It was working my head even while I was asleep, and then I was inspired to write some thoughts on Naming Brands, after all introductions are really critical in the world of business. This article is exclusively for follower brands...hear me..
“When you are a late entrant to the category you need to make some bold decisions. Followers rarely get a second chance to make it.”
Have you ever thought about the importance of introductions? For example introducing a speaker to an audience on a commercial scale, by the time the introduction is given on the speaker’s credentials a good part of audience has already decided the outcome of the speech they are about to hear.
Let’s take another possibility, if you happen to be at a stadium surrounded by thousands of wacko looking people and if you hear “please welcome the most famous miserable man who tried to become a woman-alike and now has to fix his nose every two weeks” you know you gotta run.
When you enter for the first time, at least one or two players have already entered the market. (this post is strictly for follower brands) Therefore your entry may be insignificant unless you are introducing a breakthrough product concept. The job of a Brander can be indeed a challenging one, when you have to market an awfully similar product with lesser resources to a greater extent the success will depend on the manner your brand is introduced to your audience. Follower brands cannot afford to fail or make shaky starts they need to make an impact and establish themselves quickly. Hence your introduction will be the most critical challenge in your brand development process.
Let’s take another possibility, if you happen to be at a stadium surrounded by thousands of wacko looking people and if you hear “please welcome the most famous miserable man who tried to become a woman-alike and now has to fix his nose every two weeks” you know you gotta run.
When you enter for the first time, at least one or two players have already entered the market. (this post is strictly for follower brands) Therefore your entry may be insignificant unless you are introducing a breakthrough product concept. The job of a Brander can be indeed a challenging one, when you have to market an awfully similar product with lesser resources to a greater extent the success will depend on the manner your brand is introduced to your audience. Follower brands cannot afford to fail or make shaky starts they need to make an impact and establish themselves quickly. Hence your introduction will be the most critical challenge in your brand development process.
The brand name plays a critical role in this introduction process. Conventional wisdom suggests naming your brand is the most important strategic decision you will have to make. There is no argument on this; however follower brands need to differ when it comes to naming techniques.
When all things are equal (just about in every category) you must break category conventions. Brands rarely explore this option; instead they are religious about observing them. A common misconception is that you have to observe these conventions to exist in the category. Little do people realize that it’s a trap set by existing players for their benefit. Always remember category dynamics generally favor leading brands.
This is common to marketing rule books as well. That’s why you are branded as a ‘follower’ When you are defined as a follower it is unlikely that you will not want to follow the rules! If you are a late entrant the best way to make an impact is to look for potential conventions and break a few. Trick here is not to break all conventions but a few powerful ones. And if, naming your brand is the most important strategic decision you ever make, it also becomes a powerful convention to break.
Even today it is common to find “attribute ownership” in categories, mostly adopted by leaders and challengers. Jack Trout the infamous marketing Guru in his book “Differentiate or Die” suggests attribute ownership as a powerful way to differentiate a brand. In my opinion “Attribute ownership” is a dangerous game for anyone, especially for followers because attributes lose value as markets evolve.
A simple e.g. If you own speed in a particular service, technology can make you irrelevant by offering speed to every player in the category. When the meaning of ‘speed’ itself is speedily changing you know it’s a short term attribute to own. Besides in our case all good attributes are already taken by existing players.
When naming brands people always ask the right question; “how can I come up with a relevant name?” Instead try asking the wrong one; “how can I come up with an irrelevant name?” Because if you look at the existing players it’s very likely they will have ‘relevant’ names. An irrelevant but amusing name could get you more attention and emotional appeal. It’s also a good strategy to break an existing norm.
Another good reason to break away from conventional naming technique is it becomes easy to evolve with times. In today’s context the market dynamics keep changing and with an irrelevant name it becomes easy to adopt.
When all things are equal (just about in every category) you must break category conventions. Brands rarely explore this option; instead they are religious about observing them. A common misconception is that you have to observe these conventions to exist in the category. Little do people realize that it’s a trap set by existing players for their benefit. Always remember category dynamics generally favor leading brands.
This is common to marketing rule books as well. That’s why you are branded as a ‘follower’ When you are defined as a follower it is unlikely that you will not want to follow the rules! If you are a late entrant the best way to make an impact is to look for potential conventions and break a few. Trick here is not to break all conventions but a few powerful ones. And if, naming your brand is the most important strategic decision you ever make, it also becomes a powerful convention to break.
Even today it is common to find “attribute ownership” in categories, mostly adopted by leaders and challengers. Jack Trout the infamous marketing Guru in his book “Differentiate or Die” suggests attribute ownership as a powerful way to differentiate a brand. In my opinion “Attribute ownership” is a dangerous game for anyone, especially for followers because attributes lose value as markets evolve.
A simple e.g. If you own speed in a particular service, technology can make you irrelevant by offering speed to every player in the category. When the meaning of ‘speed’ itself is speedily changing you know it’s a short term attribute to own. Besides in our case all good attributes are already taken by existing players.
When naming brands people always ask the right question; “how can I come up with a relevant name?” Instead try asking the wrong one; “how can I come up with an irrelevant name?” Because if you look at the existing players it’s very likely they will have ‘relevant’ names. An irrelevant but amusing name could get you more attention and emotional appeal. It’s also a good strategy to break an existing norm.
Another good reason to break away from conventional naming technique is it becomes easy to evolve with times. In today’s context the market dynamics keep changing and with an irrelevant name it becomes easy to adopt.
Have you heard of ‘Dead Frog’ beer or an internet bank who call themselves ‘Egg”?
Dead frog had a very serious name and was not getting anywhere until the company renamed it as “Dead Frog” You would never associate the word “Dead” with F&B stuff. A “Frog”? the last thing you wanna gulp down. (unless you are Chinese of coz) But the brand owners thought differently and were able to reverse their fortunes. Egg, (part of Prudential) the first internet bank in the UK thought of breaking rules from the inception. Most financial companies have uninspiring brand names. Finance is serious business and it is a convention to have a name to represent this notion. However ‘Egg’ had to make a compelling difference for two major reasons;
1. They were entering a new category and wanted communicate new possibilities & benefits to consumers.
2. A way to differentiate from established banks as they were also offering bits and pieces of internet banking
Many people believe that financial services industry is driven by trust and stability, hence a serious brand name. The name ‘Egg’ does not carry this heaviness and as a result was able to create more consumer desirability. Egg’s success was assured as the management started from the very beginning – the name to star with!
No comments:
Post a Comment