Don’t Make A Product Name Blunder
August 7, 2009 by Kim Beasley
Filed under Marketing
Are you creating a new product and need to figure out a name for it? Do you have a current product that you need to rebrand with a new name? Then before you create a new name, make sure that you do your research first.
When you do your research, make sure to check the name that you have chosen in different countries and languages. Having the wrong product name can be damaging to your brand. If you do have a blunder with your product name, then make sure that you take steps to correct it.
As you develop your product’s name, it will also be good for you to plan on how you will brand your product into your target consumers’ minds. According to the article “What’s in a Name? Everything” written by Peter S. Sloane and David Perla for Entrepreneur.com…
Successful company names are suggestive rather than descriptive. When applied to the product, they require imagination, thought or perception to determine the nature of the goods. A hypothetical example of a suggestive company name is the Sunshine Orange Juice Co. Sunshine suggests the nature of the orange juice that the company sells, without immediately describing it.
To help you understand why this is important and for a tip on how you can do this, I have included the video below.
Image: SXC.hu
In Colorado, the national restaurant chain called “Black Eye Pea” changed the name of several of their restaurants to “The Pea”. Seemed arrogant to me. Bigger problem, though, was that all of “The Pea” restaurants closed within six months. Might have happened anyway, but ….