Management Dynamics, a leading provider of Global Trade Management solutions, recently announced that it has changed its name to Amber Road. According to the company, Amber Road evokes images of trade throughout history, and it more accurately embodies the nature of the company's business. Scott Byrnes, Amber Road's Vice President of Marketing, spoke with Manufacturing Business Technology about the name change, the reasons behind it, and what it means for the company moving forward.
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MBT: Explain the thought process behind the name change from Management Dynamics to Amber Road. Why did you elect to make this change now?
Byrnes: A couple of reasons. First of all, we’ve changed considerably as a company since our founding. We started off as, basically, a services company that provided publishing services for ocean transportation contracts. We now have a full suite of solutions that help people manage global trade around the world—for over 120 countries. That includes things like managing global transportation. Not just ocean, but air, rail, and includes things like tracking those shipments as they move around the world and managing the import/export compliance. So, it made sense for us to punctuate that change with the new name.
The other thing is, the name Management Dynamics did not convey what we did. It’s kind of an amorphous name. A lot of people thought that we were a consulting company. Amber Road, being an ancient trading route, really aligned with what we do much better.
The third reason is that the name Amber Road is a lot more sticky than Management Dynamics. People would remember that name a lot more readily than they would Management Dynamics. I’d also have to say that we gave some really hard consideration to not changing the name. One of the downsides of changing the name is, we’ve built a great reputation as the market leader in global trade. To walk away from that brand equity is a consideration.
We’re going to some great lengths with public relations, advertising, and promotion to make sure that people know this company Amber Road is the former Management Dynamics—and to try to pull forward all of that positive connotation into our new name.
MBT: What does the new name signify in terms of company change? How is the company staying the same?
Byrnes: The main change did not mark anything as a point in time of big change with this company. In the aggregate, and where we’ve evolved to, we’ve seen some big changes. There’s not been any change in management structure, or financial or ownership structure. All of that is the same. The way we pursue the market and treat our customers… all of those things that we’ve been going strong with for well over a decade in the global trade management space are really the same. It’s no prelude to something that’s going to transpire in the near term… All of our strategic plans are the same: to grow organically and continue to lead the global trade market.
We’re being pretty aggressive about solutions all along as a company.
MBT: How have your customers reacted?
Byrnes: It’s funny, we’ve had a lot of positive reactions and also some questions. Is there a management change? Were there financial reasons for this? We addressed those right away and made sure they understood that this was the same company.
Visit www.amberroad.com to learn more.