It has been mentioned time and again. If only half the amount of time and positive energy that is usually spent in finding a decent name for a child is spent behind finding a half-decent name of a new product / service, the world of marketing would have been a different place.
If 9 out of 10 new products fail, then i believe 5 out of those 9 is a naming failure. Thats how important a brand name is.
Considering that, we should have specialists or websites dedicated for naming. For naming a new born child, we find dozens of websites in google. Its about time we get an interactive, paid service for helping us name a new born brand. That service should also include checking the legal status of the name as well name registration process in double quick time.
3 comments
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Khaled Mahmood Mustafa
July 3, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Shahriar Bhai, that was a wonderful analogy!
I too use this very analogy when teaching my Business Studies/Marketing students!
Although, I had no idea about the ‘5 out of 9 naming failure’ thing before!
Just to share what I repeatedly try to portray when explaining on the term brand in short –
“Notice the concern that parents have before the child is born. They try to visualize a dream around the unborn child, plan how they would raise it up (having that they very well know of their community), under what proper environment and etc etc. And after the child is born they just don’t pick a name like that! They consult! Talk! Think! Match! But whatever they came up with, it has to go well with the family culture/ethics, the surrounding community they live in, their beliefs and expectations. After they name the child, they raise in a fashion that again has to go with the family norms and set of practices. When the child starts uttering words, it has to be positive ones. And later when they go to social gatherings their kid has to maintain lots of do’s and don’ts so the value of the family is reflected. The kid has to be liked and loved by everyone around no matter what! And yet later on, he/she can/can’t do this and that! Go out and be back to meet deadlines! Study based on given choices of parents and what not! Finally, to impress everyone around just to hear “like father like son” stuffs to attach the great pride! – To build brands, therefore, is a similar practice. You don’t wait for the customers to call it a brand rather you raise it up with the perfect ATTITUDE over time that customers would praise and accept as their own”
This is the vibe I give them although I believe there’s a lot more to explore!
Anyway, thanks for reading!