Nanette
May 18, 2020
I always smile and chuckle when I see a great name. Whether that’s for a company, a product . . . or a horse. There’s something about a creative name that makes you more memorable in all your marketing efforts. When you can effectively tie that moniker to a well-known concept, person, verb, challenge or other item that’s top of mind, you stand out in ways others can’t.
Two things I tend to continue to keep an eye on that are now mostly in my rearview mirror are Rochester, New York and racehorses.
Even horse names provide marketing ideas
These are Horseain Bolt’s Jockey Colors. Sometimes, you can find creative ideas in the strangest places. Get outside your industry to explore great names for your company or products.While scanning a daily email I get about Thoroughbred standouts across the country, I laughed out loud when I saw the name Horseain Bolt. Of course, I had to look him up.
It turns out, he’s a pretty good racehorse, living up to his humorous name. As a 4-year-old gelding from Ireland, he’s won more than $166,000 in stakes races this season. Not bad for any horse these days, particularly one that hopped on an airplane to race in Hong Kong on January 11th, where he placed third.
For those who didn’t catch the allusion, Usain Bolt is often referred to as the greatest sprinter of all time. He’s a man and probably not as fast as a horse, but quicker than just about everyone he’s competed against. This includes being the world record holder in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4 X 100 relay. He’s an eight-time Olympic gold medalist from Jamaica who’s now 33 and retired from the sport. Then he became an entrepreneur. Did you know he’s the cofounder of Bolt Mobility, the scooter company?
Anyway, I found the horse name hysterical and the business tie-in with the company he founded in 2018 relevant. Bolt’s a good name for his scooters, which can reach 30 mph, for so many reasons.
Think more about your message
Sure, it’s easy to just go generic or me & associates with products, services, offerings or the name you choose for your company. Taking some extra time to come up with something that’s memorable, though, will likely save you a lot in marketing costs. This applies to your positioning statement too.
Stay away from terms everyone else is using. Do you roll your eyes when you see positioning statements or company claims in promotional material that include the words quality, price, and customer-service? I know I do. Everyone claims this. Few deliver on these promises.
Instead, think about how what you offer affects the quality of life of your consumer. If you can get into their heads with a message that shows you can relate to what they’re facing, you’ll gain a lot more interest than when you choose words that brag about you.
Granted, perfect names aren’t easy to come up with. Sometimes you go with good enough for expediency sake and work around it. What that means, though, is you need to be that much cleverer with the words you choose for your marketing messages.
The key is to make what you say about your company memorable. That means being different. It also means crafting copy that gets your prospects nodding, smiling and feeling understood when they see what you have to say. Need help with this? Give me a call or shoot me an email.
