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