One of my favourite Gary Larson cartoons is “What we say to dogs, and what they hear. What we say to cats, and what they hear”. (Shown on right. Click to enlarge).
I thought my cat was smarter than that. I was convinced that she responds to her name. But as an experiment I started calling her Bob.
I was dismayed to get the exactly same result. She still knew I was talking to her. She doesn’t care if I call her Muffin or Bob or Cookie Shoes, as long as I call her. She just likes the attention (and the food).
Do you think your customers care about your product name or even your brand name?
Well they certainly don’t care about your brand name or product names as much as you do.
All they care about is what’s in it for them.
So next time you are coming up with a name for your product or service or brand, don’t be a sucker for a name that sounds cool but doesn’t hint at the benefit to your customers.
For example, Telecom is spending millions on advertising for their “XT Network”. I can’t even be bothered wondering what the X and the T stand for.
However, I hear about 2degrees and I “get it”. It’s about helping me to communicate, it’s about making it easier to connect with people because everyone is only 2 degrees of separation from me.
The benefit is embedded into the product name / brand name.
What examples of piss-poor brand names can you think of? What about examples of benefit-embedded ones? Share them in the comments below.
Need fresh ideas for your product names or brand names? Let’s talk.