So I recently had a question posed to me, “what makes a company name a strong company name? In other words, what makes a good company name good?”
Here is my reply.
The greatest predictor of the future is the past. Hence, a good company name to me is one which I have had a number of positive experiences with because it is very likely my next experience will be a positive one as well. That said a positive or negative experience is often directly linked to our expectations. Ever gone to a great movie after hearing how great it is only to leave after it feeling disappointed? Ever gone to a movie that you heard was not great and been quite happy with it? Ever drink Buckley’s? I love the Buckley’s example here, Buckley’s promises two things, this is going to taste awful and it’s going to work. Well I can testify that as soon as that Buckley’s hit my tongue I was halfway satisfied already, yup it tastes awful. And I have bought it again because it met (and perhaps exceeded) my expectations. Did it work, you ask? Well I don’t really recall, I think my throat did get less dry and I did eventually get better.
This is true with a brand as well. For example why is the IPod such a strong name (and if you don’t think it is have a look at the IPod Socks$40 for the top of 6 socks and 1096 people have reviewed them and gave them 4.5/5 stars!). Well I believe the IPod brand is a product of both great marketing and great timing. The mp3 player was past the point of just the innovators (2.5% of the population) and the early adopters (13.5%% of the population) purchasing them, and was at the point where the early and late majority (34% of the population each or 68% in total) were looking for an mp3 player. These two groups are typically less well read on new products but in this case could definitely see the relative advantage of owning an mp3 payer. The IPod’s timing as a simple, reliable, well recognized solution used by the early adopters, fit perfect with what the early and late majority were looking for at a time they were looking for a solution. Guess what, the iPod met and exceeded expectations for many of them! Solid state no skip technology that allowed you to store hours of music, with a rechargeable battery and what’s this torrents thing!? So the IPod has a great following. Notice how many products are carrying the “I” name. Even Apple recognized this when they launched the new IPad, not the Macpad.
Some say, “your Brand is your promise” or they describe it as, ”reputational currency” “once you lose it it’s very hard to get back”. This is the same idea said in a different way, once people have had a negative experience with the brand you it is difficult to replace that negative feeling with a positive one. We can also take this fundamental idea and apply it in a positive way to ourselves. Ever review a résumé? Isn’t this what we are looking for in a great résumés? We are looking at a persons past to determine how they will perform in the future with our company. Things I will consider will be how long they stayed with the previous company, is there natural advancement within the company, and I’ll call references to check the accuracy. Which is why I push my social media students to blog or tweet. Want to know how I’ll perform on the job working for you for the next year or so? Here is a link to the insights I have gains and some experiences I have shared through my blog over the past year, and here is a link to my tweeter account where I share current industry news with other thought leaders in our industry so that we are all always current.
I really like the article you have written, and I would like to share some of my comments on your article. Here they are:
I agree with what you said that Apple has a great reputation with its “ i ” symbol for its every famous product, but in my opinion what apple is doing is a niche marketing. The overall age-group fascinated for apple’s product is from 16 to 35 somewhat. If you look in college campuses, you will find that the age-group I have mentioned here is crazy for apple’s laptops and any generation or model of iPod. I am crazy for my iPod Touch, too. But the problem is, that, I am more interested in doing my share-market and financial analysis, for which I need flash player because majority of the sites I use they all operate on flash player, which apple definitely unable to provide me. Even if you look at the workplaces, like business firms, factories etc., they all need software, either available in the market for them or they need to develop such software for them. Now if they need software available in the market, then all company-needed software are Windows compatible. If they need to develop the software according to their need is, then windows system allows them to create that software which apple doesn’t. If Apple has a monopoly with their Macintosh system and with “ i ” products, then Microsoft has more and greater reputation for windows system and compatibility issues.
I agree that apple became more famous with its “ i ” products, but when apple started these range products, it had a particular strategy of making the product and marketing for it. Apple got successful in it. If you remember, that, Microsoft too, introduced its own device called “Zune”, which offered MP3 player, Xbox compatibility, movie and music player, and also 160GB storage which was also a lot cheaper than Apple’s iPod. But the device never got such a fame like iPod. Reason was simple, either Microsoft never used a target marketing strategy for it or it ignored to put great efforts in product making. And I think that later is true, because if Microsoft had integrated its windows browser system and at least an internet/wi-fi in “Zen” then I believe it could be more appealing for me to buy “Zune”. But again apple could win here because its iPhone integrates everything for you, including phone, carrier-internet/wifi, games, notebook, books, doc/pdf/excel reader and editor and so on. Now this is what I mean about product strategy and marketing strategy, as well.
I found this in a very good article on Barron’s, one of the leading financial website, and this is really interesting to know that,
“What inspires respect? Strong management still maters most, but ethics has leapt to the second place after a year of questionable corporate behavior. [According to the survey taken by Barron’s, the most inspirational elements for respect are] Strong Management 40%, Ethical Business Practices 20%, Sound Business Strategy 13%, Product Innovation 7%, Revenue and Profit Growth 7% [and Strong Performance over the years 13%].
Survey participants say respected companies have strong management, good governance, valuable products and services, and strong stock returns. They treat their shareholders, customers and employees well. They act ethically. And while some money managers name respect as the first cut in their investment process, others say respect is more often the result of a sound investment process” (The World’s Most Respected Companies, By VITO J. RACANELLI, Barron’s Cover, 15th February, 2010 [requires subscription]).
If we combine together all of the above elements together, it gives us a 100% respectable company. Now I am considering this in a financial way, but still I believe this can work in Marketing, too.
Now, when we talk about the performance in the past, then let me remind here that Apple and its Macintosh system was nowhere in 90s. It returned back to profit when Mr. Steve Jobs made his comeback in the company as CEO in 1996. Now, if we look at the company performance, then looking in Apple’s past to compare its today’s performance, it’s madness. It’s not necessary that past performance is a guarantee of future performance. We all say that in our finance as well as marketing world, too. Everybody has a chance, sometimes he looses it, sometimes he wins it. It all depends on how a person wishes to lead his/her life, and again, confidence, enthusiasm, and determination are the keys of winning every kind of war of every person’s life, and this same philosophy works on companies, too.
“Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting a particular way… you become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions” – Aristotle.
Thanks for the post! Your comments are well received.
Perhaps I will clarify what I meant when I said the best predictor of the future is the past. I agree, past performance does not “guarantee” future performace, but it is a great predictor. In your post you mention “strong management” mattering most (40%), but what is “strong management”? Isit not a team of people who have had success in the past? If a company has done well but looses it’s management team is it the same company? Would our expectatins for that company change? I believe the answer would be “yes”.
Was Apple the same company without Steve Jobs?
Yes, I agree, that, if a company has done well but looses its management, the expectations for the same company will change. I have a good example here about one of the big wireless company in U.S., ‘Sprint Nextel’, the company had to take a big decision to replace its CEO in 2007, while removing the earlier one because of poor performance. Company has a good management now, but still struggling in front of its competitors. Even when this economic downturn did hit the world, we saw that even treasuries and major banks didn’t get spared because of bad management.
But I would like to clarify here what I meant by “strong management”. We value a management performance on the basis of transparency and expertise the management put into a company. Remember that anybody can build the walls and roofs, but no one gets success by just building it. It has to be run by good hands and heads with good brains. Now, when you say, that past performance can be a great predictor for future performance, then apple & its macintosh would not be recovered from its downturn it faced in the past if its predictions were based on its past performance.
I strongly believe that, if a person has behaved very bad in the past, but gone through his punishments for his mistakes, and now has realized the truth of life, he is definitely going to turn himself into good. A person who accepts his/her mistakes and takes care not to re-do it, then he/she can be said has learnt a lot from those mistakes, and thus we consider him a good human being. Same thoughts can be applied to the companies, because companies are not just walls, roofs, and machineries, but are the places which are operated by humans, and so companies, too, have ethics, morals and values on which strong management is based, and not only on the past performance or future predictions.
I hope I clarified here at-least at some point, that, what I mean by ‘strong management’.
It appears as though the Nintendo 3DS will not be in stores in time for the Christmas season. That’s unfortunate for sellers like myself, but hey it will be in stores fairly soon so it’s ok.