One of the bravest and smartest things a marketer can do is to fight the temptation and pressures to come up with “something original” and simply name a product based on what it does. See my post of last month on this with examples like Facebook and YouTube.
http://thebrandmechanic.com/2009/12/22/picking-a-brand-name-based-on-what-it-does/
It’s just one of the reasons I love the new name.
The other concerns the challenges that comes with the territory of being straight-forward; namely how do you make it distinctive and not categorical? And, at the same time, use the other naming principle that is too often ignored in the rush to “something original”. That is, ‘borrowing to build’: leveraging the equity of your corporate masterbrand or powerful older sibling brands to launch your new product.
Apple gracefully solves this problem two ways:
- Via the “i” designator
- The iPad/iPod connection
Face it, if you could change just one letter and connect your protect to the fastest-selling product in history, well, wouldn’t you do it?
It’s why the iPad name will be working hard for Apple all the way to the bank long after the armchair critics have grown tired of mocking it.
but wouldn’t this cause some kind of a confusion between one and the other?
A good & common question on ‘borrow-to-build’ branding strategies but in this case – and in most cases – the answer is no as we too frequently under-estimate the intelligence of the consumer to distinguish between what are clearly too very different looking products. Also the iPad/iPod combo is fun to say. Which, in turn, will add buzz & life to its launch. You also would have been able to spot this pre-launch if your own internal team was finding it an impediment to communication about the product. The pre-launch is a valuable stage in any branding project as it tells you how well a name ‘travels’.
Concise and to the point. Nice write-up! I agree completely with your reasoning, though I offer one additional solution:
Dan Ariely, Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University “…has uncovered the irrational nature of many decisions — and how to apply these behavioral trends to your marketing.” In the MarketingSherpa interview (src. below), he says “‘People often think …they’re making decisions, but in reality their decisions are very much determined by their environment.'”
The people at Apple–who “try to stand at the crossroads of Technology & Liberal Arts” (Steve Jobs, iPad Launch)–already understand & act on Professor Ariely’s research.
How does all of this apply to the iPad. Two words: Star Trek. How many people grew up watching any/all of the shows & wanting the life/tech? PADD’s (Personal Access Display Devices) have been present since the beginning, but were ubiquitous from TNG (The Next Generation) on.
It’s hard to imagine how the minds of today’s early adopters (i.e., 30/40-something geeks, scifi fans, etc.) don’t have fond memories & unconscious associations with PADDs.
In my opinion, this is an example of the environmentally-driven “irrational decision-making” as described by Prof. Ariely.
MarketingSherpa (free through 2/11/10): http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31522
PADD: http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/PADD