CCR – Do you know what this means?
Credence Clearwater Revival (CCR) inspired me to write this blog. If you haven’t heard CCR, I suggest you do – its immortal rock music that will heal your soul.
So, what’s in name? Would you call your band ‘Credence Clearwater Revival’? Try saying the name fast. Or if were a food entrepreneur, would I call my restaurant Mc Kejriwal? What on earth does ‘Lays’ chips mean? I don’t care where Altoids came from. Oh my God, my ketchup is called Heinz and my cereal is called Kellogg’s. What do I make of The Oberoi, or The Hyatt? Hell I want a coffee really badly.. Starbucks here I come…hmmm…that’s hardly the appropriate name of a place that would sell coffee! I love Sony…. Please just explain the brand name to me one day. Honda, Toyota, Samsung, Yahoo et al, we know today because of their amazing products and services. Not because their name got us to buy them.
Spending time and money on the perfect ‘brand name’ creation is all bunk. Those who pretend that it matters are the false advertising types whose livelihood depends on making people spend money that they don’t need to.
My hypothesis:
- Consumers remember brands that perform for them – so be it a great ‘Jet Airways’ flight or a fantastic pizza from ‘Dominos’ – I remember these brands for what they did for me – NOT what they pretended to call themselves.
- Consumers don’t care about brand base lines and logo’s. God knows how much money is spent by brand owners getting their logo’s and base lines ‘perfect’ – it just remains an ego trip for the top bosses. Try asking Johnny on the street what the seven colors in your logo mean or quiz your business partner about the half sun that appears in your logo… They will stare blankly back at you.
- You can call your brand and business anything. Family name, city from where you come from, girlfriend’s mothers name or the hospital in which you were born. If you are good at what you are selling, you will become the next Hertz (car rental service or even Meeru Cabs for that matter)
Put your money where it matters. In making your product or service the best. Your brand and what its stands for blah blah will be taken care of by your customers.
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Hi Alok ,
Nice article. I do agree with you to a large extent . However I would like to believe that the brand name does make a difference in its easier recall , or in getting attention . just to name a few ..”TGIF” or “Bombay Blues” or Shaadi.com ,Carwale.com, Papa Pancho ( a play on swear word- a restaurant in Suburbs) .
It makes it much easier to recall these brand names , irrespective of their quality of service or product.
For instance i have hardly tried out any of the above brands’ products or services , but i do recall them “easily .”
That is true Alok,
1. A very popular sandwich joint in Tardeo is called ‘Mamaji’.
2. and of course the great ‘Apple’.
Very well written, Indeed I agree!
Very well written Alok. Most of your comparisons would wave of the confusions about choosing a name. Cheers.
Hi Alok,
In digital economy i think name matters and the only reason i could see is the SEO. In the initial stages if the name is generic to product category or service it saves you very important marketing dollars.
But I agree with you if money was not a issue then name doesnot matter.
Samar
Alok,
Very well written and pertinent post. I perfectly agree with you on the need to slash lavish spends on Brand name, logo or tag lines. However, considerable bandwidth on thoughts, research, bouncing off the idea to a random cross-section of people – DEFINITELY YES!
Its’ more like a baby name. People do detailed research to come up with sweet, meaningful, easy to pronounce and unique names for their kids. After all, it’s this name that’s going to be with your kid for the rest of his life. And beyond as well.
I believe brands like Easy off Bang and Alpenliebe could have done much better (In India atleast), had their names been easy on the mind and tongue. A major part of Maggi’s success can be attributed to its easy to recall and cute sounding name. The opposite for the continuous struggle of Top Ramen that is yet to make a dent in Maggi’s share. Dabangg’s success had a lot to do with it’s unique, impactful and ofcourse, fearless name. It aroused huge curiosity. On the other hand, a ‘Hello’ was too pedestrian a name and hence was a non-starter from the word go. (Go! Oh yes, there was a RGV movie by this name as well…and needless to say it was ‘GO’ne in a single screening!
)
If you’re a world wide established brand, don’t ever tamper or down play your brand name. Regardless of its tongue-twisting attributes in another country. 95% of India may not know how to pronounce or spell Volkswagen. Doesn’t matter. It still represents an internationally acclaimed brand. And it’s cars are bloody damn good! Logan is getting rechristened to Verito and perhaps this time it might cut across to many more segments. Kishore Biyani named his shirt brand as John Miller to convey that international, elegant and rich feeling. Do you think the shirts would’ve been an equal success had they been named ‘Kishore’?
So it does pays to give a very deep thought to your brand name, logo and tag line. Perhaps it’s the least expensive and the most potent communication tool. I dare not call my hunk of an SUV as ‘Meenakshi’ – my girlfriend’s mother’s name!
Best Regards
Himanshu
Agree fully and accept your rationale on these primary attributes of services and products to be liked by consumers; with ‘name’ to recall, for the next purchase!