clients were unsure of our name.
  • We approached an image and branding company to assess whether this would be a smart idea. Upon submission of the proposal and recommendations, all of their documents were labeled with a different company's name. That was the last straw! The good news is it saved us a bunch of money.

With the opportunity before us, our Executive Team wanted to assure the new name would give us a considerable strategic advantage. The criteria we used for selecting our name:

• Must present a high-end image in keeping with our old identity.
• Must, in some way be merchandisable.
• Must be non-gender weighted.

Based on these objectives we selected AboutFace™. The benefits of our new identity:

• The name perfectly illustrates exactly who we are and what we do for our clients. It has a double meaning.
• First, we help our partners look in the mirror, educating and enlightening them about their positive traits and some of their blemishes.
• Finally, as the leader in improvement programs, we help clients facilitate change, transformation and improvement. Our Improvement Technologies Department provides educational tools and rewards programs that lead to behavior modification.
• We are listed in a lot of shopper list services. We would be an "A" instead of an "S".
• With our new logo, The Big Smiley™ creates a workplace icon that screams E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-C-E. By using this icon in conjunction with benchmarks, the smiley becomes a major player in the reinforcement of excellence.

As the most award-winning company in the industry's history, we have a lot to offer our clients. We may have a new name and look, but we are still the same innovative team of professionals around.

This is a major endeavor, so we can use the help of all our friends. Here are a few ways you can help:

Clients & Prospective Clients

• Notify your applicable departments: e-mail, links, website, etc.

Shoppers

• Notify your shopper friends, lists and job boards about the new name.
• Go through Smiley University - the best shopper education has now been improved.

Obsessed with the best,