Retention of name is broadly applauded.

Marketing considerations may not have been the driving force, but experts on brand names are enthusiastic about Keycorp and Society Corp.'s decision to retain the Keycorp banner.

"|Key' is beautiful: It's short, it's one syllable. it says something to you," said Joel Portugal. partner in Anspach Grossman Portugal. of New York.

"From the outside looking in. they chose what appears to make the most sense," agreed Alvin H. Schechter, chief executive officer of the Schechter Group, a New York identity and branding specialist.

Role of Politics

At a news conference Monday announcing the merger, officials indicated that the choice hinged more on corporate politics than on an analysis of brand identity.

Keycorp chairman Victor Riley that initially there was much angling over whether the merged company should be based in Keycorp's home town of Albany. N.Y., or in Cleveland, where Society is headquartered. "Once they won on the headquarters it was easy," he said.

In addition to its brevity, |Key' also has the advantage of being easy to remember. Mr. Schechter said the use of the image of a key by the bank could be compared to the use of a shell by Shell Oil Co..

Also cited was the relative ease of switching to Key's name. While there is no immediate plan to change branch names, the consultants figured that it would eventually occur. And Key has more than 800 of the 1,300 or so branches in the combined entity.

Finally, the consultants said the Key name had the advantage of carrying no negative baggage.

A View of Society

Whereas a key opens doors, "|society' has an elitist connotation," Mr. Portugal said.

Indeed, Society chairman Robert Gillespie acknowledged that he often had felt compelled to explain that the bank is in no way geared to the upper crust.

The consultants said it was not unusual for marketing considerations to take a back seat to political ones when big companies merge.

"It's a very emotion-ridden decision." said Edwin F. Lefkowith, principal in Lefkowith Inc., which consults about brand names. "For some reason people fight over names and flags."

Chemical Banking Corp., for example, kept its name in a merger of equals with Manufacturers Hanover Corp. as part of a compromise that also included the incorporation of the abstract Hanover logo in the new company signs.

Similarly, Comerica Inc. kept its name, while the chief executive of Manufacturer's National Corp. -- Gerald MacDonald -- got the first crack at running the merged bank.

Some Other Approaches

Another approach is to combine names, at least as a stopgap measure. as Fleet Financial Group did initially, following Fleet's merger with Norstar Bank.

Another solution is to invent a new name, as NationsBank Corp. did upon the merger of NCNB Corp. with C&S Sovran.

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