Synarchy: What's in a name? 19 May 2008

AdAge has an interesting article on the new agency that the WPP Group is building to handle its Dell account. Apparently, WPP has decided to call its new baby "Synarchy" - a moniker that has prompted much criticism from the blogosphere.

What's got people's backs up? Well, while "synarchy" comes from the ancient Greek for "joint rule" - a seemingly appropriate name, given the partnership forged between WPP and Dell - its modern connotations make it an extremely controversial choice.

In the context of political theory, for example, "synarchy" refers to a utopian system devised in the 18th century. According to Wikipedia - which quotes from a book on Vichy, France - this system was popular with French industrialists who saw Nazi Germany as an alternative to Communism: "Many of them had extensive and intimate business relations with German interests and were still dreaming of a new system of 'synarchy,' which meant government of Europe on fascist principles by an international brotherhood of financiers and industrialists."

Sheesh! You'd have thought that WPP / Dell would have done their homework and researched the history of this name, before using (and publicising) it!