The marketing folks at George Mason University recently got a painful reminder about the importance of due diligence in naming an entity, in this case a law school.  

They learned – the hard way – that it pays to consider the acronym the new name creates. Acronyms are abbreviations that can be pronounced as a word, such as BOGO (buy one get one), and should be easy to pronounce and remember. Marketing professionals know that just as an entity’s name reflects its purpose and values, so too does its acronym.

The Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University sounds dignified enough – until you consider the acronym, which the Twitterati quickly did. Note the first five words create the acronym ASSoL, which phonetically resembles a common vulgarity.

To their credit, George Mason quickly revised the name to the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University (ASLS). But the incident illustrates how an acronym misstep can quickly lead to embarrassing or damaging buzz about your business or group. Missteps can also be costly in regards to replacing collateral materials or signage, also known as BWM (Big Waste of Money).

Avoid taking a SWAG (Stupid Wild-A** Guess) at your name choice. Don’t cheapen the value of the name attached to your business or the power of your advocacy or committee by giving your critics ammunition to use against you.

Naming decisions are best made with TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) involvement because other perspectives are invaluable in marketing, communications and life.