Names have meaning

The names that we choose for our products, services, websites and anything else in our businesses are very important.  If you have a new product that you intend to bring to the marketplace, you should spend a lot of time considering possible names for the product.  Try to consider every possible negative use of the name that you choose to see if any surprises may appear up the road for you.

While the choice of a good name is very important, it is also a very basic thing as well.  It is not something that can only be handled by marketing geniuses or  Harvard Business School graduates.  Naming a product is something that can be handled by people at any level of your organization, but they just need to consider all the ramifications of the name.

People from my generation will remember an automobile manufactured by General Motors back in the 1970’s.  I am talking about the Chevrolet Nova.  The Nova did very well in North America, and in other regions.  However, when GM started marketing the Nova in South America it did not do well.  They could not figure it out.  A car that had been very successful in the USA fizzled in South America.  Why?  Well, if you asked the man on the street, the reason was the name.  Nova.  No va.  NO VA.  In Spanish, No has the same meaning as in English.  VA, though, means “Go.”  So, Nova means “it won’t go.”  Would you buy a car that won’t go?  This was a classic marketing blunder.

The reason that I thought of this topic comes from a new product on the market here in the Philippines.  Actually, I believe it has been on the market in other countries for some time, but was just recently introduced in the Philippines.  I am talking about Coke Zero.  It is a new flavor of Diet Cola.  I understand that it was put on the market to compete with Pepsi Max.  I like Pepsi Max, and I was keen to give Coke Zero a try.

Last week I tried Coke Zero. I felt that it wasn’t very good, not much flavor.

The first thing that came to my mind - “They chose the right product name for this - Coke Zero - Zero Flavor.”

That, my friends, is a bad choice of product name for Coca Cola.

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About the Author:  Bob Martin is an American who has been living in the Philippines since the turn of the 21st Century. Bob is an Internet Entrepreneur, and earns 100% of his income online. Bob earns through a number of different methods including e-commerce, Advertising, Informational Products and others.