Upload
nailbites-a-thinking-hub
View
235
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
“A brand name that contains
one or more numbers in either
written form (e.g., Ten) or digit
form(e.g.,10) is referred to as
an alpha-numeric brand
name.”
BRAND names and numbers are both important, yet relatively distinct parts of a
consumer's world. However, brand names with numbers in them are an important
managerial option in today's marketing environment. At the same time, consumer notions
about brand names that are composed in part or completely of numbers are not well
understood.
You can include a number in a brand. That works fine. But what you can't do is have two
successive numbers in two brands and not expect people to be confused.
Although approximately 10,000 of the 1.35 million Federally Registered trademarks are
comprised in part or in whole of a number, the role of numbers in brand names is poorly
understood.
In many instances the precise meaning of a number may be opaque to consumers.
The data suggest the addition of a numeric component to a brand name increases the
number of technical product associations that consumers make with the name.
Most numeric brand names see the light of day because someone is either lazy or tries to
be overly smart. Both are not case studies for delivering a timeless and memorable brand
name.
They point at a missing message or depth in the name.
Those numbers (hence your brand name) mean nothing to the target audience, until they
happen to read your About section on your web site, hoping to learn more about the
reasoning behind the name.
May have no apparent meaning.
May denote something specific to the industry.
Different numbers have different meaning in different cultures.
May point at a product feature according to the manufacturer.
Some digits act as adjectives co-relating it with brand aspects like feminine, powerful,
smooth, etc.
The overly smart create an arbitrary number based on the founders birthdays or other
personal anecdotes or fun facts.
If your brand name will focus on a sole number, that very number needs to be significant
to others.
The number, or word needs a partner to add value and create purpose. This forms an
Alphanumeric Brand Name.
If you are able to connect a meaningful number to a meaningful word, such as Social123
(Easy as 1-2-3) or 99Designs (99 equals big variety), you create a story and build a strong
value proposition. You will have the added benefit of obtaining IP rights and securing your
domain name swiftly.
The basic rule for numbers is that consumers have a subconscious preference for familiar
and easy-to-process information. Familiar numbers are those we are confronted with on a
regular basis.
A Research shows that consumers’ preference for numbers from 1 to 20 is 8.9% greater than their
preference for numbers between 21 and 89. This is probably down to us using numbers under 20 more
than numbers above 20.
Easy-to-process numbers are those we have added up or multiplied on regular occasions. Like table of
four has been drilled into us in primary school, but not the table of 68. We therefore recognize the
product of 4 times 4 (i.e. 16) instantly and appreciate it more than the product of 68 times 68 (=4,624).
The study also showed that the products of multiplications (whole numbers under 100) have a 15.5%
higher preference score than other numbers. Consumers prefer the number 12 over the number 57.
The products of multiplications of numbers below 100 are stored in our brain, and therefore easier to
recognize, which makes that we sooner prefer them.
Researchers presume that use of numbers in brand names prove attractive for product categories
where consumers have little prior knowledge of the product (products that you do not purchase
regularly or products with little differentiating value). These are basically low-involvement situations.
The idea behind 15Five originated in
the 1980s with ESPRIT founder Doug
Tompkins, who realized that if he asked
all of his employees to spend 15 minutes
writing a report that took their manager
no more than 5 minutes to read,
his employees would feel heard and he
would have better insight into the
workings of his company.
19 Entertainment – Talent company founded by Simon Fuller and "named after Paul Hardcastle's single 19, the
first No. 1 Fuller had a hand in", according to TV Guide. After selling 19 Entertainment to CKX, Inc, Fuller founded XIX
Entertainment, which is 19 in Roman numerals.
20th Century Fox – Film studio; formed in 1935 through the merger of William Fox's Fox Film, and Twentieth
Century Pictures.
23andMe – Using the 23 pairs of chromosomes that make up each person's genome, the company helps
individuals make sense of their own genome.
27b/6 – The apartment where George Orwell wrote the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four was number 27B on level 6.
37signals – Web development company; named for the 37 radio telescope signals identified by astronomer Paul
Horowitz as potential messages from extraterrestrial intelligence.In 2014, the company renamed itself Basecamp, after
its main product.
3Com – Network technology producer; the three coms are computer, communication, and compatibility.
3M – from the company's original name, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company.
7-Eleven – Convenience stores; renamed from "U-Tote'm" in 1946 to reflect their newly extended hours, 7:00 am
until 11:00 pm
[email protected] | facebook.com/nailbites | nailbites3c.wordpress.com | @nailbitesadvtg