{"id":40,"date":"2013-06-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-14T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fishingforcustomers.com\/whats-in-a-name\/"},"modified":"2022-07-21T11:05:30","modified_gmt":"2022-07-21T18:05:30","slug":"whats-in-a-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop-my-site.com\/fishing2\/whats-in-a-name\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s In A Name?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published August 14, 2005<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Name<\/a>

“Hello, my name is” sticker<\/p><\/div>\n

Half a century ago a pair of researchers, Herbert Harari and John W. McDavid<\/a> gave eighty experienced teachers papers to grade. Eight essays, all of comparable quality were supposedly by boys named David, Elmer, Hubert, and Michael, and by girls named Adelle, Bertha, Karen, and Lisa.<\/p>\n

The names were rotated through the eight essays, so that some teachers believed David wrote the essay on Tarzan, while others noted that David wrote the essay on kites.<\/p>\n

Result? When credited to names with positive stereotypes the papers got better grades than when credited to names with negative stereotypes. Michael always got a better grade than Elmer, for instance.<\/p>\n

Interesting.<\/p>\n

Names Make a Difference in People’s Expectations<\/h3>\n
\n

That would lead a curious person to wonder if George W. Bush could have been elected had his name been P\u00e9p\u00e9 LePetomaine. Would John Kerry have been his party\u2019s choice of candidate were he named Percy Arbuthnot? Would our fellow citizens be supportive of sending troops into combat if the initiative had been named something other than the \u201cWar On Terror?\u201d<\/p>\n

Those who are very talented often make things look easy. When talented people are articulate, they make things sound easy, too. I think that\u2019s the case with a post Chris Gloede authored on his Rants on Modern Marketing<\/em>\u00a0blog titled Product: Naming Isn\u2019t Really That Important<\/em>. It’s what started me thinking about names.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t disagree with Chris often. No matter how simple he makes it sound, I don\u2019t believe that he would choose anything but a great name. Like I said, talented people just “do it,” while others are wondering what to do. And I certainly agree with him when he says \u201chaving a good product supported by good marketing<\/em>\u201d is more important than the name of the business.<\/p>\n

Still, I think names are important.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

Everything in our world has a name. Every sound, every color, everything you touch, and every business you deal with.<\/p>\n

Some Names Have Positive Connotations<\/h3>\n

Others much less so.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not likely anyone today would name a baby Francis, Edgar, Agatha, or Mabel. And yet, we see companies deliberately choosing such names as Vapid Software. (I\u2019ll save you the trouble of looking it up. Vapid is a Latin adjective meaning \u201cflat tasting, lacking liveliness, dull<\/em>\u201d).<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t much of a market for Chinese gooseberries. Say it out loud and listen to the sound of that name – gooseberries. It’s so much more attractive now that it’s been renamed \u201cKiwi fruit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crazy Eddie<\/a>\u00ae<\/span><\/sup>, \u201cwith prices so low we must be insane<\/em>,\u201d sold massive amounts of stereo gear in New York in the 70s. It was a memorable name with a memorable advantage to consumers. But how likely are you to seek out an accountant doing business as Crazy Henry\u2019s Income Tax Service? Would you make an appointment with a proctologist who calls himself Crazy Norman?<\/p>\n

Names are important. A businesses name is the foundation upon which it’s image is built. Are you more likely to purchase:<\/div>\n

DieHard<\/a>\u00ae<\/span><\/sup>, or Gulf Star<\/a>\u00ae<\/span><\/sup> batteries?
\nIntensive Care<\/a>\u00ae<\/span><\/sup>, or Cornhuskers<\/a>\u00ae<\/span><\/sup> lotion?
\nCraftsman<\/a>\u00ae<\/span><\/sup>, or Imperial<\/a>\u00ae<\/span><\/sup> hand tools?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Care to guess which name in each pair sells more? Names are important.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Overstock Dot Com <\/a>has a problem in trying to market themselves as a high end retailer. The television image of opulance and the good life clashes with the name. Go to their web site and decide which of those images is a lie. Either way, their name becomes the limiting factor.<\/div>\n
Does The Body Shop<\/a>\u00ae<\/span><\/sup> repair cars or sell scented bath products? This one sells bath products, and the name works. By association with the other image of a body shop, the implication is that you’ll find products to fix your body.<\/div>\n

My Great Names List<\/h3>\n
\n

My Great Names List<\/em> is heavily populated by Sears\u00ae<\/span><\/sup> brands. In addition to Craftsman\u00ae<\/span><\/sup> and DieHard\u00ae<\/span><\/sup>, Sears names are such gems as Silvertone\u00ae<\/span><\/sup>, Coldspot\u00ae<\/span><\/sup>, Toughskins\u00ae<\/span><\/sup>, and the now defunct Roadtalker\u00ae<\/span><\/sup> CB radios. Sears understands naming<\/p>\n

Other names on my Great Names List<\/em> include Right To Life Society\u00ae<\/span><\/sup>, Bank of America\u00ae<\/span><\/sup>, Sports Illustrated\u00ae<\/span><\/sup>, and Pay Less Drugs\u00ae<\/span><\/sup> (Yeah, I know. They\u2019re Rite Aid\u00ae<\/span><\/sup>, now. Pity. I understand Pay Less Drugs. Wanna explain to me what a Rite Aid is? Or how to spell it?)<\/p>\n

A British energy company named Powergen<\/a>? I like it. The Italian subsidiary of that company? Powergenitalia<\/a>. That wouldn’t be such a good name.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

What do you think about Phartronics Engineering or Ascend Communications. (Try them out loud. It makes a difference).<\/p>\n

Also featured on my You\u2019ve Gotta Be Kidding Me<\/em> names list are such gems as Badcock Furniture<\/a>, Boozer Shopping Center<\/a>, Beaver Cleaners<\/a>, Dick Cleaners & Drapery Service, and Bea\u2019s Ho-Made Products<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I want to see the workers on Bea\u2019s assembly line.<\/p>\n

For the record, I didn’t invent these names to make my point. I\u2019m not that clever. These are very real businesses. Well, except for Powergenitalia.<\/p>\n

Why Names Are Important<\/h3>\n

Names establish the foundation of image. Names make a difference in people’s expectations. Your child\u2019s name is important to his future success, and so is your business\u2019 name important to its future success.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

In each case we use the name to affect public perception. Perception is reality.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

And what is marketing, if not an attempt to alter perception? The right perception can only help as you’re fishing for customers.<\/p>\n

Your Guide,
\nChuck McKay<\/em><\/p>\n

\"MarketingYour Fishing for Customers guide, Chuck McKay<\/a>, gets people to buy more of what you sell.<\/p>\n

Need some help creating a great name for your company? Drop Chuck a note at\u00a0ChuckMcKay@ChuckMcKayOnLine.com<\/a> and start a conversation. \u00a0Or call him at 760-813-5474.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Names make a difference in people’s expectations. Your child\u2019s name is important to his future success, and so is your business\u2019 name important to its future success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[96,161,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-image-advertising-branding-and-positioning","category-presentation","category-publicity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop-my-site.com\/fishing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop-my-site.com\/fishing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop-my-site.com\/fishing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop-my-site.com\/fishing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop-my-site.com\/fishing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/develop-my-site.com\/fishing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20856,"href":"https:\/\/develop-my-site.com\/fishing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions\/20856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop-my-site.com\/fishing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop-my-site.com\/fishing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop-my-site.com\/fishing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop-my-site.com\/fishing2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}