A Rose By Any Other Name....

THREE-quarters of all companies introduced a new name for a product, a service, or the business itself within the last two years, according to a survey of marketing and communications executives at 400 United States firms. The survey was conducted by Rivkin & Associates Inc. in Midland Park, N.J.

The survey found that more companies (61 percent) are conducting more naming projects than ever before, and 72 percent report that the process is more difficult. ``In the cosmetics and perfume business alone, there are already 72,100 registered names in the US,'' says Steve Rivkin, the firm's president. ``In just the first four months of this year, another 1,000 new names were added. That's eight new trademarks every day of the week, in just one field.'' Sports in L.A.

MAJOR sporting events in the Los Angeles area contributed about $2 billion to the local economy in 1993, according to a study by a team of graduate students from UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management.

The study found that the sporting industry created 1,716 full-time and 12,857 part-time jobs for Los Angeles-area residents. The industry represents more than 27 percent of all amusement and recreation services and 10 percent of all construction industry revenues in the greater Los Angeles area.