Positioning
What’s in a name
Businesses tend to ignore names or pick the wrong name. Even big brands mess up.
Wrong names harm the business, as customers perceive it different than how businesses want them to. Goodrich had invented steel radials, yet consumers credited Goodyear.
Goodrich was Goodyear’s competitor. It confused people. Customers bought tyres from Goodyear three times of Goodrich. Owens Corning Fiberglass sounded similar to Corning Glass Works (makers of Gorilla glass). Customers identified with Corning with the later. After Ambani brothers split, both called their companies Reliance. Yet, customers associated Mukesh Ambani with the name.
As per the marketing guru Al Ries: “There is only negative equity in a bad name. When the name is bad, thing tend to get worse. When the name is good, things tend to get better.”
He suggests changing the name rather than sticking to it. Exxon’s old names were Standard Oil of New Jersey, Esso, Humble Oil and Enjay. He also suggests avoiding initials such as CNN (Cable News Network). Also, look for the words which have better aural quality (people prefer better sounding words) with less syllables (shorter the better).
Dig deeper:
