Remember the future? Just one month ago, the Republic lay at the dawn of a new millennium. Stuffing our shopping baskets with champagne, we regaled each other with musings on what this new era would bring.

Of course, now the 21st century is actually here, we are back to work with a vengeance, rebuilding our bank balances and knuckling down to practicalities.

All of us, that is, except a small number of companies who, by dint of their names, were inextricably linked to the century that has now passed. From 2000 AD to 20th Century Fox, what do these companies plan to do now that their names sound a bit . . . well, dated?

"It looks like we're not doing a great job here, but I should let you know that we changed our name in April 1998," sighs Mr Pascal Boret, PR officer at the company formally known as Gateway 2000.

"The real trademark now is Gateway. If you drive along the road to the airport and look out to the right it's very visible. It's actually visible from the roof as well if you're flying. There's a new logo and a new name."

Gateway 2000 is still listed in the phone book, Mr Boret says, for legal reasons.

"We changed not only because we anticipated the millennium, but because we wanted to put more emphasis on our business segment at the time. Let's face it, 2000 is great if you're creating a company in 1983. Many people were dreaming about 2000 then, expecting a boom in technology. Well, that's happened. But in 2001 or 2002 it's a bit silly to carry 2000 in your name, don't you think so?"

The firm 20th Century Plastics, based in Swords in Dublin, would tend to agree. "We changed the name to Centis Ireland in November of last year," a spokesman reveals. "And yes, it had something to do with the millennium and the fact that the name might sound dated after it passed."

To some, November 1999 might sound like cutting it a bit close. "It's something that should have been considered some time ago," says Mr Michael Cullen, editor of Marketing Magazine.

"To run a marketing campaign that indicates you're serious about the future and to get that into consumers' minds - that's going to take three or four years. We're just moving into a new century and I think people have to be seen to be going with all the changes that come with that. It's something that should have been addressed a few years ago."

For some companies however, it's not so much a case of changing at the last minute as not changing at all. The comic, 2000AD, for example, which gave us Judge Dredd, says it considered calling itself 3000AD "for about 20 minutes". Having spent 20 years building the brand, to change it simply because history has caught up "would feel like pulling the rug out".

Likewise, marketing specialists at Grecian 2000 - which produces a hair colourant - suggest brand awareness is far too high a priority to even contemplate a name change.

"The whole point of a brand," says Mr John Casey of the Marketing Institute, "is that it creates a security and a familiarity in the mind of the consumer over a period of time. There has to be continuity between what they've gotten in the past and what they expect to get in the future."

As such, tampering with a brand purely because it contains some reference to a particular date may be akin to tossing the baby out with the bath water. Take 20th Century Designs, for example - at first glance a company on a collision course with the millennium branding bug.

"My name basically describes the stuff that I sell," Ms Janet Doyle, who owns the company, explains. Her Liberties, Dublin-based business deals in furniture, lighting and glassware dating from the turn of the century to the 1960s.

"Coming into the 21st century now is just perfect. It's more understandable what my product is: 20th century designer pieces. I have to say I've been waiting for the year 2000, so it's the opposite end for me, really."

"I would presume the one company that springs most readily to people's minds in this context is 20th Century Fox," Mr Casey suggests. "I'd imagine that most people are totally unconscious of the fact that their moniker relates to a date. I think they simply regard it as a set of words associated with film-makers. I doubt very much that they'd say `I believe 20th Century Fox is a very good company because it's got reference to the 20th century in it's title'."

For its part, Fox has no plans to change. "We've been asked many, many times," a spokesman said recently in an interview with the Observer newspaper. "But it hasn't even been discussed as far as I know. It would just be too confusing."

"I'd be very, very surprised if they did change," agrees Mr Philip Barlow of Brand Inc, the Dublin-based consultancy.

So which, if any, companies should?

"What we would say to our clients is that their identity should capture the central essence of their organisation. If that means looking towards the future, as in the case of a technology-based company, then there may be good reason to reassess. On the other hand, the arrival of the new millennium could be viewed as the metaphorical arrival of the organisation and the realisation of all the visions and goals that they may have had. There are so many different ways of looking at it - to try and be categorical is difficult."

Mr Martin Donoghue, sales executive at Beyond 2000, the Dublin-based computer retailer, agrees. "I think we're just growing into our name. Before the millennium we weren't at our full namesake, if you follow me. Several people have asked us about it, but they've also said `Now your name actually makes sense!' We are now literally beyond 2000 and as such, have no plans to change it."

If a company was to consider re-branding, Mr Barlow says, Brand Inc's first suggestion would be a re-appraisal of what the company really stands for. "We'd ask them to look at how it is perceived both internally, i.e. with their employees, and externally, with their customers/consumers."

An assessment should then be made as to whether a coherency exists between the company's aspirations and the way in which employees and consumers actually perceive it. The buzzword is "positioning", and if a company's positioning is suitable for a 2000 theme, then that company should feel secure.

"If it's contrary, however, then maybe it's time to re-examine the make-up."