More than 35 covers were mocked up while a wide variety of names were suggested, ranging from Bikini and Stiletto to Toast and Skirt.Creating Diageo was an equally lengthy business - and an expensive one. Guinness and Grand Met spent what is said to be pounds 250,000 to create one of the most ridiculed company names of modern times. Three companies pitched in May to devise a new name for Guinness/Grand Met. After the consultancy Wolff Olins won, consultants, designers and project managers were assigned.Guinness and Grand Met executives said they wanted a name that conveyed the idea of pleasure and scale, and to do it in a way that suggested vitality.

The consultancy suggested various names, beginning with a focus on customer benefit, and then focusing on brands. Wolff Olins were left with two main themes: "everyday, everywhere" and "brands with flair" From there they opted for a Latin/Greek combination. Diageo, it is claimed, is based on the Latin for "day" and the Greek for "world". Classical scholars were quick to point out that the Latin for day is dies and the Greek for world is cosmos.They were disappointed by the negative response.

"It's like a child you have nurtured," said Jonathan Knowles, a consultant at Wolff Olins. "It's hurtful when you hear people say: 'that's not a child, it's a monkey'."In a single European market, there are more pitfalls to be avoided by manufacturers as they search for suitable pan-Continental brands. Even in 1965 Rolls-Royce was forced to drop Silver Mist when they learnt that mist meant manure in German.The Spanish bread Bimbo, the German detergent Colon, and the Swedish toilet paper KRPP were all unlikely to find international acceptance. And even Radio Four presenter John Humphrys was forced to admit that his real name is slightlydifferent. We are left wondering: WouldDesmond Humphrys have got as far?Diageo's next move: Business, page 2.

The Milkman, that peculiarly British figure, is back. After more than a decade being squeezed out by supermarkets which persuaded the public to buy cut-price milk in cardboard cartons rather than stay faithful to the doorstep pinta, the original home-delivery people are now benefiting from a shopping revolution. Home shopping is becoming increasingly popular, with busy households wanting all manner of products, from milk and other fresh groceries to flowers, furniture and birthday presents delivered to the door. Who better to oblige than the milkman? They now carry much more than milk and a few trays of eggs.