Guest Column: Good names sell better, Good names survive better!
Tom Cyrus, Marketing Consultant, shares his opinions on how to find a great and memorable name for your companies and products
You may ask yourself what the reason is for a rule-governed naming when the goal of a business is increasing the profitability by selling products. Will a ruled-governed naming influence the sales?
Definitely, the answer is yes. Good names sell better, gain more market share, are less likely to be forgotten, and compared with repetitive, nonstandard, commonplace or complicated names in the final run have more chance in winning the market. Unconventional names are doomed to perish!
Today, most of the marketing rules are reviewed and revised and many of former mistakes are no longer repeated. However, I think that in country like New Zealand, Iran, Hungary, Qatar, Oman and India whose future economy as well as supporting its young industry will be guaranteed with marketing, those mistakes may emerge at the level of translated books and when marketing instructors have less emphasized practical techniques and methods. Nevertheless, in such an environment where most of your rivals never think of an actual and carefully considered marketing operation, you will win the battle in the market if you take wise steps.
In the past, industrial countries believed that they can gain more market share by increasing the ability of their vendors, expanding sales channels and speeding up product delivery to customers; an absolutely correct opinion at the time, which is presently prevalent among a large majority of companies working in my motherland, Iran, and to some extent among companies in other countries. Soon, business owners realized that such a cycle cannot bring about sustainably competitive power for them, because the advent of new products about which consumers and the society were more willing to talk caused that channels, numerous sales representatives and even most market share quickly lose their sales share and, in some cases, be permanently removed from the competitive market or withdraw from it despite the fact that they had powerful negotiators and vendors.
Unlike the past, marketing today is not done tactically and through short-term planning. Today, it is the era of strategic marketing rather than the traditional one. Marketing is no longer something theoretical. Rather, it is tangibly running through all levels of the market. In such an atmosphere, those products and businesses are successful which have the most powerful brand in the market. Now, business managers have found out this fact that it would be, at least in the minds of consumers, almost impossible to get rid of a brand, which is created and well-established in the market.
If you enter the market with new and useful products whose counterparts have never been seen previously or they have at least been seen less frequently, customers and the public will be encouraged to talk about you with others. Through the oldest form of marketing, i.e. Word of Mouth Marketing, your audience will subconsciously enter your marketing processes and as a result, you will make more sales. However, the question is that if you do not have a proper name for yourself, how are others going to call you? Remember that a new product or business is always in need of a different and new name. I believe that this is the first and most basic factor in branding.
By reading what follows, you will make sure that not only is naming very important and sensitive, but it is also a relatively complex process such that modern naming should, at the same time, follow several important rules for the sake being bound to principles. That is why we insist that naming should not just be confused with a simple breakfast!
Encountering a bad name!
Have you ever paid attention to internationally famous people’s names? They all enjoy appropriate names. How do you choose your children’s names? If you employ the same elegance to your business, undoubtedly you will not encounter a bad name. If you have already tried a name for your business or product that can not meet the competition in the market, there only remain two options for you:
A) Change your name!
B) Change your name!
Nonetheless, both of these solutions are harder than what we say about them. Inevitability, if you want to make your brand, you should have such courage. Compared with business owners, many superstars have accepted this fact and before they have their names ridiculed, they chose a new name. For example, the famous film director Woody Allen was named Allan Stewart Konigsberg by his parents, a name which is not remembered so easily and not similar to well-known names. What has been the actual reason for this superstar to change his name from Allan Stewart Konigsberg to Woody Allen? Did he hate that name or he knew marketing more than marketing managers?
Follow rules
During the planning and implementation process of naming, do not rely on emotional and intellectual issues. Follow the rules so that you will not lose. About two years ago, I got curious about the name of one of my friends’ company. I asked him why the word "October" was in the name of his company and his unprofessional response reflected his interest in his wife and the fact that his wife's birthday had been in October. Although I do not deny that person’s interest in his October-born wife, I want to say that such things are not reasonable and sufficient for winning a completion.
Unique names are more powerful
A unique name can bring more chance to your business and product. Names that have not been already heard but enjoy easier pronunciations and spelling can help you to become one of the greatest market leaders. Adobe is a unique name quite which a few people had heard of before. Names such as Sony, Yahoo and Google have also followed the same rule.
Simpler names are more accessible
Many mistake a name’s simplicity with shortening it. Yet, many simple names like Gaj (a big educational institute in Iran) need renaming. However, perhaps local names are extremely difficult for non-Natives. For example for Russian names this difficulty is strongly felt from the time a non-Russian wants to read a Russian name until the moment s/he wants to repeat it. Now, suppose that a non-Russian wants to remember such difficult names and then write them. If you are trying to make the economy and the business in this country grow, you must leave out your bias about traditional names or you will have to suffer from being isolated from the international markets.
Do not use the generic names
Choosing generic names is the biggest trap which expels you from the market. Names like Universal Milk will be easily challenged with the presence of a rival having a specific name.
For instance, GLOBUL (Bulgarian GSM/UMTS operator) is very likely to be heard Global and consequently has no chance in high-level competitions, but AT&T is just AT&T.
On the other hand, with the spread of the Internet and the Web in consumers’ everyday life, generic names are not very likely for being successful in the competition among search engines.
Writing and pronunciation should be the same
In this regard, Hyundai is one of the most notable examples of unsuccessful naming! Interestingly, the writing and pronunciation of this name is very tricky in most languages. Hyundai which is pronounced as hee-oon-die /hi:u:ndai/ in Iran, is in fact [h?n.dei] rhyming with the word Sunday! You should choose a name that consumers can easily write when they hear it, and more importantly they should be able to correctly type it in the Internet.
Another important point is that the way a name is written and pronounced should be almost the same in most languages of the world.
It should easy to articulate
Some insist on utilizing or creating strange names which even the most loyal consumers and customers are unable to use or pronounce them. In this regard, names like EGZB (German) or HSBC are among the defective names. Remember that brands which look for superiority, people’s mouth plays an important role because Word of Mouth Marketing is considered as one of the most effective marketing method.
Attract attention!
Attractive names appear to be more successful than common names. Usually an attractive name which follows the naming rules appears much more successful than other names and remains in the audience’s minds for a longer time.
Form minds
Each name is useful for a given commercial, industrial or economic field. Use names that draw the listener’s attention after being heard to a certain product category or a specific group of businesses.
Be rhythmic
Look for a name with whose expressing the consumer hears a given rhythm as well. Names having alliterations can soon become clamorous. Furthermore, alliterative names are likely to be more effective in advertisements. Names like BlackBerry is among the alliterative ones.
Do not be repetitive
Repetitive names require a lot of energy and budget for becoming a brand. Do not waste your marketing budget in branding and futile advertising for such names!
Be global
Peter Drucker, the most effective figure in modern management, once wrote, "Even if you are starting your business on a kitchen table, you must have a vision of becoming a world leader in your field." Based on my personal experiences, I also believe in this statement strongly. Particularly pay attention to the term Global because the international investment is not discussed at all. Rather, we are talking about Global visions.
My name in Iran is Toomaj Fraidoony. My first name and my last name are hard to pronounce in most languages of the world. When hearing my name, a native speaker of English may think s/he has heard “Too much”.
The name Toomaj used to be a great name for marketing and competition in Iran. However, I changed it to Tom Cyrus following the suggesting and advice of my expert friend Al Ries. This occurred in 2010 when all my Iranian rivals were busy gaining more money and market share in Iran. At first, I was criticized and even ridiculed. Soon after I got Al Ries’s recommendation letter reporters began to call me for interviews as well as for selling my products outside Iran.
Do not forget the Internet
In 2006, when the price of a domain was hardly beyond 9 dollars, I bought my own domain for my Persian name (www.toomaj.com ) from a dealer for 1000 dollars. In today's world of communications, the Internet and websites play important roles in marketing and sales for you. Look for names which are the same as the name of web address. For example, Microsoft Company uses Microsoft.com, but such a commonplace addresses as Microsoftco.com is not actually an option. Remember that a few months ago, FB.com was traded for 8.5 million dollars, so if you are looking for a suitable name for your business or product, be a little more generous!
Tom Cyrus is marketing strategist, consultant and author.
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Social Beat wins SEO mandate of Tata CLiQ tag rss
The account was won after a multi-agency pitch
e4m e4m Social Beat has won the SEO mandate for Tata CLiQ, one of the fastest-growing omnichannel marketplace in India. Social Beat has been entrusted with optimizing existing content, as well as launching new, optimized category pages systematically on Tata CLiQ’s platform to scale monthly organic traffic by 2x over the next year. The account was won after a multi-agency pitch and will be serviced by Social Beat’s offices in Mumbai.
