Problem: Wrike sounds like "Reich"
Hello,
Ever since I heard my team was adopting a project management software with a name that sounds exactly like Reich, which brings to mind the Third Reich and the most horrific and discriminatory events in modern history, I've been troubled by it. It feels weird to refer to it in conversations, even though I know it's spelled differently, so I avoid saying it. And today, in one of our team chats, a team member who is less familiar with the program actually spelled it as "Reich." This is a huge problem. It can be a trigger especially for our Jewish colleagues, and choosing a company name that people are uncomfortable speaking aloud is just really bad marketing, too. Has this ever come up at the company? How was this name chosen? Is there any possibility of a rebrand? At my organization, we are brainstorming what we can call the platform internally (something other than Wrike) so this doesn't come up.
Thank you,
Sarah
I'm really sorry you feel this way Arik Lubkin. This is definitely not our intention.
I've recently brought up the comments here with our Communications team, and I'll share the new comments with them as well now.
Lisa Community Team at Wrike Wrike Product Manager Become a Wrike expert with Wrike Discover
Lisa Wrike Team member Become a Wrike expert with Wrike Discover
These comments now span half a decade.
I understand a name change is not "simple", however it can absolutely be completed within 5 years.
I personally feel that the name is a functional hindrance to my work, as a General Contractor, I have to constantly intervene when a subcontractor cracks a joke about it. With the way these complaints are dismissed, I can't help but feel that similar jokes are accepted elsewhere... I know for a fact that some people (now) assume that this name was intentionally made to be borderline -- I hope it was not.
Yeah dude. It’s legit nuts. They’ve gone through a couple owners too. Like Citrix saw this and was like yeah, let’s keep the name. Wild.
It's clear that this is not being adequately addressed. The name is problematic and the responses I've seen here are to explain it away and say that it's not intentional, and provide band-aid workarounds which do not address the underlying issue.
The complaint is not that your company is intentionally invoking Hitler's murderous 3rd Reich. The community response to that would be VERY different. Rather, the complaint is that naming your company with a homophone to the 3rd Reich is insensitive to very real trauma that exists in the world. The initial selection was likely not intentional. However, ignoring the complaints (both by not making a change AND by telling customers it's not your fault/intent) IS intentional.
Your various proposals to pronounce it differently won't help if it isn't promoted front and center by Wrike. For example, if you think we should pronounce it with a long E at the end (wrik-EE), then modify your logos to have a capital E at the end (wrikE). If you think it should be "ricky", then consider "wrik-e" (sounds kinda like "wiki", should be good for people trying to push a cloud-community product). I'd prefer wrik-e or even wrik-E. Changing the pronunciation of the "i" is critical to avoid association is "Reich".
This would retain your initial branding but also put the pronunciation change front and center so that it doesn't require painful discussions. Normalize the non-trauma invoking product name, so that those who choose or call it "Reich" get weird looks and a correction, rather than those who call it "wrik-E".
You have reasonable solutions. Please use them. As stated above, the initial name selection was not intentional. Choosing to retain it is.
I hate the name, too. I will now call it the TaskManager because that's what we use it for—checking off tasks and staying organized with our newsletters and magazines. It's a great app with a dumb name.
Lisa Is there some other way we can escalate this concern? If the company could just post a support page explaining the pronunciation as "rye-key", the issue would be solved. Ignoring the feedback is appearing more and more intentional with each passing year.
I have been asked to rebrand Wrike. I know that I can change the logo on the top left but is there anything else I can do? Can someone share what they have done to rebrand this internally? Mary Spiro
Hi folks, I've now shared this suggestion about documenting possible ways to pronounce the name to our team. I will let you know if there are any updates on this.
Nathalie Thibault, it's possible to add your company logo to your workspace, please check out this article with instructions on how to do that, and let me know if you have any questions!
Lisa Community Team at Wrike Wrike Product Manager Become a Wrike expert with Wrike Discover
Lisa Wrike Team member Become a Wrike expert with Wrike Discover
> If the company could just post a support page explaining the pronunciation as "rye-key", the issue would be solved.
Libby Barker while this would help, unfortunately I don't think this even comes close to solving the problem. All of their video content (old and new) uses the problem pronunciation. All of their webinar presenters use the problem pronunciation. They refer to power users as "Wrikers" which becomes clumsy to resolve against a revised pronunciation and would likely also need to change. (This also is an unfortunate homophone with its own problems, although more US-Centric than the main issue.)
> Ignoring the feedback is appearing more and more intentional with each passing year.
It is clearly intentional and will not change. And if they don't want to change, fine; ultimately, that is their choice. It would be more intellectually honest of them to just say that and close these threads. "We understand the concern, but we disagree that it is an issue and we're not going to change. Full stop."
The sooner we all accept this and abandon the platform, the better.
Hi pj! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for contributing to this discussion.
We appreciate the feedback from our Community regarding the pronunciation of Wrike and understand that users sometimes have differing perspectives about brand names with a global audience. Our team strives to be transparent, and at this time, we do not have plans to change our company name, which has been consistent since Wrike was founded.
If there's any other feedback you'd like to share or if you have any questions, please let me know.
Lisa Community Team at Wrike Wrike Product Manager Become a Wrike expert with Wrike Discover
Lisa Wrike Team member Become a Wrike expert with Wrike Discover