Three-initial nobodies

Anyone who's followed this blog know I rail about companies who insist on labeling themselves with three-word, multi-sylabic names that inevitably become three-initial names. Three-initial names are just that: three initials - no meaning, no humanity, no BRAND.

Turns out I'm not the only guy who thinks that way. I refer you to Bob Killian's latest newsletter. Bob is top dog at Killian Advertising, and I've enjoyed his commentary on branding and marketing practices for several years now. Always insightful, well-written and refreshing.

Anyway, you can read his commentary on three-initial names at:

http://www.killianadvertising.com/wp20.html

Martin Jelsema
Signature Strategies
Helping smaller companies profit from the power of branding

Is "Plus" a differentiator?

As I've admonished anyone who'll listen, the key to building a successful brand is to differentiate your company or offering in such a way that you stand out from competitors, and that your differentiator will be hard to imitate.

So, what do you think of those companies whose name states their prime business and then goes on to expand upon that idea? It's like being in the prime business is just not enough.

I'm thinking of companies like Bed, Bath & Beyond; Brakes Plus, and Containers & More.

Did they rationalize that "more" differentiates them? Or were they afraid they'd miss customers if they really niched, so they  "hedged their bets" with a name expansion?

Jack Trout, author with Steve Rivkin of Differentiate or Die, states that "breadth of line" is a difficult way to differentiate. It costs lots of money, competitors with money can copy this strategy easily, it blurs what the brand represents.

For really big box chains, having lots of inventory may be a customer plus in and of itself, but most of those stores - Home Depot, Pep Boys, CompUSA - never claimed to narrowly focus in the first place. Their differentiation is a combination of breadth of line, lower prices and customer service. Within their retail categories - home improvement, automotive after market, and hi-tech electronics - they can and do focus.

I'd like to hear from you on this subject: Is adding a name expansion helpful in establishing a solid brand? Does it dilute the company's primary differentiator, or does it enhance it?

Martin Jelsema
Signature Strategies
Helping smaller companies profit from the power of branding

Power in Numbers

Using numbers in names can be powerful.

In describing the next iteration of an existing product, using a number after the product's original name both ties the brand into the heritage of the past success the product enjoyed, and provides a springboard for the advanced product. Since the old and new do not sit side-by-side on the shelf, the new product is not a line extension. It is a replacement. So you benefit from both the equity of the old brand and the promise of the new are enjoyed. Using the next number in sequence provided that clue to consumers.

Now some numbers in and of themselves have a connotation and relevance: Lucky 7, Fifth Dimension, Catch 22.

In a competitive situation, the number 1 can have significance as a rating device (Bank One or First Bank).

A progression of numbers, if well publicized, can have meaning - 707, 737, 747, 757 for Boeing's jet craft, or Mach 3 for Gillette's space-age razor. And of course software developers are prone to release improved versions of their products with version numbers (CorelDRAW 12, Net Objects Fusion 9).

For some small businesses, using the facility's address may make sense because it also guides customers to the site.

There are also several famous number combinations - 1776, 4-minute mile, Apollo 8 that convey positive association and reaction.

Finally, for some product types, using mathematical expressions and symbols might be worth investigating.

Perhaps not for every product or company, but certainly for some, you might consider numbers a part of a powerful name.

Martin Jelsema
Signature Strategies
Helping smaller companies profit from the power of branding.

ABC names: why small businesses shouldn't name with initials.

Why is it companies, particularly smaller companies, continue to take the easy way out and name themselves with initials?

Now I know that most often those initials stand for something, usually three multi-syllable, Latin-ending, generic descriptors that vaughly describe the company's business category. Not only is the name a mouthful, it's not memorable. Even within the company, the formal name has no meaning. Besides, it's too long so they quickly establish the initials as the shorthand name. Then they begin to use it outside the company and just assume it communicates something to someone.

But unless those initials already stand for somethig that's appropriate for the company (MVP, QED, ASAP), initials don't mean a thing to prospects and customers until they have a considerable history with the company. And then the initials have no actual meaning, just an identification - like a part number.

