“>

Should GM change its name?

I was visiting my mom recently; she lives in Anderson, Indiana. I was raised in Anderson and it has always been known as a GM town. Most of my friends’ parents worked at the Delco or Guide Lamp factories. In its day, Anderson was a booming town and a booming economy. It has met its fate as many factory towns and the buildings are not even there anymore. As I sat at the breakfast table I noticed the Anderson morning paper’s front page headline was about whether or not GM should change its name.

Although I am known as The Queen of Color™, numerology is another aspect of the intuitive consulting I do. Just as color has its energy and vibrations, so do numbers. Numbers have corresponding colors as well and when they are in harmony, a name and how it is branded can help make a business sing.

It is all a form of non-verbal communication, and in the marketing business, it can be considered subliminal messaging. So, what interests me most when I see a headline such as this recent AP article by Emily Fredrix, (The Herald Bulletin Saturday, June 13, 2009) are the vibrational shifts that can take place when you change your name and shift your branding message.

With my roots in graphic design and color theory, I look at the subliminal and intuitive angles of a corporation. In part, my work with The WIN Firm as CMO is about a fresh, insightful perspective concerning marketing, staff and just overall corporate energy and consciousness. Marketing is more than an image, it is an attitude, EVERYBODY’S attitude, in a sense it is a collective consciousness. My partner at The WIN Firm, Vice President of marketing, Chris Teague will ask a client, “what do your employees say about your company when they leave work?” (and of course the other aspect is what do you WANT them to say)…So please consider that image, energy and attitude are all part of a business and should be considered when branding or re-directing and existing brand. Now, back to the name game…

Much of our scientific as well a spiritual understanding of numbers can be owed to Pythagoras, the father of mathematics. It is to be known that Pythagoras was a mystic and a philosopher as well as a mathematician. He believed “all things are numbers” and that numbers represent spiritual energy.

Numerology refers to the numbers 1 through 9 and offers a basic characteristic or keyword for each number. Every number over 9 ultimately reduces to a single digit. With knowledge of the meaning of each number, one can understand the order of numbers in our lives. Believe it or not, your company name, your corporate brand holds energy and communicates this energy based on the spelling of the name. I also take in consideration the color and the design of the brand in the intuitive analysis and of course the applications.

In looking at General Motors and discerning whether or not they would benefit from a name change, it is interesting to note what “General Motors” “GM” and “General Motors Corporation” communicate by way of numerology. To decipher you can reference this simple chart:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z

G E N E R A L M O T O R S
7+ 5+5+ 5+9+1+ 3+ 4+ 6+2+ 6+9+1 =63
6+3=9

G E N E R A L M O T O R S C O R P O R A T I O N
7+ 5+5+ 5+9+1+ 3+ 4 +6+2+ 6+9+1+ 3+6+9+ 7+6+ 9+1+ 2+9+6+5 = 126
1+2+6=9

“General Motors” and “General Motors Corporation” both have the same “destiny” or what I refer to as a “directional” vibration, of a “9” which represents endings, but also 9 is a global/humanitarian number. In fact, a 9 vibrates (or should vibrate) to the role of unconditional love, and the color green. Now, keep in mind, corporations can experience crises, just like people experience crises when they do not live up to their vibrational number(s). So perhaps rather than changing their name, living up to their numbers may be the best thing for General Motors. I know this is an “ouch” but really looking at their numbers, including the life path number and honestly asking if you are living up to your potential is most important.

Having a 9 means they can be universal, it does not mean to dominate, it means to be universal, global. Their life path number, which is the d/m/yyyy the company was officially “born” was September, 16. 1908 which adds up (9/16/1908) to a 25/7. That tells me as well that it is necessary to come from a more spiritually based (morally based) objective. If they shift their consciousness, rather than their name, GM should thrive.

In the article by Emily Fredrix she also cited several corporations that changed their names and their image. I would like to reference some other name changes and “vibrational shifts” based on those changes. Some, although they shifted the name, did not shift their “destiny” “directional” vibration (number).

A securities firm, Blackwater Worldwide changed its name to Xe (“ze”) to distance themselves from work they did in Iraq. What is fascinating to me is not only did their numbers stay the same; they hold an 11/2 master number with both names. A master number contain double digits, such as 11, 22, or 33. I wonder if they had some intuitive consulting? It seems they may have, as an 11 is a number known as a “master visionary” number and it is a securities firm, which would greatly benefit from being able to tap into the intuitive side of things.

Lucky Goldstar and Philip Morris both took huge shifts from holding a Destiny number of 6 and in their name change shifted to a 7 Destiny number. A 6 Destiny number which they both had prior, is a balanced and nurturing number. It is a vibration associated with care giving. Lucky Goldstar shifted to LG (and use the slogan “Life’s Good” in their marketing campaigns) and went from a balanced 6 to something more ethereal and spiritual with the 7 vibration. Interesting to note that the “Life’s Good” message does correspond with the 7 Destiny vibration, since it is a philosophical almost spiritual message, and if you are wondering the slogan vibrates to an 11, the master visionary number.

A 7 Destiny is all about seeking the spiritual and the moral. 7 is also known as a loner number, but also an analytical/ ‘thinking” number. Philip Morris is the tobacco giant, and like LG had a Destiny number of a 6 shifting to a 7 when they took on the name Altria. Interesting stuff, and of course there are many aspects to the name game. Interesting to note that Philip Morris is more of a personification, and after the accusations of chemicals added to the product I find it interesting that they choose a name that communicates more of a pharmaceutical image.

One last example given in the article was ValueJet that shifted to AirTran. It was a 6 Destiny, all about nurturing, balance and taking care of people. They shifted to a 9 Destiny with the AirTran change. As stated with GM, 9 is a humanitarian number in fact you can think of the nurturing and personal care giving of the “6” flipped over to create the “9” vibration. So it will be interesting to see, what transpires with the new vibrations.

Of course, other numbers come into play, such as the life path number of a company (the “birth date”) as I mentioned with GM, but my time is short here and this entry is long! I do find it interesting that the examples given in the AP article all shift from the care giving nurturing 6 to other numbers!

In the next entry I would like to address what the best “Destiny” number is for your business, and when, if and how to shift your name and/or your brand.