Product Naming: Dogs, Smokes and Cars

This week’s Goofus and Gallant post is on product naming. The first Goofus goes to Beneful. Combining names to create a new brand or product name is risky. Beneficial and wonderful are great words to try and connect with Fido’s food, but pop culture had this name put to sleep. At least for me, the name “Bennifer” comes to mind every time I hear Beneful. And I’ve been hearing it a lot lately with a ton of online ads to support their recent appearance on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.

The Gallant goes to Eukanuba. There is a story to this unique name and all good brands should have a story to tell. Disclaimer: The Iams Company was a client of mine many moons ago.

Other names that get the Goofus include Leganza and Altria. For the name of a car model, Leganza sounds like an aspirational attempt at confidence. It comes up short. Altria is simply a bait and switch. Philip Morris purchased Kraft Foods and did not want a direct connection between the two brands.

Tobacco companies need to switch products, not names. Philip Morris should stop selling tobacco, buy a car manufacturer and make some changes. A Marlboro Truck will sell. Virginia Slims can compete with the Mini Cooper and whatever the Kool looks like, I’m test driving it (even though Kool is not a PM brand).

For more on product naming, visit Seth Godin and Snark Hunting.

tags: product naming, marketing, branding, brand

Comments

[William Lozito]

Another examples of coined (combined) product or brand names include Caduet (Ca for calcium + Duet for the dual effect of the drug for heart), Vivera (Vive + Era, HP's long-lasting ink), Travelocity (Travel + Velocity), Celebrex (Celebrate + X representative for Rx, i.e. prescription).

[Halfmad]

As someone who spent a large portion of her last job coming up with just such names, I feel the pain of the people who came up with these. "Beneful" sounds like some kind of compromise that everyone at headquarters could agree on, and to be fair I think it was around before Ben asked Jennifer out. Personally my favorites are Expedia and iPod. Anything with a Pod in it I like.

[greenskidusautoparts]

The more connected you are to your auto, the more you want to take care of it. Making sure that your tires have the right amount of air is one sure-fire way to avoid accidents especially with winter and icy conditions.