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Wolassa L. Kumo, thank you for joining the conversation. hile I appreciate your interest and efforts to weigh in, I would also like to point out that your accusations are misplaced.

First, I did not offer my own opinion or comment with regards to the history behind the naming of Sidamo or the name Sidama. To the contrary, what I did was that I declared my ignorance, which I recognized only after I read about the issue in the articles that I quoted. By providing web links to the articles, I encouraged readers to access the articles, learn about the issues, and form their own opinions.

Secondly, my comment on the consequences of this misnomer on the market and the coffee brand does not imply in any way that the issue was “a matter of “a” or “o”". My comment does, however, explain the fact that changing a widely known brand to another one is never easy – even where the change involves a single letter in the name, in this case “o” and “a”. This holds true for any brand, irrespective of the reasoning behind the changes.

In a hypothetical example, let’s say the “Boeing” company wants to change its name, for whatever reason, to something like “Boeind” – a change of the “g” to a “d”. Regardless of the weight and impact that the letters “g” and “d” have on the name, and no matter how important it is for the company to change its name, the effort it takes to sell the name “Boeind” will not be as easy as making the change. Changing an internationally recognized brand requires one to be creative, be able to design effective strategies, employing aggressive marketing campaigns, spending lots of money, and making the commitment to promoting the brand over a long time, etc. It takes all of these and more before Boeind is recognized as the former Boeind in the eyes and minds of consumers.

And, by the way, the last bag of coffee that I bought a couple weeks ago is labeled “SIDAMO” – not “SIDAMA” as I wish it did. Also, records have it that the government’s applications filed at the USPTO and other countries to register the coffee brand read “SIDAMO” – not “SIDAMA”. These show me the long and challenging road that lays ahead of the brand change. Again, this is in reference to the coffee brand and not to the people.

I hope this clarification encourages you to rescind your accusation and amend your comment accordingly.

Wondwossen

Wondwosen, thank you for your reply. I commend your attempt to provide a balanced view about the issue by quoting the articles in your message.

My response to your post was meant to clarify two issues: your understanding of the term Sidamo and the senstivities of the comparisons between Sidama and Sidamo or “a” or “o”. It was not an accusation.

If you remember, the Wolayita people used to be called Wolamo not long ago. They literally rebelled to get that misnomer officially scraped in the country. More recently, the current regime tried to coin a new language known as Wogagoda in North Omo province which met with fierce resistance from the communities leading to loss of lives and displacements. The governemnt was forced to scrap it again although millions of birr had already been invested in the project.

Sidamo and Sidama is not a simple matter of commodity brand sensitivity as in “Boeind” in your hypothetical example. It is about the recognition of the identity of the region and the people that produce this commodity.

The Ethiopian government has taken a right step in scraping the name from the the ECX coffee brands. Private exporters might not have acted accordingly and you may still find Sidama coffee labelled in the old way in many international stores. I agree with you that it takes time and aggressive marketing to successfuly replace the old with the new.

One marketing strategy I know used by the Sidama Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union is to place the new brand name along side the old one and indicate to consumers that the old is replaced by the new. Private exporters can do the same.

The Ethiopian governemnt application for trade mark registration in United States with the name Sidamo while the governement owned ECX trades in Sidama coffee is very interesting. This could be either the sign of the usual government inefficiency or a symptom of much deepr problem. In any case, the brand change to Sidama coffee is irreversible no matter how long it takes to succeed.