So initials have no personality They don't resonate. They communicate no passion, history or expertise. They are just initials.

Go instead with a short, active one or two word name. Even if it's a coined word name, that's so much better than lifeless initials.

But if you insist on initials, I've compiled a short list of those that have meaning through usage as shorthand for longer phrases (like MVP, QED, etc.). If you'd like that list, just email me at martin@signaturestrategies.com.  Use at your own risk.

Martin Jelsema
Signature Strategies
Helping smaller businesses profit from the power of branding.

Atlas: source of 10,000 names

I wrote about the problem of using local place names to name a business in my last blog. Unless the name defines its specific location (Zuni Street Liquors), a place name becomes a generic name (Denver Liquors) that does not help differentiate the business.

But if you go far afield, i.e., out-of-state or out-of-country to find a business name, you may find very green geographic pastures.

Get a good Atlas and go to the index and scan the town names listed there.

Likely, you'll find name candidates that just roll off the tongue, that set just the right mood, that convey the exact image for your new business. Perhaps you won't find an appropriate name this way. But it only costs you a half hour's time with a $12.00 Atlas (Even less if you buy a used, out-of-date Atlas) to find out.

I'll sometimes use an Atlas just to get the creative juices flowing. Once I've captured a dozen or so relevant candidates from, say Vermont, I often find word parts I can combine with other part sources (i.e. combining Alpha with the last syllable of Piedmont = Alphamont)

The founder of Haverhills, the mail-order business, confessed that his business was named this way. He was not from, nor ever visited, Haverhill, MA, but just liked the sound of it. It's been a successful catalog since the mid-1960's.

When you go to a world Atlas, or an historic Atlas, the candidates just multiply.

As an added incentive, you might find a great place to vacation once your business starts generating cash flow.

Martin Jelsema
Signature Strategies
Helping smaller companies profit from the power of branding

303-242-5975

What do you meme by that?

A meme is a universal symbol that immediately conveys meaning no matter the culture or context of the symbol's origin.  It can be an icon, a word or phrase, a tune, a fashion, a color, etc..

It's actually an idea and its associated attributes, crystallized into a symbol that evokes a cultural response.

Several examples:

Red Cross for the organization and it's purpose
the military directive, "charge!"
The eagle representing the USA
Mortar & pestle standing for pharmacy
the circle/slash depicting "no".

The term was first coined by an English geneticist, Richard Dawkins, in the mid-seventies. It wasn't until the 1990's that the concept was adopted by several pioneers in the marketing communications business.

The use of memes, i.e., symbols, have been in use in marketing since the first craftsman carved his or her initials on the bottom of a pot and the trademark was born.

But the definition and study of memes in the marketing arena is recent. Two books, Geoff Ayling's Rapid Response Advertising and Jay Conrad Levinson's Guerrilla Creativity, speak to better marketing through memes. Primarily, they concentrate on messaging and marketing. (Levinson’s book draws heavily from Ayling’s.)

The implications for branding have not been isolated by either, nor by anyone else I'm aware of. So, here goes:

The first thought might be to adapt an existing meme to represent your own business. Lots of entrepreneurs do this, usually with the aid of an advertising media salesperson. They choose a piece of clipart that represents, say "pharmacy". In their directory ads, on their coupons, in their mailings, the RX symbol or the mortar & pestle becomes the dominant visual. This does identify the product category, but it does not differentiate the pharmacy from competitors.

So in general, familiar, frequently-used memes are not effective branding elements.

However, it is possible to adapt an existing meme with favorable attributes and associations that are not thought of in the context of your product category. This utilizes a definition of creativity: the combining of two or more disparate elements to make something new.

An example might be the use of the word "Doctor" in the context of auto repair - The Car Doctor.

You can claim the meme as your own in its new context, but beware of imitators. Once you've created the link between a meme and your product category, others will follow.

So you had better establish your meme-based brand quickly and forcefully.

More on memes in branding in future blogs.

Martin Jelsema
Signature Strategies
Helping smaller businesses profit from the power of branding

303-242-5975

www.signaturestrategies.com

If K-Mart is now Sear Essentials, what is Sears?

