Melissa Koskovich: Selecting Leidos Name Was International Venture

As we recently covered, SAIC is continuing to hone in on its management structure as the company moves forward after the legacy SAIC separated into two companies – the ‘new’ SAIC (Science Applications International Corp.), and Leidos.

As a new brand, Leidos leaders have needed to introduce and position the firm to the GovCon marketplace, which has required a concentrated and continuing marketing effort.

Melissa Koskovich, VP of Leidos’ media relations, filled in the Washington Post on some of the considerations and work that went into an important early step in that effort – selecting the Leidos name.

Leidos is taken from the word ‘kaleidoscope’ to indicate the firm’s “ability to bring different perspectives and ideas to problem-solving in the engineering, health and national security arenas,” Marjorie Censer reports, adding that the firm selected a triangle as its logo in part for its representation of change.

“The unique kind of capability that we saw [in SAIC] came from combining things in unexpected ways,” Christina Stanfield, senior director of strategy at Interbrand, told Marjorie Censer for the report. “You get this transformation into brilliant new images.”

Koskovich added that when the company had narrowed its search to six or so possible brands, that the company commissioned deep looks into each logo’s availability across the around 40 countries that the company does business in.

Click here to learn more about the company’s efforts in this area from other executives, including Leidos COO Stu Shea.