What's In A Name?

Thirty years ago a pair of researchers, Herbert Harari and John W. McDavid 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. 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.

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.

Interesting. Names make a difference in people's expectations.

That would lead a curious person to wonder if George W. Bush could have been elected had his name been Pépé LePetomaine. Would John Kerry have been his party’s 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 “War On Terror?”

Those who are very talented often make things look easy. When talented people are articulate, they make things sound easy, too. I think that’s the case with a post Chris Gloede authored on his Rants on Modern Marketing blog titled Product: Naming Isn’t Really That Important. It's what started me thinking about names.

I don’t disagree with Chris often. No matter how simple he makes it sound, I don’t 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 “having a good product supported by good marketing” is more important than the name of the business.

Still, I think names are important.

Everything in our world has a name. Every sound, every color, everything you touch, and every business you deal with. Some names have positive connotations. Others much less so.

It’s 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’ll save you the trouble of looking it up. Vapid is a Latin adjective meaning “flat tasting, lacking liveliness, dull”).

There wasn’t 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 “Kiwi fruit.”

Crazy Eddie^®, “with prices so low we must be insane,” 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’s Income Tax Service? Would you make an appointment with a proctologist who calls himself Crazy Norman?

Names are important. A businesses name is the foundation upon which it's image is built. Are you more likely to purchase:

DieHard^®, or Gulf Star^® batteries?
Intensive Care^®, or Cornhuskers^® lotion?
Craftsman^®, or Imperial^® hand tools?

Care to guess which name in each pair sells more? Names are important.

Overstock Dot Com 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.

Does The Body Shop^® 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.

My Great Names List is heavily populated by Sears^® brands. In addition to Craftsman^® and DieHard^®, Sears names are such gems as Silvertone^®, Coldspot^®, Toughskins^®, and the now defunct Roadtalker^® CB radios. Sears understands naming.

Other names on my Great Names List include Right To Life Society^®, Bank of America^®, Sports Illustrated^®, and Pay Less Drugs^® (Yeah, I know. They’re Rite Aid^®, now. Pity. I understand Pay Less Drugs. Wanna explain to me what a Rite Aid is? Or how to spell it?)

A British energy company named Powergen? I like it. The Italian subsidiary of that company? Powergenitalia. That wouldn't be such a good name.

What do you think about Phartronics Engineering or Ascend Communications. (Try them out loud. It makes a difference).

Also featured on my You’ve Gotta Be Kidding Me names list are such gems as Badcock Furniture, Boozer Shopping Center, Beaver Cleaners, Dick Cleaners & Drapery Service, and Bea’s Ho-Made Products.

I want to see the workers on Bea’s assembly line.

For the record, I didn't invent these names to make my point. I’m not that clever. These are very real businesses. Well, except for Powergenitalia.

Names are important. Names establish the foundation of image. Names make a difference in people's expectations. Your child’s name is important to his future success, and so is your business’ name important to its future success.

In each case we use the name to affect public perception. Perception is reality.

And what is marketing, if not an attempt to alter perception?

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