Great Moments, Part Iv;

 

Too late, someone already has -- and at a sizable markup. As president David Lewis recalls, Greenbelt, Md.-based Oxford Real Estate Cos. originally hired consultants Delano, Goldman & Young to christen a new chain of retirement communities. In early 1986, the consultants advised Oxford to switch its name, too, recommending several alternatives -- including Primerica. Unsure which, if any, to choose, Oxford played it safe by registering the consultants' recommendations. That proved a good decision: not much later, the spoken-for Primerica was recommended by another set of consultants to, of course, the American Can Co. Luckily for Oxford, American Can wouldn't be deterred. The big boys bought the undisputed rights to the name Primerica for "under $250,000," Lewis says, but about three times what Oxford had paid to develop the name -- and the name of the retirement community -- in the first place. Not a bad rate of return. Even so, Lewis isn't sure he'd repeat his company's foray into relabeling. "It takes a great deal of your management's time."