"You Cost Too Much." Increase Perceptual Value by Changing Your Name (Rebranding)

"You cost too much." Have you ever heard that from a customer? It might cause you to discount what you're selling. But discounting would tarnish your brand and train your customers to only buy at a discount. So what do you do? Chances are, what your customer really means is this: I can't see the value in what you're selling. Since value is a function of the benefit received for the price paid, don’t change the price, enhance the perceived benefit instead. I have 10 different ways to improve your perceptual value. This is #7. Follow me to get my latest.

#7 OF 10 -- Change Your Name (Rebrand)

You've heard the expression: "Design is the silent ambassador of your brand." Your brand name is, too. A brand name tells customers what to expect from a product. A great name can imbue an average product with greater sophistication and higher perceived value.

Consider calisthenics, re-branded with a skinny-French-girl-name:?Pilates. Its founder, an ex-circus performer in prison, originally branded it as “Contrology”.

Then there’s the Patagonian Toothfish. It was hardly destined for culinary success until Lee Lantz, a fish wholesaler, rebranded it as the Chilean Sea Bass. Suddenly, it was on every restaurant menu. ?

Then how about the book, "Trimalchio in West Egg"? That was the original name of a book F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, later rebranded with the more alliterative and evocative-of-the-jazz-age name, "The Great Gatsby." ?

If your ice cream is not making the cash register ring, do what Nabisco did: rebrand it. Change a name that sounds like a commodity (Snack-a-Bites) to one that sounds delightfully delicious (Dibs).

Consider the Impact of These Name Changes:

• BackRub -- Google
• Pete’s Super Submarines -- Subway
• Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo -- Sony
• Confinity -- Paypal
• Burbn -- Instagram
• Clear Channel -- iHeart Radio
• Justin tv -- Twitch
• Cadabra -- Amazon

And These

• Farrokh Bulsara -- Freddie Mercury
• Leslie Lynch King -- Gerald Ford (Would he ever have been even a Veep?)
• Stefani Germanotta -- Lady Gaga
• O’Shea Jackson -- Ice Cube
• Caryn Elaine Johnson -- Whoopi Goldberg

Consider How a Name Change Would Impact Valuation

Research suggests that companies with short, easy-to-pronounce names have greater name fluency. Slightly higher fluency, such as reducing the name length by one word, was associated with a 2.53% higher market-to-book ratio. Name changes that improved fluency also improved breadth of ownership and firm value.

Additionally, research indicates that a rebranding through a name change can significantly improve the market's perception and investor confidence because it signals large positive changes within the company.

How Do You Know If Your New Name is a Good One?

1. Easy to pronounce Names that are hard to pronounce have limited word-of-mouth potential. People don’t want to risk mispronouncing a name and embarrassing themselves. Moreover, research indicates that easier-to-pronounce names are generally regarded more positively than harder-to-pronounce ones.

2. Avoids Unconventional Spelling Brands that use unconventionally spelled words such as Tumblr, Scribd, and Lyft, are considered less trustworthy. As a result, consumers are 14% less likely to choose a brand with a mis-spelled name. (US market share for Uber is 3x that of Lyft)

3. Memorable – a good name avoids generic language and uses mnemonic devices to improve recall. Why? Because the best name is the one that most easily comes to mind in the moment of choice. Alliteration, concrete language, and rhyme are all under-utilized but excellent ways to improve recall.

• Alliteration – Coca Cola, Dunkin Donuts, PayPal. Many studies have demonstrated the power of alliteration to improve recall. Applied Behavioral Scientist Richard Shotton, author of The Choice Factory, conducted his own research and found that alliteration improves recall by 22%.

• Concrete Language – Apple, Red Bull, Dove, Blackberry -- Concrete language?is 4-10x more memorable than abstract language.?Source: Richard Shotton.

• Rhyme -- Jelly Belly, Lean Cuisine, StubHub – Research commissioned by Richard Shotton suggest rhyming results in a doubling of recall.

4. Consistent with Brand Strategy – Fits brand voice, benefit, target, industry

5. Ownable – trademarkable with a reasonably-priced, available domain.

There are always exceptions, but why not give your brand an unfair advantage with a good name?

Testing Tip

When testing a new name, remember that consumers prefer what's familiar, the name they know, or the status quo. So look for red flags rather than preference.

Risk

Name changes come with risks: your prospects and customers never hear of the change, making it hard for them to find you; you risk losing the equity associated with your existing name. Examples include: HBO Max to Max, Twitter to X, Weight Watchers to WW.

It's often best for brands with weak names, low awareness, and reputational risk to rebrand or when moving into more attractive markets. So consider the upside and downside of the change and plan it carefully.

HT to Richard Shotton for his excellent book, The Choice Factory.

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