Sear purchased K-Mart and decided to change its name. Good Idea.

But then they fell into the Line Extension Trap.

That's the trap Al Ries and Jack Trout warned everyone about in their pioneering book, Positioning, the Battlefield for Your Mind. When you take your name and apply it with a modifier to a different, possibly related, product or service, that's line extension.

The danger is dilution, and it's two-fold: First, it dilutes the original brand and the position it has fought hard to establish. Second, it tends to dilute the loyalty gleaned for the original brand. The result is the original and the extension share the sales once enjoyed by the original.

Sears has done a fine job to introducing new product lines and store concepts in the past: Craftsman, Die-Hard, The Great Indoors. But they went against their success formula with Sears  Essentials.

Will other customers come to the same conclusion I did - that I should shop at Sears Essential for essentials and shop at Sears for non-essentials?

This is a case of poor branding that attempts to solve one problem while creating a larger one.

I agree the K-Mart name needed to be purged if it were to become a viable chain. It was carrying too much baggage.

I also agree that there should be some means of associating the new acquisition with the Sears tradition. But NOT by line extension.

Here's how I'd have solved the problem.

I'd go into the rich history and heritage of Sears and...

I'd have named it Roebucks.

Martin Jelsema
Signature Strategies
Helping smaller companies profit from the power of branding

www.signaturestrategies.biz

Viva Vivera !

HP has branded their ink cartridges with a new name. I guess they didn't think that the respected HP brand was enough to differentiate their inks from the lower-priced refills and substitute cartridges marketed by after-market suppliers.

So they're now promoting their Vivera inks.

But the radio ads I've heard recently for their inks reveal a real problem with coined words.

In this particular case the very articulate voice-over was speaking so fast that the word, Vivera was swallowed and blurred into garble. Hard to promote a brand if it's not articulated.

Did HP consider audio-exclusive applications when selecting Vivera?

Another problem: how well does the verbal pronunciation equate to the print on the retail package?

It's important that coined words are pronounceable, and that they can be recognized equally and correlated in all media.

Coined names can be hazardous. Consider them carefully from all perspectives before adoption.

Martin Jelsema
Signature Strategies

Helping smaller companies profit from the power of branding

Naming is a tricky business.

Most people, particularly entrepreneurs, are far from objective about the process.

And they tend toward extremes: either opting for a descriptive, non-differentiating name or an out-of-the-box, confusing one.

There needs to be a balance.

First, you don't want a name that defines your product/service category. Prospects will apply it to your competition as well as your offering and won't differentiate you from them.

Second, you don't want to confuse or mislead a prospect. As I've said more than once in these blogs, "a confused prospect isn't a buyer."

So the name needs a middle grounding. The name needs to create a tension between relevant and unique.

Be as creative as you want during the generation stage, and as objective as possible during the selection process.

Enlist the opinions of those you respect for their marketing savvy, but remember that even folks will tend to be conservative when their opinions are solicited. They naturally don't want to feel responsible if your risky name doesn't resonate with target market participants.

As I stated in the beginning, naming is a tricky business. But it can be the absolutely most valuable asset you and your company will create.

Good luck

Martin Jelsema

Signature Strategies

Helping smaller companies profit from the power of branding

www.signaturestragies.biz

Tension: required for effective brand

Two recent experiences have started me thinking again about brand uniqueness and familiarity.

Both clients resorted to an informal "market research" poll to determine if a unique brand concept was "meaningful".

In both cases, the results were obvious: friends and associates went with the familiar rather than the unique.

This type of research is usually instigated because the entrepreneurs are not comfortable with a fresh  concept. They, too are seeking comfort just as intensely as they are novelty. Comfort often wins out at the expense of a differentiated brand, so the brand never raises above the static. But one unstated goal is met:no one is offended or challenged.

Commonality has never generated buzz.

Novelty in face of conformity produces tension, and if there's anything that produces buzz it's tension.

So a little discomfort in the branding process is both healthy and effective. Go for it!

Martin Jelsema

Signature Strategies
Helping smaller companies profit from the power of branding.

www.signaturestrategies.biz