What's In A Name?

Chris Goldschmidt was never keen on putting his hard-to-spell name on the door of an ad agency. That’s why in 1995 he selected a more conceptual moniker, Jackhammer, as a way of attracting attention to the small Birmingham, Ala., shop.





‘This is a branding strategy on our part,’ said Goldschmidt (shown here), who was not exactly thrilled last month when he learned that a spinoff of The Richards Group in Dallas, called R&D, had recently redubbed itself Jackhammer.





Goldschmidt, whose $2 million shop serves clients in Texas, held ‘informal’ talks last week with John Beitter, principal at Jackhammer in Dallas, informing Beitter of his intention to retain exclusive use of the Jackhammer name.





The Dallas Jackhammer said it conducted a trademark search before announcing its new name two months ago.





‘Our legal counsel is looking into it,’ said Beitter.