What's in a Name? You Say "CRM Live", Microsoft Says "CRM Online"

Corporate branding is always an imprecise process at best, and Microsoft illustrated that reality when, after nearly two years of alluding to its online version of CRM 4.0 at "CRM Live", it switched gears weeks before official launch and said that, from hereon, the product's name is "CRM Online."

The name change won't affect the product release date, expected to be in June, nor the company's target markets, channel strategy, or pricing, Microsoft said. The product has been positioned as a serious competitor to Salesforce.com.

Why the name change, less than three weeks after the conclusion of the huge Convergence 2008 trade show in Orlando, where top Microsoft executives, including CEO Steve Ballmer, were referring to "CRM Live"?

In an obtusely worded email, Brad Wilson, general manager of Dynamics CRM, seemed to attribute the name change to the fact that while CRM Live might resonate with consumers and owners of small businesses, it didn't work as well with the Dynamics CRM target market--executives of fast-growing smaller companies along with mid-size and large companies.

"During this incubation phase, the working name for the new product was Microsoft Dynamics CRM Live," said Wilson. "In recent months, Microsoft has launched the new Online brand, with tremendous investment in and focus around on-demand technology for business users. Whereas the Live brand is focused on consumers and small businesses, the Online brand is fully aligned with our existing Dynamics CRM strategy of delivering outstanding solutions for small businesses, midsized companies, and large enterprises. As a result, we will be launching the new service as Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. This is simply a name change."

As reported previously, CRM Online has more than 500 customers ...