The company rebrands and now calls itself Alludo as it looks to the future.
What’s in a name? Plenty. Consider Corel, for instance. Its name is actually an acronym for Cowpland Research Laboratory, named by founder Michael Cowpland in 1985. At the time, he was CEO of Mitel, and as the story goes, Corel was born out of the Canadian telecommunications company’s need for an easy-to-use text and graphics program in its business. Since then, Corel and its products have become well known, well established, and well used within the design and graphics community and beyond.
Early this week, Corel made a surprising move, changing its name to Alludo. Why? According to the company, it did so as it reimagines the future of work. In its materials, the company is highlighting the “work anywhere, anytime” mantra of today’s artist by freeing them from the constraints of everyday routines, so they have more time to devote to what matters most to them. These are not just words for Alludo; the company has acted upon them and has given employees the choice of working in the office or remotely, and 95% chose to work remotely.
“This is a watershed moment for us,” said Christa Quarles, chief executive officer of the newly branded Alludo. “We’re reimagining the way the world works by not just writing a new chapter, but a whole new playbook. This new playbook reimagines what work feels like—for our customers and ourselves. We believe in working better and living better, and we want our solutions to deliver just that, boldly and intentionally. That’s why we’ve decided it’s time for a new brand.”
Sure, the world has changed significantly since 1985, and in the years following, Corel has acquired other brands that spanned into other areas such as video editing, productivity management, office applications, digital media management, and more. They still offer the same products they had before the name change: MindManager, Parallels, Painter, PaintShop Pro, Pinnacle, WinZip, Roxio, VideoStudio, and WordPerfect. While the vestiges of Corel already have been erased from the company’s website (alludo.com), their flagship CorelDraw still carries the former moniker in its brand.
According to Alludo, the name change will unite all the products and brands (including those acquired from other companies) under one new corporate entity. “Now, all employees are united under one brand, no matter what they’re working on or where they are in the world,” Alludo stated.
The company also said the identity change is a nod to its purpose to empower “all you do,” which refers to Alludo’s software products as having “a broad impact that gives knowledge workers freedom and flexibility to work, dream, and live in the best way for them.”
Alludo added that with this purpose in mind, they will continue to focus on growth, whether that is organically or through mergers and acquisitions.
