PwC Rebranding: Overcoming Initial Reluctance

PricewaterhouseCoopers officially rebranded today to the name it's best known as: PwC. The corporate video above says it's more than a simple name change and visual makeover, but a freshening of the brand's value and positioning going forward.

The accounting firm, which calls itself "the most recognizable brand among the Big Four global professional services networks," says it's formally adopting the longheld "PwC" moniker "in order to strengthen, and modernize how it represents its worldwide network to its clients, its people and the communities in which it operates."

But it's not completely shedding the 22-letter moniker.

While its new logo now consists of the initials "pwc" in lower-case type, and in practice the company will be known as PwC going forward, "PricewaterhouseCoopers" will remain the full name of the global organization for legal purposes, and will remain the name used by PwC firms to sign company audits. 

The PwC initials have been used interchangeably with the mouthful formerly known as "PricewaterhouseCoopers" internally and externally since its formation in 1998. Its new name and logo, which was developed after consultation with clients, partners and employees, is "designed to be easier to use and better suited to digital and online use."

PwC chairman Dennis Nally explains in the video below that the rebranding has an even loftier goal — to make PwC the #1 financial services brand on the planet: