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What’s in a name?
There it was, hanging innocently enough on the wall, offering me a fresh paper towel to dry my hands. But it was the little name plaque on the front that caught my eye: “Advantage Marketing Associates”. It wasn’t until I read the tiny, tiny type underneath that I found out they sell janitorial supplies.
Really?
Realizing that this wasn’t likely a new venue for selling advertising space, I wondered what they thought might be wrong with, say, “Advantage Janitorial Supplies.” Isn’t that more clear and direct? Why did their company name strike such a dissonant chord with me?
Not long ago, we (as a practice) struggled with how we would position ourselves—summing up what we do in just a few words—when we went to market.
We’re no longer just a “graphic design studio” (as we might have happily called ourselves 30 years ago), because we offer much more in the way of services, and bring a much wider and deeper perspective to our—and our clients’—work.
But what could we call ourselves so that people would get it? “Communications firm” says it, but couldn’t that also be applied to a telecommunications provider?
In our case, explaining “who” came along with some of the “what”: we offer brand-focused strategy, design and digital media.
But back to the paper towel. Nothing wrong with, as the Army used to say, trying to be all that you can be—nothing, of course, except for the risk that in reaching so broadly, you lose focus… and fail to break through the clutter.
First impressions matter; that’s why we understand the urge to tell us not only what you do, but how you do it (better), what makes you stand out from the crowd, and why we should care—right off the bat. But if your name needs serious explaining, you could end up never getting the chance to make that explanation.
So “Advantage Marketing Associates”: as a distributor of many products to many markets, it makes a little more sense, but it sure took a while after the initial “doesn’t compute” moment to think through what they might be going for.
Should it have? Is it just me?
What do you want a name to tell you?
And what doesn’t a name need to say?
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