????一個行業里百年的品牌到底有什么價值？2013年12月宣布裁減總值50億美元商品化學品業務的陶氏化學公司（Dow Chemical）很快就會認清這個問題。

????這家公司目前更加關注高附加值的特殊材料產品，例如手機用的半導體芯片，并逐步退出了低利潤空間的氯化學業務。根據公司發言人表態，公司高層正在考慮將“化學品”（Chemical）一詞從公司名字中刪去。

????公司首席執行官安德魯?李佛利斯對《華爾街日報》（The Wall Street Journal）表示，更名能幫助公司實現從“化學品至化學工業”的定位轉型。

????隨著公司不斷調整發展戰略，它們的品牌也會發生變化—無論結果是好是壞。但就歷史經驗來說，公司身份變化帶來的更名通常給公司帶來的麻煩要大于好處。從技術到國防，各行各業都有公司更名的案例，不過都嚴重危及到公司業務。盡管個別公司最終成功走出了更名的陰影，但這些不過是例外，而非慣例。

????“只要他們還堅持陶氏（Dow）的這個牌子……只要他們不改名字，公司就不會因為名字中少了‘化學’（Chemical）這個詞而受損，”德意志銀行（Deutsche Bank）證券分析師戴維?貝格雷特指出。

????請大家繼續往下閱讀，看看更名給我們今天介紹的7家公司帶來了怎樣的挑戰。

????What does a century-old brand do when it grows out of the very business that inspired its name? After announcing in December 2013 that it would to shed $5 billion worth of its commodity chemical business, Dow Chemical will have to figure that out.

????The company is focusing more resources on higher-value specialty materials products like semiconductor chips for cell phones and moving away from the lower-margin chlorine business. In turn, executives are considering ridding "chemical" from its title as well, according to a company spokesperson.

????Chief executive Andrew Liveris told The Wall Street Journal that a potential name change would hopefully help position the company as one linked by "chemistry rather than chemicals" as it transforms.

????But as corporations evolve their strategy, their brands can change too -- for better or for worse. And if history is any indication, an identity change followed by a title switch can cause a company more trouble than it's worth. Corporations spanning industries as diverse as technology to defense have all rebranded themselves only to the peril of their businesses. While some have successfully navigated the dangers of a new title, these instances prove to be the exception rather than the rule.

????"As long as they keep Dow... as long as they don't change that name, the company will not suffer from dropping chemical from its name," said Deutsche Bank Equity Analyst David Begleiter.

????Read on to discover seven companies who found out firsthand how challenging a name change can be.

RIM公司更名為黑莓（2013年）

????2013年1月，行動研究公司（Research In Motion）對外宣布將根據它廣為人知的智能手機品牌，更名為黑莓公司。公司管理層在推出新的手機平臺、黑莓10（BlackBerry 10）的同時宣布了這項決定，希望藉此重振式微的品牌。S&P Capital IQ分析師詹姆斯?摩爾曼指出，盡管采取了上述變革措施，黑莓公司戰略上并沒有顯著的變化，股價仍然不斷下跌。

????“事實上，公司更名并不會影響消費者的購買決定。本案中，公司上述策略實屬敗筆，” 市場調研公司Wedge Partners 高級責任研究分析師布萊恩?布萊爾對《財富》雜志這樣表示。

Research In Motion to BlackBerry (2013)

????In January 2013, Research In Motion announced that it would change its name to BlackBerry after the widely known smartphone device. Executives made the announcement in tandem with its new mobile platform, BlackBerry 10, hoping that they could revitalize the declining brand. Despite the change, BlackBerry did not follow up with a significant change in strategy and the stock price continues to suffer as a result, said James Moorman, an analyst for S&P Capital IQ.

????"The fact is that a name change doesn't matter when no one buys your new hardware. So in this case it was a bust," Wedge Partners Principal and Senior Research Analyst Brian Blair told Fortune.

continue to run stories that refer to the company by its old name.