Shishir Kataria, Director - Marketing, Tata CLiQ, “Shoppers, e-commerce or otherwise, continue to heavily rely on search and discovery throughout their shopping journey, be it engaging with the latest fashion trends or hunting for the best buys. No wonder a platform's ability to be a part of this journey organically drives significant consideration for it amongst potential shoppers. We, at Tata Cliq, are confident that Social Beat will help us develop and optimise content that is highly discoverable to grow our engagement and revenue. Our goal continues to be to drive more and more shoppers to our platform with optimised and curated products and relevant content.”
Vikas Chawla, Co-Founder, Social Beat said, “We are thrilled to partner with Tata CLiQ in their growth journey. We aim to scale traffic to the Tata CLiQ platform manyfold over the next year. Our team of specialised SEO and Content strategists will be working closely to achieve this”
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ShareWill OOH dazzle this festive season?
As the celebrations begin, experts tell us the trends and challenges for the OOH sector this season
Be it the flower-clad taxis in Mumbai for Made in Heaven Season 2 promotion or Zomato’s ‘kheer mangoge kheer denge’ billboards, India's OOH advertising sector has undergone substantial transformation and expansion in the recent years. Even though the medium was severely hit during the pandemic years, it has now managed to rebuild its status. Now, with the onset of the festive season, elections and the cricket world cup, OOH is expected to see more and more advertisers come on board.
Amarjeet Hudda, Chief Operating Officer, Laqshya Media Group, believes most of the clients spend a lot of money during the festive season, especially for Durga Puja, Dussehra and Diwali, targeting their customers in a festive mood. The categories that spend heavily during these months are Auto, Consumer Durables, Real Estate, Organised retail, and E-commerce.
According to Dipankar Sanyal of Platinum Outdoor, there was a huge surge in the festive season last year, and he expects the same this year too. “Last four to five years have turbulent for outdoor. It was picking up in 2019, but then Covid came and everything went flat for two years,” he mentioned.
According to EY-FICCI’s M&E Report 2023, OOH media grew 86 percent in 2022 to Rs 37 billion. The value includes traditional, transit and digital media, but excludes untracked unorganised OOH media such as wall paintings, billboards, ambient media, storefronts, proxy advertising.
Sharing the brand’s perspective, Shivam Ranjan, Head of Marketing, Motorola-APAC, said, “We are going into this festive season with a strong mix of media, including OOH. Within OOH, we are focusing on digital OOH, due to its capability of programmatic serving, measurability, and near real-time insights that allow us to be agile with the communication and optimisation of our campaigns.”
With urbanisation, improved infrastructure, rising consumerism and an increased spending power, clients' expectations from OOH advertising too have evolved. “The clients expect better ROI on every investment, best in class innovations, tech-led planning and execution. Today, technology plays an important role starting from planning the campaign, to measuring metrics to ROI,” Singh explained.
Another trend that Sanyal has observed is that traditionally advertisers looked at spending on OOH nearly two weeks prior to the festivities, but now, most advertisers have now started advertising a week earlier so that they can get maximum eyeballs. Additionally, the digital OOH advertising (DOOH) has also emerged big. The digital OOH screens increased to around 100,000 and contributed eight percent of total segment revenues.
“Now with digital, there is more space for advertisers to come in one frame. Because of this, you can see it is getting more attractive. The innovations too are coming in at a much lower cost and creating a greater impact,” shared Sanyal.
The only challenge with the medium, according to Ranjan, is OOH being a fragmented industry with lack of measurability and agility. This becomes a serious issue for ROI-centric brands. However, the growth of DOOH, which is dynamic, agile and measurable, is giving marketers the confidence to invest in the medium backed by relevant data and outcomes.
Adding to this, Hudda highlighted that availability of good media spots is the biggest challenge in this season as media assets are limited and demand is very high. Due to the gap in the festive season, many clients are not able to fully optimise their campaigns. Rather sometimes, clients are even compelled to divert their budget which adversely impacts the industry, he shared.
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Banking on positive consumer sentiment: BFSI optimistic on doubling festive AdEx : Cache
Some categories within the sector, however, may spend more in the quarter that follows the festive season
The BFSI sector is expecting a surge in demand for loan during the festive season and is looking at increasing its ad spends to cash in on the celebration spirit. Industry leaders say they are hopeful of witnessing a good growth in the number of applications for auto loan, home loan, credit card and health insurance during October, November and December due to positive consumer sentiment this year. However, though most of the BFSI players are planning to double their advertising budget this time compared to the previous year, there are some who are not investing too heavily on marketing during the festivals as they plan to save the money for the fourth quarter.
