The Second Key: Brand

Harry Beckwith and I will disagree on this one (but I have a feeling it's because I'm thinking about the entrepreneur who uses direct response marketing and not the large company with advertising dollars to burn).

Do you remember what IBM stands for? Sure: International Business Machines… but the company IBM stands for MUCH more than that these days.

How about Apple: that USED to be Apple Computer but when the iPod and all the other "i" products hit the marketing, taking out the "Computer" part of the name made a lot of sense.

How about FedEx – Sure, that was Federal Express: "When it absolutely, positively has to get there overnight." That phrase MADE that company!

How about PCS?

OK… so that one is unfair: that is The Players Club of Swarthmore. They have now added Theater to the end (because some people thought they might be playing cards instead of producing stage shows) so it's either The Players Club of Swarthmore Theater OR PCSTheater (or PCSTheater.org).

For you see, PCS doesn't have the millions of dollars in advertising to build the brand the way Apple, FedEx, and IBM have done.

Small companies never do.

So while keeping a company name short and memorable is nice, sometimes it can work against you when people have NO idea what the name means!

Here's another one that I worked for: Jackson-Cross Company. In Philadelphia, PA USA, that was the name of a large commercial real estate firm. People forgot about Mr. Jackson and Mr. Cross, they just knew those of us who were successful in sales, leasing, management, appraisal – so WE were the company they thought about. Outside the region, the name meant little or nothing. But again, this firm didn't have millions to spend on institutional advertising.

So take this one lesson away – Give your company a name and then build up what the name MEANS. If the words themselves can mean something about what you do: GREAT. If not, know you have some work ahead of you!

Best,

Charlie Seymour Jr
Blogging, Podcasting, Consulting

PS: You can find me here:

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Charlie Seymour Jr is an entrepreneurial evangelist and marketing-success coach helping individuals and companies (up to $100MM) explode their success through online and direct-response marketing. He specializes in blogging, podcasting, photography, video, and Facebook applications. Visit his blog at http://bit.ly/24eYTO to learn more about his successes.

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Fallacies of Marketing

052 The Invisible Touch – What's Too Much In A Name?