The Greater Vancouver Regional District (an affiliation of 21 districts and municipalities in the Vancouver region) recently announced that it is revamping it’s image. The new name for this organization is Metro Vancouver.

I can see the reasoning behind the rebranding. If you are an outsider coming to Vancouver the term GVRD would have little meaning to you. However, a term such as Metro Vancouver can convey it’s meaning with little explanation.

Rather than having to give an explanation every time you mention the term GVRD to an outsider (eg someone immigrating to the region, or someone you are meeting at a convention in San Diego), using the term Metro Vancouver speaks volumes on it’s own. 

Granted, this isn’t the most original name that they could have come up with. However, neither was the GVRD. In fact, Metro Vancouver has a smarter, catchier, clearer and more modern appeal to it.

 Try searching for Metro Vancouver on Google. There was some recent commentary in the local media pointing out how the official Metro Vancouver website was on the second page of Google search results. I suppose that’s a minor embarrassment for the organization, but their ranking will likely rise as the name becomes more established. In fact, in the week or two since those initial reports were published the ranking for the organizations website has already improved. As of today, it’s ranked third when searching for Metro Vancouver.