According to Shailendra Singh, MD & CEO, BOB Financial, they witness incremental growth every year during the October-December quarter, and they anticipate an increase in consumer spending as well as new enrolments for cards this year too. “There remains a surge in customer demand for credit during the festive season,” said Singh.
Singh shared that the company is fully geared up for the launch of #FestiveShoppingRewards on all Bank of Baroda credit card variants under the theme ‘Reimagine Festivities’. They would kickstart festive offerings with the start of Navratri.
The festive season does not just see the demand for credit go up, but there is an increase in applications for health and motor insurance too during this time of the year.
Aabhinna Suresh Khare, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer, BajajCapital Ltd, shared that among insurance products, health insurance and motor insurance reign supreme during festivals. According to Khare, the demand for mutual funds and SIPs too sees a hike.
“Overall, the festive season presents an opportune moment to secure insurance coverage. A plethora of attractive products and services are on offer, with financial institutions extending special discounts and promotions to entice new customers,” said Khare.
The company launched #BlessMeGanesha campaign during Ganesh Chaturthi. “Our goal for this festive season is not only to provide financial solutions but also to create memorable experiences and deepen the connection with our customers,” said Khare.
Though all major sectors spend heavily on advertising during the festive season, within the BFSI sector, some categories spend more in the quarter that follows the festive season.
Explaining the trend, Samir Sethi, Head of Brand Marketing, Policybazaar.com, said that the festive season has varying impacts on the BFSI sector. In the banking sector, for instance, the demand for loans surges as many individuals purchase items and undertake home renovations. Conversely, in the insurance category, the festive season doesn't result in significant changes. Instead, the insurance industry experiences its peak season after the festive period, particularly during the fourth quarter of the financial year.
“As the festive season approaches, there is a noticeable increase in car sales though, leading to a surge in the demand for motor insurance. Consequently, we see a significant uptick in the requests for motor insurance policies. During the festive period, there is an upswing in demand for various categories, such as electronics. However, in the insurance sector, this period doesn't significantly affect us, so we don't run specific campaigns targeting festivals. Nevertheless, we do roll out multiple campaigns throughout the year, and some of them may coincide with the festive season,” said Sethi.
According to the TAM AdEx report on BFSI sector across media for H1, the advertising volume of the sector grew on TV, radio and digital, but declined in the print medium. The report indicated that ad impressions on digital saw 91% rise during Jan-Jun '23 over Jan-Jun’22. The increase was 32% for radio and 4% for TV. The ad space of the BFSI sector decreased by 7% in print.
Speaking on media mix, Singh shared that BOB Financial has a good mix of customer segments belonging to Tier I, II and III. So, understanding their needs and preferred form of media channels, the company will reach out to them through relevant media promotions. “For the easy discovery of our offers, we shall have a dedicated offers page with regular promotion of top offers on our social media and other digital channels,” said Singh. Without disclosing the figure, Singh shared that the company’s promotion budget has surely increased from last year and it will be visible through their multi-channel promotional activities.
According to the TAM report, in the BFSI sector, life insurance is the leading category on TV and radio whereas mutual funds is the top category on digital.
Khare highlighted that in recent times, Bajaj Capital has observed a significant growth in audiences on online platforms and the changing preferences of their clientele. “This observation led us to recalibrate our marketing approach, placing a heightened emphasis on digital avenues,” said Khare.
He further added, “Our promotional efforts are primarily digital-focused, accentuating areas like social media engagement, search engine outreach, content-driven marketing, and targeted online advertising. As we approach the festive season, we've fine-tuned our online approach. By harnessing the insights from data analytics, we aim to grasp our clients' needs and inclinations better, ensuring our content is both tailored and pertinent.”
Khare also mentioned that Baja Capital has doubled its advertising budget compared to the previous year.
“This increase in our ad spend signifies our confidence in the opportunities this festive season presents. This impressive surge in our budget allocation underscores our dedication to maximizing the potential of this festive season and driving significant expansion within our business. We firmly believe that this increased investment in advertising will not only elevate our brand presence but also lead to an exceptional uptick in customer engagement and sales.”
For Policybazaar.com, the media strategy primarily involves a blend of television and digital platforms, an approach that has remained consistent in recent years and is expected to continue in the foreseeable future.
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OMD appoints Dileep Raj Singh as Head of Digital for APAC
Singh will report to Charlotte Lee, CEO of OMD APAC
OMD has added a Head of Digital (HOD) to its Asia Pacific (APAC) regional leadership team with the hiring of Dileep Raj Singh.
