Here is an interesting post from one of Inc.com’s blogs. This one discusses the importance of a company’s name for branding purposes. The short post contains something simple, but profound:
In fact, only one of the 12 — Jeff Taylor, founder of Monster.com — felt the name he selected was indispensable and key to branding his company. Surprisingly, not even Starbuck’s co-founder Jerry Baldwin felt the name was essential.
Some of the other business leaders I consulted with — such as Ben & Jerry’s Homemade founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cosmetics expert Bobbi Brown, Wally “Famous” Amos, Kate Spade, and David Oreck — named their companies in part or entirely after themselves. While this group felt it helped bring brand accountability and provide some level of differentiation, they did not believe the company name was essential in creating the brand. They unanimously agreed the best way to build a powerful brand identity is to offer unmatched quality, exceptional service, and consumer-centric products or services that focus on their customers’ needs and wants.
Isn’t this the mantra of sales? I have worked for many companies where we tried to push this point through to marketing with little success. The meetings continued and the brainstorming reached a fever pitch as they attempted to select the “right” name for a new product.
Sometimes it is as simple as listening to the customer and delivering what you promise.