Neuromarketing Of Naming

NAMING PRODUCTS IS A KEY PART OF THE SALES PROCESS

Today, I would like to show you some aspects worth considering when you are naming your product.

While product and its quality are critical, the?name plays a huge role in guiding consumer behavior.

Product names can make the difference between success and failure.

Clearly giving a product a catchy name makes it more attractive.

Researchers have shown that?people prefer?products with?names?that are?easy to remember and pronounce. This is known as the fluency effect.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND?

Even the actual sound of a word carries meaning.

To demonstrate this, I want to show you a very simple experiment.

Look at the two figures below: in your opinion, which one is Bouba and which one is Kiki?

Intriguingly most people assume that the sharp-looking object is Kiki and the soft-looking object is Bouba.

The Bouba/Kiki effect?suggests that a?name carries a meaning and a sound that recalls certain characteristics.

This is precisely why?we must be careful about the sound of the name?we want to choose.

SOME RULES FOR CATCHY NAMING

In this paragraph, I would like to mention some?features?that?a name must have to be catchy:

1. Brand potential: the?product name must be in line with the brand image. Otherwise the inconsistencies found would led to cognitive dissonance in the custumer’s brain. It is important to build?brand trust. The right product name help establish?consistency in brand identity. The more consistent you are, the more likely customers will feel they can trust the brand.
2. Market attraction:?the more you know about the target audience?and their unconscious needs,?the better the product names will be.
3. Visibility: you need to make sure that the product is?easy to find online.
4. Uniqueness:?you don’t want?your offering to have?too much competition.

RIGHT NAMING INCREASES SALES

There are several situations where?simply changing the name?of the product?led to increased sales.

Rory Sutherland, in his book?“Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense“, tells the story of a?fish?was being called?“Patagonian Toothfish”.

Lee Lantz, a fish wholesaler, believed this fish had a great potential in the U.S. market, but he couldn’t sell as much of it as he wished.

In 1977, Lantz made a simple change:?he replaced the name with “Chilean Sea Bass”.

Demand increased rapidly. Surprisingly Chilean sea bass succeded where Patagonian Toothfush failed.?

The same thing happened to the Goosefish.

With that name, sales had not been great, but since the seafood industry began calling it “monkfish,” it has become a much sought-after delicacy, even referred to by some as the foie gras of the sea.

THE WRONG NAME

So far we have seen how important it is to name our product correctly.

It is important to research the perception of the name by your customers?especially?to avoid any double entendre?as happened to a small Canadian brewery.

In August 2020?Hell’s Basement Brew?had given one of its products an?unconventional name.

Taking inspiration from?Maori, the language spoken by an indigenous group of New Zealanders, it had in fact?named its new very light beer “Huruhuru”,?which literally translates to?“light as a feather”.

What the company was not aware of is that that word has another, more colloquial?meaning:?“pubic hair”.

Needless to remark how important it is to do thorough research before naming your product.

If you want to learn more about this topic, this article is an excerpt from my book “Neurofood: neuromarketing applied to the world of food and wine” published by Hoepli.

Any questions? Send me an email at?[email protected]?.