Early last week (about September 9, 2015) I started noticing “Gusto” domain names on the move from MarkMonitor to GoDaddy under whois privacy but I was holding off announcing anything because I simply wasn’t sure the reason behind the movements. I felt they likely changed ownership but didn’t have any confirmation or who the potential buyers were.
Well, on September 17, 2015 ZenPayroll.com made an official announcement that they were changing names to Gusto.com and now offering health benefits and workers’ comp to the other services offered.
Why the name Gusto? In the ZenPayroll.com announcement, it was stated:
Our new name Gusto was inspired by our customers and their teams who show courage and passion in the work they do every day. When you work on something you care about, with people you enjoy spending time with, it’s an amazing feeling. That energy. That oomph. That’s Gusto. We believe everyone has the potential to feel this way at work.
IMO, they also changed away from a restrictive brand name, since it contained the word “payroll” in it! Since the company offers more than “payroll”, the new name is less restrictive to what they offer services for.
So how did ZenPayroll buy the domain name Gusto.com was a question I had and was interested in as it does not appear they owned it prior to September 9, 2015… some 8 days prior to rebrand launch!
The following are some of my “notes” during my research when I was seeing the Gusto domain name movements:
Gusto.com and several relating “Gusto” domain names like MyGusto.com have transferred from domain registrar MarkMonitor to GoDaddy.com under privacy protection. It is not clear who owned the domain names at MarkMonitor as the domain names were using generic whois data to Gusto.com LLC, a company that appears to no longer exist and was merged (not sure with who). Bloomberg.com states that Gusto.com LLC operates a community for travelers and was founded in 2006.
Jeff Wasson was the CEO and Founder of the company but according to his Linkedin page, states he was no longer with Gusto at the end of December 2008. Jeff is now a partner at Boost VC.
I wasn’t able to find much info on Gusto.com LLC after 2008 time frame but Jeff stated about Gusto.com on his LinkedIn page as: “Venture funded start-up company in the online travel and social networking business. With offices in Missouri and San Francisco, Gusto was among the first social networking sites. A pioneering company in its space, Gusto developed travel solutions using Ruby on Rails for individual travelers and various hospitality business across the world. Gusto was a 2006 US News and World Report’s 100 best web site.”
Maybe the company (Gusto.com LLC) was acquired by a current MarkMonitor client and now sold the domain? Who the sellers of Gusto.com were remain unclear to me still.
We do know who owns Gusto.com now and it’s the former ZenPayroll.com!
A prudent move by Zenpayroll.com, as it has a direct competitor in Zenefits.com.
Smart rebrand.
For a company in the restaurant business, Gusto would have been a fantastic brand.
For a payroll company, not so much.
@Pierluigi,
That viewpoint strikes me as very literal. Words can be adapted as brand names in other areas. Or would you say of Amazon.com, “For a company in the ecotourism business, Amazon would have been a fantastic brand; for an e-commerce company, not so much.” ?
Yes, there are phrases in romance languages – Spanish comes to mind – that tie “gusto” to food. But in English, the word has moved away from “digging in” to a plate of food and toward to “digging in” in general. So by now it means zest, energy, and vigor rather than simply appetite. For instance, I can say that a programmer attacks his glitches “with gusto”. Few English speakers – unless they also speak Spanish or a related language – will think of food.
Good points Joe and I agree with them all. Gusto could be a great name for a company in several types of industries, as you have pointed out. In this case, however, its not the perfect match in my opinion. I don’t think Gusto is as strong a brand as the one they had before. However, with their expanded offerings a rebrand was needed and I guess this is the best they could find or afford. Not everyone can create/find a name that has the power, interest, simplicity and relevance of a name like Eataly.com. Overall though, the rebrand was a great move and, although imperfect, they’ve got a powerful new name that they’ll put to good use. Thanks for the article. Cheers!
Oops! I meant….. Thanks to Jamie for a great article!
It’s the word that made a Milwaukee brewery famous,
“When you’re out of SCHLITZ, You’re out of Beer…Go For The GUSTO”
That was an really great news that the ZenPayroll.com Re-brands To Gusto.com, and this marketing technique helps more to rise up.
A great move by zenpayroll!! keepitup
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