rebrand

What do Japanese poetry and executive leadership have in common? A lot, as it turns out. 

I’ve recently introduced the concept of “management by haiku,” and I’m pleased to see that it has resonated with a lot of people. I’ve already published a few articles on the topic, but I realized that I haven’t yet addressed it with the stakeholders who matter most: you, our employees, customers, and friends who read this blog. 

Management by Haiku 

You’re likely already familiar with haiku. It’s a well-known form of poetry that originated in Japan. Haiku is perhaps most famous for its signature structure: three lines, 17 syllables total. Five syllables in the first and third line, seven in the second. That’s it. The constraints are strict and clear: If you can’t convey your message in 17 syllables, your haiku isn’t a success.  

Haiku demands extreme focus and clarity. No fuss. No extra stuff. 

I think leaders everywhere can take a lesson from haiku. Especially right now, as the world is heading into an economic downturn. With investments and capital harder to come by, leaders are facing tough questions. Where to cut? Where to focus? 

Haiku is the antithesis of shiny object syndrome. Instead of chasing twenty ideas and hoping something works out, management by haiku means getting extremely clear about what you’re working on.  

Management by haiku makes it easier to make decisions. Any time an opportunity or question comes up, hold it up to your haiku. Does it fit? If so, proceed. Would you need to add “extra syllables” onto your haiku to accommodate it? If so, say no and move on. 

I believe that any good creative outcome is the result of constraint.   

You might be surprised to hear me say that, especially since—with our recent rebrand to Alludo—we’ve been talking so much about freedom and liberation. But I think constraint is the key to creativity and innovation. Constraint eliminates clutter and hesitation. It allows you to own your space, own who you are, own what you want, own where you’re going. 

Imagine you have a closet full of stuff. (I suspect you may not really have to imagine.) There’s no way that every piece in there is truly authentic to your lifestyle, interests, and priorities now. If I dig through that closet, I don’t know who you are. Every single one of those things doesn’t really represent you. 

If you’re told that you can only keep ten things, you’re going to choose items that you need and clearly represent who you are. There might be variety in those pieces, but they’ll tell a story. They will reflect what you truly value. 

It’s all about the edit. 

Right now, that edit is more critical than ever. In this new economic reality, companies will die by overconsumption, not starvation. Stuffed closets are scattered and wasteful. 

For business leaders, constraint means pushing for fierce clarity on your mission, vision, and values. It means choosing how to use your resources wisely. When my team and I are completely clear, we’re all released from uncertainty, from micromanagement, and from the need for constant permission. 

This is the essence of management by haiku. I believe it’s going to increase in importance over the next year, so you can expect to hear more from me about it. 

Since you’ve read this far: 
You’re the core of our purpose. 
Thanks for all you do. 

(That, of course, was a haiku.) 

When your company is committed to helping the world be more creative, you better believe that you’re going to have a lot of creative employees.

In case there were any doubts—hint: there weren’t—about the incredible creativity among our employees, we’ve put them to rest with our 2022 Halloween costume contest.

People really outdid themselves, posting pictures ranging from hilarious to creepy to extremely on-brand (hello, brand team dressing as the brand police!). We got to see a lot of extra ‘coworkers’—that is, kids and pets—and have loved viewing all the submissions.

Employee Engagement

As part of the contest, we encouraged employees to post their costume pictures in a Teams Chat.  From there, fellow employees voted for the best costumes in 5 categories: Individual, team, chronotype, pet, and brand-inspired.  And through a companywide ballot, one employee was voted the 2022 Alludo Halloween Costume Champion.

We’re all winners for getting to join in on the fun and mayhem of Halloween together. It turns out that the intersection of creativity + friendly competition is a seriously busy place at Alludo.

Embracing the Future of Work

We don’t take for granted that we’re able to do things like this together without being, well, together. As we at Alludo build the future of work, we’ve put a lot of thought into how to cultivate a strong company culture even when you’re spread out all over the world.

We talk about facilitating virtual engagement, connectivity, brand loyalty, and of course, plenty of that friendly competition. We say over and over that it’s not only possible but essential to invest in company culture in a remote-first workplace.

Of course, we definitely walk the walk. When Alludo launched our rebrand internally, it was clear that we had an amazing group of employees who were ready and willing to show up for the brand. They participated in contests and games, read every email (seriously!), and embraced the swag in a big way.

The external launch was now nearly two months ago (!!) but we’ve kept that momentum rolling. The Halloween costume contest is just the most recent example, and we see the engagement and excitement continuing with future events, contests, games, and celebrations. Halloween may be over, but we think being an Alludian is a treat any time of year.

Hi! We’re Alludo. The name might not sound familiar (yet!) but we’re definitely not the new kids on the block. You may have known us as Corel in the past, and we’re still the company behind the brands you know and love like CorelDRAW, Parallels, MindManager, and WinZip. 

We’re incredibly proud of our 35+ year legacy, and we’re honoring that legacy with a total rebrand that mirrors our new purpose: to reimagine work, and to dismantle outdated notions about what work “should” look and feel like. Our products empower all you do, enabling people to ideate, create, and share on any device, any time, anywhere. 

With any name change and rebrand, questions are expected. We get it! And we’re here to help. Read on for some FAQs, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions. 

Thanks for being on this journey with us—and thank you for all you do. 

Corporate branding FAQs:      

Why the name Alludo? 
Alludo (say it “ah-LOO-dough”) is a nod to our mission of empowering all you do. We’re really proud of it, and it’s the result of an extensive effort that considered hundreds (maybe thousands) of possible names.  


Why are we going through a rebrand?  
We are reimagining a brand that represents both who we are today and the innovation we’re driving for tomorrow. The name Corel is well-known as a creative company, but is not evocative of the innovation and momentum that we’re building as a complete product portfolio. Creating a new parent brand allows us to bring the disparate pieces of our business together with an overarching purpose and story: to empower all you do.   


Is Corel going away?  
Nope! But Alludo is now the parent brand for our suite of sub-brands, providing cohesion and intention that has been a long time coming. The names of our products – Corel, MindManager, Parallels, and WinZip – aren’t changing, and we remain as committed and focused on their success as ever.  


What does the name Alludo mean?   
It’s a nod to our purpose: empowering all you do. We deliver the solutions that enable people to create, ideate, and share information anywhere, any time, on any device.  We deliver global technology fueled by ease and flexibility. Our innovative, professional-caliber graphics, virtualization, and productivity solutions are used by millions of people around the world every day.   


Will there be any impact to customer and partner contracts?  
Nope! Contracts and the way we invoice our customers will not change at all as a result of the rebranding. The payment process will also remain unchanged. Easy peasy!   

What will happen to our core product brands? 
Other than getting a cool new parent brand to help tell their stories and modernizing of their look to connect to Alludo, all our core products (e.g., Parallels, CorelDRAW, MindManager, WinZip) will stay the same and keep their names. The names of our core product brands are NOT changing.  

For a more expansive look at why we reimagined our brand, and what it means for our company, read these blogs by our CEO and Chief People Officer: