Chapter 9: Evaluating Brand Names

Brand names are incredibly important and at times can allow a product to be sold at three or four times its regular price. This then explains why brand names need to pass a certain checklist of criteria in order to maximize effectiveness. This check list is as follows: easy to say, easy to spell, easy to read, and easy to remember. The brand should also fit the product by: fitting the target market, fitting the product’s benefits, fitting the customer culture, and fitting legal requirements. In this blog, I will analyze three brand names and determine if they complete the checklist.

The first brand I will analyze is Pizza Hut (http://www.pizzahut.com/). This name is very easy to say and spell and its comprised of two simple words so it’s easy to read. It’s also very easy to remember because of how well this brand fits the product. The name fits the target market perfectly (seeing as this market is pizza wanting citizens) and it fits the benefits of the product as well as the culture of the customers. Finally it is very original and complies with legal requirements.

My second brand is Play Station (http://www.playstation.com/), a second very successful brand. Similar to Pizza Hit, it’s comprised of very simple basic words so not only is it easy to say and spell, but also easy to read and remember. It also fits the target market, which is someone seeking to relax and play video games, and it fits the product benefits perfectly. The culture is also nailed down and it fulfills all legal requirements.

My final brand is Google (http://www.google.com/). This is slightly different from the above because its ability to obey the criteria isn’t as clear. Google is easy to say, but not nearly as easy to spell if you haven’t heard of the brand before. However, since Google is so ubiquitous with today’s culture, it is easy to spell as well as easy to read and remember. Although the target market really depends on which Google product you are focusing on, no matter what it really doesn’t fit the target market. I mean, what really is Google anyway? It’s similar to Apple in this sense because Apple (although hugely popular and successful) doesn’t really fit with the target market or, like Google, doesn’t really fit the product’s benefits or the customer culture. Both Apple and Google don’t really fulfill these rules, but at the same time they have really established the fact that these criteria do in fact apply to their brand. Finally, Google does fit legal requirements because there isn’t really any other word like it.