888 changes its name to “Evoke” – analysis
British online gambling giant 888 will change its name to "Evoke". CEO Per Widerström said on Tuesday that the rebrand was "the beginning of an exciting new beginning" for the company, which has recently been dogged by a management upheaval and regulatory investigations and opted to exit the U.S. market.
The new name reflects the steps the major UK gaming company has taken in recent years to breathe new life into its brands. The dull-sounding GVC Holdings became the interesting but meaningless "Entain", while the merger-generated side dish Paddy Power Betfair became the quirky "Flutter".
Flutter, by the way, was originally the name of a small betting exchange that Betfair first acquired almost 20 years ago. The name change is an offbeat tribute to Betfair’s transformation from novelty online betting brokerage to international betting giant.
Wrong Number
Around the same time Betfair launched its groundbreaking betting exchange in 2001, a new online bookmaker called Virtual Holdings Ltd, based in the tax haven British Virgin Islands, changed its name to 888.
The name was chosen because the number eight represents luck in Chinese numerology. This is because the pronunciation of "Ba" is similar to "Fa", which means great wealth, success and status. So, in a broader sense, 888 is a triple lucky number because three also happens to be a lucky number.
In China, addresses and phone numbers with the numeric sequence 888 can fetch higher prices due to their supposedly beneficial properties.
So why not choose 8888 and get four times the success?
Are you crazy? In Chinese numerology, 4 is the most unlucky number. It is catastrophic, catastrophic and tantamount to death.
In addition to giving up the 13th floor to accommodate superstitious Westerners, many Las Vegas casino resorts are also giving up floors 40 to 49 to avoid scaring away Chinese guests, the Las Vegas Review-Journal recently reported. The fear of the number 4 is known as tetraphobia.
Girl Band Atmosphere
Now that the soon-to-be-named Evoke company is no longer focused on unregulated markets, catering to Chinese superstitions may not be as important.
In fact, part of 888's new plan (the company is still called 888 for now) is to refocus on core markets such as the UK, Italy, Spain and Denmark.
But what does "evoke" evoke? It sounds like this could be Calvin Klein's latest fragrance. It also has a '90s girl band vibe. But what about gambling companies?
Maybe this is part of a trend where company names don't indicate all the services they offer.
Or maybe someone took the task of coming up with an “evocative” new company name a little too literally.
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Source: www.casino.org
