What's In a Name?
I spotted the Iglu poster - part of their latest campaign - shortly after I’d seen Danone’s advertising for their new yogurt Light & Free.
Whilst the packaging for Light & Free - with dresses made of fruit - is fresh and fun, the name of the product seems a little off to me.
Light & Free obviously describes exactly how Danone want you to feel about their product. However, companies usually go to great lengths to create an original name that evokes those feelings rather than spelling them out for you. Confusingly I actually thought it was an advert for sanitary products. And - if so - a fairly effective one at that.
So perhaps using adjectives to name your product is a creative stroke of genius. Or, they just ran out of ideas.
Whereas … Iglu. It’s perfect, isn't it? It immediately conjures up a picture of what the product looks like and what it’s meant to do. In fact, it follows these Five Golden Rules.
Naming a new product is never easy. It involves a lot of time and effort from a lot of people, and if you have time to find out more, this is a brilliant article on the process: The Weird Science of Naming New Products from The NY Times -
"Most namers will tell you that although “a great name can’t fix a bad product. A great product can fix a bad name.” Accenture was met with derision for reminding people of dentures. Gap was an empty space. Yelp was a dog in pain. The iPad was confused with a tampon. Now these names have no odd connotations at all, thanks to the success of the things they name."