What’s in a name? Just about everything. Last week the owners of ground zero decided the name “Freedom Tower” which was to be used for the most prominent of the several new buildings being constructed on the site of the terrorist destroyed twin towers just didn’t send the right message and have opted instead to use the name associated with the former north tower “1 World Trade Center”.
Symbolism abounds as ground zero resurrects itself. The building in question should be ready in 2013, and will rise to a height of exactly 1776 feet at the very top of its antenna. It is designed to evoke the Statue of Liberty. It will become America’s tallest building.
I have stood at ground zero. Only the most callous of hearts is not affected in its presence.
That being said, I want to focus in this post on more mundane yet still important matters. This name switch calls attention to issues relating to “branding” and “brand identity” (watch for an up-coming post all about “branding” and the naming process). The developers have legitimate concerns that prospective tenants might see the “Freedom Tower” name as putting a bullseye on the building. The general populace finds the same name appealing in that it clearly makes a “don’t tread on me” statement.
Pragmatic considerations apparently are holding sway in naming this “tower”, which is, it should be recognized, one of several “towers” associated with the overall site development which also incorporates a memorial and museum, a performing arts center, as well as other elements. The meaningfulness of the overall re-development of the ground zero site to all Americans cannot be overstated. It is the sum of the total that I think matters most; for individual elements of the project, as with any naming decision, mulitple factors must be considered.
In fact, using the name of the destroyed tower has significance of its own. In any naming process, the heart of the matter is to carefully screen all the name options (and there should always be options) against a set of specific criteria; a name that just has a certain “ring” to it, may literally sound good, but if the name doesn’t “work” it should not be used. All too often, naming gets too little attention.
While on the subject of the importance of names, we must ensure the names of those who perished as a result of the September 11th attacks are enshrined in our national memory. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum is dedicated to this purpose. $300 million has been raised towards its fundraising goal of $350 million. Those who wish to contribute to the construction of the memorial can do so at the following site:
http://www.national911memorial.org/site/PageServer?pagename=new_donate_page
➡https://communicatorsandcommunications.com/2009/03/30/freedom-tower-vs-1-world-trade-center/
Filed under: public policy | Tagged: brand identity, branding, Freedom Tower, World Trade Center | Leave a comment »
Communicators & Communications 