The rise of ISIS has triggered some rebranding efforts among organizations unlucky enough to share a name with the terrorist group.
The mobile payments app Isis Wallet is changing its name to Softcard. And the Institute for Science and International Security — a nuclear nonproliferation think tank that goes by ISIS for short — has urged reporters to stop using the acronym in reference to the terrorist group.
But one Carlsbad-based drug company is holding off on a name change.
"It's not something we felt like we needed to do at this point," said Amy Blackley, associate director of corporate communications for Isis Pharmaceuticals.
Blackley does admit she's been answering the phone differently.
"It used to be 'Hi, this is Amy from Isis.'" But now she greets callers with a careful, "'Hi, this is Amy from Isis Pharmaceuticals."
Isis Pharmaceuticals trades under the unfortunate NASDAQ ticker symbol ISIS. But Blackley says so far the only people raising questions about the company's name have been members of the media.
"What we haven't heard is any concern from the investment community, as well as the physicians and opinion leaders we work with in the drug discovery business," she said.
In the naming business, however, one leader says Isis Pharmaceuticals should be a bit more worried.
"While I don't think there's enormous pressure for them to change their name immediately, I do think it is likely they will need to change their name eventually," Michael Barr, president of NameLab, said.
If you've ever heard of AutoZone, Olive Garden or Acura, you've encountered NameLab's work. Barr's company has also devised brands for pharmaceutical giants like Johnson & Johnson.
The predicament facing Isis Pharmaceuticals reminds Barr of a call he received in the 1980s from another company struggling to shed negative brand associations.
"They made an appetite suppressant candy called Ayds," Barr said. The product's name predated public awareness of AIDS. By 1988, sales were down 50 percent.
What this means for Isis Pharmaceuticals, Barr said, is that, "over time it could potentially affect the value of their stock or influence potential investors."
Isis Pharmaceuticals has an advantage Ayds didn't have: they operate behind the scenes. Since they don't bring drugs to market, they're not a big, recognizable brand name. They're not trying to sell any products named "Isis" to the public at large.
Either way, after 25 years of calling themselves Isis, the company might be too established for an identity overhaul.