Singh is a digital native and brings with him a wealth of experience across product, media agency and client side in APAC, North America and the United Kingdom. His last 10 years have been spent building diverse digital marketing teams covering areas like performance marketing, digital media planning, ad/martech, product marketing, branding and measurement.
As HOD, he will accelerate OMD’s digital leadership agenda, rooted in helping clients address their business challenges and digital ambitions. He will be supporting OMD’s local teams in APAC on operational excellence, and digital transformation frameworks and roadmaps; and the development and implementation of our digital leadership agenda. He will also be working hand in hand with both our regional and global networks to initiate complementary workstreams for our clients in APAC.
“We will continue to invest and win in digital as part of our wider goal to be our clients’ most trusted business transformation partner,” said Charlotte Lee, CEO of OMD APAC.
“It is our global ambition to continue our leadership position in digital, data and technology. In line with this ambition, we are excited to have Singh come on board the OMD APAC leadership team. His background of agency, in-house and start-up experience position him perfectly to understand and address our clients’ business needs,” added Lee.
“Digital media and access to our audience, as we know it, is changing quite rapidly around us. This puts most of us in a delicate but remarkable position, a position from which we can shape and contribute to conversations about the next evolution of digital media. As we embark on this journey, I want to leverage the strength of the OMD network – people, technology, data, tools and platforms – to help our clients pivot and navigate through all the new and evolved possibilities in digital media. With this, I aim to position OMD as an unrivaled partner for our current and future clients; to dominate and succeed in this incredibly competitive and multifarious digital realm,” said Singh.
Singh will report to Lee, and work closely with the team including Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), David McCallen, and Chief Client Officer (CCO), Sadhan Mishra, to drive and support APAC local markets as well as regional clients on digital, data and technology needs.
Mishra was promoted to CCO of OMD APAC recently in June 2023. He will continue to be CEO of OMD Singapore, a position he was promoted into last August. Mishra has been with OMD for over 13 years and in his concurrent new role as CCO, he will focus on key client relationships, understanding their business needs and ensuring we remain a critical partner on their transformation journeys.
McCallen was elevated to the role of CSO of OMD APAC in April 2022, and was previously the CSO of OMD New Zealand for five years where he helped the agency to attain the top place in the market for new business, overall billings and award wins. Since starting in the APAC role, his focus has been on connecting and elevating strategic best practices across the region, building capabilities across a range of strategic outputs, and supporting new business growth both regionally and locally.
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Chandrayaan 3: Brands over the Moon
Some of the best moment marketing posts on India's crucial lunar mission
The nation is in a celebratory mood with its moon mission Chandrayaan 3 making its smooth landing on the lunar surface on the evening of August 23, 2023. The Pragyan rover is in pursuit of discovering water on the moon and is a vital feat for India's ambitious space research.
To celebrate this momentous episode in Indian space research history, netizens have taken to the internet to express their excitement, hopes and fears for the nation's lunar mission. Joining them are brands who have crafted creatives to mark the historic occasion and capture the emotions of the nation who have their eyes set on the moon. Here is our pick of some of the best Chandrayaan 3-moment marketing posts.
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BCCI rakes in Rs 4670 cr in Women's Premier League team auction: Jay Shah 26 Jan
WPL has broken the inaugural auction record of Men's IPL in 2008, tweeted Shah
As expected, Wednesday turned out to be another historic day in Indian women's cricket with BCCI having a windfall gain of Rs 4,600 crores by auctioning five team franchises for the first season, a higher sum compared to what men’s IPL franchises offered to the cricket body during the launch in 2008.
Adani, IndiaWin Sports, Royal Challengers, GSW- GMR cricket and Capri Global have won the bid, BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted.
Shah shared in a series of tweets, “Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men's IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs.4669.99 Cr in total bid.”
“This marks the beginning of a revolution in women's cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead not only for our women cricketers but for the entire sports fraternity. The #WPL would bring necessary reforms in women's cricket and would ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder.”
“The @BCCI has named the league - Women's Premier League (WPL). Let the journey begin…”
The country's top corporates had bid aggressively for the league. Over 16 groups including IPL franchise owners, Adani group, Torrent and Haldiram were believed to be in the fray.
Given the popularity of IPL in India, the event is touted to be a big draw for all stakeholders involved.
The BCCI was reportedly expecting ₹4,000 crore gain through team auction.
It’s noteworthy that Viacom18 has won the Women's IPL media rights for Rs 951 crore for the next five years creating euphoria around the league whose first season will be held in March.
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