Men's magazine tell. becomes untell.
Name Snapped Up Before Launch
Name snatched away before launchThe men's magazine tell. from Geneva-based Audace Publishing, launched on September 14, was already renamed with the second issue in November and is now called untell. At the time, the management of Audace Publishing had probably checked whether the name was already taken, but failed to register tell. as a trademark. A private person in Geneva, who already publishes the not very professionally designed free magazine Happy few for distribution in Geneva hotels, proved to be smarter than the people from tell. A month before the launch of the men's magazine, a certain Madame Ferbach registered the name tell magazines, allegedly unaware that Audace Publishing wanted to publish a magazine of the same name.
The management of Audace Publishing has decided not to go to court in order not to burden the young publishing house unnecessarily with costs, and has chosen the less stressful path of changing its name.
For the makers of tell., the search for a new name was hardly a headache, as untell. was already among the variants discussed at the start of the project, says publishing director Eric Valette. Untell. is intended to position the magazine even better as a unique product on the market. The name change, which is not really visually striking, has hardly been noticed by readers, Valette continues. Moreover, the title alone does not make the magazine's reputation; what is important is the content, editor-in-chief Frédéric Gilbert told WerbeWoche.
Audace Publishing is the second media company in French-speaking Switzerland, after Ringier Romandie, to experience a nasty surprise when naming its new titles. In 1996, Ringier Romandie's women's magazine only made it as far as a zero number under the name Style. The name had already been taken by a German magazine. The publishing management then took two years to christen its product with the unusual name Edelweiss for a French women's magazine. Anita Vaucher
The management of Audace Publishing has decided not to go to court in order not to burden the young publishing house unnecessarily with costs, and has chosen the less stressful path of changing its name.
For the makers of tell., the search for a new name was hardly a headache, as untell. was already among the variants discussed at the start of the project, says publishing director Eric Valette. Untell. is intended to position the magazine even better as a unique product on the market. The name change, which is not really visually striking, has hardly been noticed by readers, Valette continues. Moreover, the title alone does not make the magazine's reputation; what is important is the content, editor-in-chief Frédéric Gilbert told WerbeWoche.
Audace Publishing is the second media company in French-speaking Switzerland, after Ringier Romandie, to experience a nasty surprise when naming its new titles. In 1996, Ringier Romandie's women's magazine only made it as far as a zero number under the name Style. The name had already been taken by a German magazine. The publishing management then took two years to christen its product with the unusual name Edelweiss for a French women's magazine. Anita Vaucher
