The limitations of descriptive names

posted by Rob on 2009.11.18, under Naming
11.18

OC Autoshow

According to this ad, the OC Autoshow is “more than an auto show.”

  1. Ad for an auto show at a bus stop. Thoughts?
  2. Ad (and website) contain very little evidence that the show is anything more than an auto show
  3. Obviously, contradiction between the name and the headline (X ≠ X+Y, where Y ≠ 0)

How many times have you

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Businesspeople are people too: the case for emotion in B2B branding

posted by Rob on 2009.03.30, under Brand Strategy
03.30

[Originally published on B2B Brand Debate]

The goal of branding is sometimes explained as an attempt to create an emotional connection between brand and customer. It’s easy to demonstrate the effectiveness of this emotional side of branding with examples like Disney, Starbucks, and Harley-Davidson (brands that you may associate with happiness, indulgence, and rebellion, respectively). Brand managers working with business-to-business (B2B) brands, however, often chafe at the idea that their company or product—maybe an accounting firm or an esoteric scientific research tool—should be connecting with its customers at an emotional level.

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Redundant: Arizona Leather Leather Sale

posted by Rob on 2009.03.16, under Advertising, Naming
03.16
Up to 50% percent off!

Up to 50% percent off!

It’s unfortunate when a descriptive name overstays its welcome. Companies pursue new product or service lines in an attempt to grow, technologies change, and descriptive names become irrelevant. There are plenty of examples: American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T), Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M), and Southwest Airlines, which no longer operates only in the Southwest. When you don’t want to stand for that one thing anymore, your options are pretty much limited to changing the name or abbreviating the name (and rendering it meaningless, a la IBM–International Business Machines).

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    Rob Meyerson is a brand strategist currently working in Shanghai.

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