Meet Niscayah

STOCKHOLM, Sweden--Securitas Systems, the global security systems integrator that spun off from guard-firm Securitas in the fall of 2006, has announced it will be known as Niscayah following a formal resolution at its annual general meeting, April 22. With the new name, which means "secure and reliable" in Sanskrit, the company can be "clear with our identity as a leading security partner so our customers know who we are and what we stand for," said Asa Larssen, head of communications and investor relations. "With a clearer identity we can be more visual on a fragmented market." The company has been concerned since the spin-off about confusion with its former parent guard firm. Chief operations officer Marty Guay acknowledged, "the existing brand is certainly strong, but the brand is associate with the legacy, and we're trying to create a future where we're the security partner for our customers every day and everywhere. This is a long-term view. The more we invest in the existing brand, the more it's not clear who we are, and it doesn't match the mission and vision." Securitas Systems will roll out the Niscayah brand and its accompanying peripherals following the April 22 meeting, but don't expect a unified and singular rebranding. "We're assembling all our subsidiaries under one name," said Larsson, "but each country will have their own timeline. The work should be done during 2008." Guay said North America will be rebranded "sometime mid-year," and certainly by the September ASIS International show, Niscayah will be on display. "I think it will be a multiple-touch approach," Guay said of the changeover. "It will be about empowering the field people to take on the discussion; there's a mechanical part to the rebranding, an awareness part, a psychological part. No Super Bowl ads, though," he laughed. When asked about whether Niscayah, with its Sanskrit derivation, might play better to Securitas Systems' European and global customers than to the United States, Guay disagreed. "The customer's needs are so consistent across geographies," he argued. "They all have the same business drivers, whether it's a retail operation in Portugal or in the United States ... The brand doesn't drive the value; the brand recognizes the value of what we do with the customers every day. Over time the brand will connote the relationship with the organization." He referenced Andersen Consulting's rebranding as Accenture in 2001 as an indication that a global company can successfully roll out a new brand with no previous association to a market. "From my perspective," he said, "it's the right thing. I would agree that it takes a lot of work to change the brand, but we feel that it's going to be an internal opportunity first, to get everyone inside the company understanding it and walking the talk."