What's in a name?

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare wrote:

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
without that title.”

Sorry Shakespeare, but you are terribly wrong on this one.

What’s in a name? Everything.

A rose by another name would not smell as sweet and Romeo by some other name not so perfect a love.

While we all want to believe that names don’t matter, that what really matters is the strength of our character and the quality of our product. The reality is that names matter enormously.

Most actors in Hollywood don’t use their birth name. Marion Morrison would never make a good cowboy, but John Wayne certainly did. Or how about artist Andrew Warhola? His 15 minutes of fame was only accomplished with the name Andy Warhol.

A name is the beginning of your journey into the mind of the consumer. And a good name will help that process. A good name will help position your brand. A good name will help consumers to perceive that your product is better.

A bad name usually blocks you from ever entering the mind at all.

Having a better brand is not about actual differences in people, products or services. Having a better brand is about having a better brand perception in the mind. The mind is not like Consumer Reports; the mind is heavily influenced by name, brand, PR and word of mouth.

One of the most tempting and logical but ultimately disastrous naming strategies is using a generic descriptive name. While you think you are giving your brand an advantage by describing exactly who you are and what you do. You aren’t able to build a powerful brand. Generic names are filed in the mind in the lowercase. To have power, brands need to be filed in the uppercase.

Seattle’s Best Coffee, might tell people that you have a high-end coffee shop from the Pacific Northwest. But when I ask people what Seattle’s best coffee is the answer is always the same: Starbucks.

Seattle’s Best Coffee is not a name it is a position. Positioning statements do not make good brand names.

Look at what has happened in the high-definition DVD business. There are two competing formats. Blu-ray and HD DVD.

Blu-ray is a beautiful name. Simple, unique, futuristic.

HD DVD is a terrible name. Generic, boring, descriptive.

So it is not surprising to me that in the first quarter 70% of the high-definition discs bought were Blu-ray compared to only 30% for HD DVD.

Building a brand is like picking up a girl in a bar. To be successful you have to have a little mystery and intrigue. You have to stand apart from the crowd. You have to be authentic. You have to have credentials. And you have to have a good name. Romeo works for me.

Comments

[Susan Gunelius (MarketingBlurb.com)]

I remember over 10 years ago when I worked for AT&T and the infamous "trivestiture" happened when the company broke into 3 parts. I recall being summoned to an all employee meeting where the new brand name for the telephone company was announced as Lucent. A huge amount of money was paid to a California branding company to create a name, and that's what they came up with. While I don't dislike the name as much now as I did then. I still don't think it's as good as it could be.

[Scott Miller]

Names are truly important to a brand. For example, Tivo is a great name, but I have no idea what to call all of Tivo's competitors, because they have such generic names.

I think the iPhone is horribly generic. While the name, iPod, is unique and cool.

As for Ries & Ries, I don't find much fault with this. But, there's a picture on this site showing Laura leaning against her dad and looking at him, and the message of this picture is crystal clear: I am not an equal to my father, he is the clear leader of this team. I recommend removing this picture in a heartbeat. This may seem like a little thing, but it sends a strong message -- the wrong message. Even the pros (like Laura) often don't see the forest for the trees.

[Melisa Teoh]

You make a valid point about the importance of a name in branding. What would you think if Proctor & Gamble suddenly became Proctor & Proctor or Gamble & Gamble? The name Al Ries & Jack Trout is a well-respected and loved brand in marketing consulting and publishing. By naming yourself Ries & Ries, you confuse the public by declaring yourself to be a replacement for Jack Trout, one of the world's best marketing strategists. Although the rub-off effect from Al Ries has its obvious "springboard" benefit, the downside far outweighs the benefit.

There are enough examples of children of celebrities who have made a name for themselves without leveraging their parents' names. Kate Hudson and Goldie Hawn. Blythe Danner and Gwyneth Paltrow. Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis. Liza Minelli and Judy Garland.

Unless you plan to forever live in your father's shadow and be perceived as a poor substitute for Jack Trout, perhaps it is time for you to re-evaluate your own brand?

[Laura Ries]

No one called the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD battle over. But I am willing to bet that the better brand is likely to win in the end.

These early results show that Blu-ray is powerful. In part because they have a better name with more potential to make an impact in the mind.

As for Bluetooth, perhaps you have not read the recent stories about the turnaround success of the Bluetooth brand.

http://www.economist.com/search/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_SDDTRQP

Sales doubled in 2005 and hit 520 million last year. I haven't seen an executive that doesn't have a Bluetooth headset implanted in their ear.

Bluetooth is a fantastic name. I believe they have been able to turnaround initial glitches in part because of the strength of the name. A weaker, generic name might not have survived.

Wi-Fi isn't bad either of couse. As is BlackBerry and iPod. If you look at the biggest business success stories of recent years, you will usually find a powerful name.

[Matthew]

How do you go about choosing a brand name? To me, it's possibly the hardest aspect of creating a new business. While there are many times a personal name is appropriate, sometimes it's just better to have a made-up name. What's the process?

Matt

[Steve Woodruff]

If the name is not memorable and "sticky", the product or service may still win based on merit...but the job is simply that much harder. For the life of me, I'll never understand why so many technology companies put out products identified as "PL 550-BV Plus" and other such incomprehensible nonsense.

[David]

"Or how about artist Andrew Warhola? His 15 minutes of fame was only accomplished with the name Andy Warhol."

I stopped reading there, although I can now see the last two paragraphs ... drivel.

[Bob Gilbreath]

Really?? You're going to call the HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray game already over after barely a few months in market? And it's all because of a name?

There are so many noise factors in the numbers so far, including Sony PS3 giving away Blu-ray discs, that it's not wise to call this a victory.

As for naming, I believe that HD-DVD will still win the day because it is a name that people actually can understand - i.e. "oh, it's High-Def DVD". The point is not to create differentiation in a standards war, but rather to plainly explain what your technology is.

A "cool name brand" hasn't worked for Bluetooth. In fact, I believe that goofy name is part of the reason the technology is barely used - in spite of the hype and certain benefits.

I believe the naming and differentiation battle will be fought over the content, not the technology.