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Rules to break As both a fan of your magazine and a branding expert, I pay particularly close attention to those articles that impact naming trends and branding issues. I was therefore astounded to read Chekitan S. Dev's "No-brainer Cyber Branding" article (August 8, 2000). While eight of Dev's rules are sound advice, two of his rules lead marketers down a branding road that will end in anonymity! Rule 1: "Tell the Customer What you Do" is off-base in exalting the generic dot.com names as compelling brand names. Generic named companies, such as wine.com and pets.com do not make great brand names for a host of reasons: 1) We are a country enraptured with brands - We proudly display the logos of Prada, Skechers, and Nike to announce to the world that we identify with their brand values. How can generic.com ever create an ownable personality that creates an emotional bond with its customers? 2) We have learned from a very young age that generics are always inferior - Would you rather have a cookie or an Oreo? 3) Generics are more susceptible than brand names to subterfuge - In other words, competitors can easily surround a generic.com with similar sounding and spelling names with very little recourse. There is ebeauty.com, ibeauty.com and of course, the notorious example of etoys.com claiming infringement from etoy.com. Another rule hawking poor advice is Rule 9: "Be sure it is available" (referring to the domain address). It is true that branding is perhaps cheaper and easier if the domain name is readily available, however, many successful businesses have been built upon purchased domains from MVP.com to gooey.com. If a potential domain name is taken, the negotiation dance begins. While we have been inundated with stories of domain names selling for astronomical prices, the right negotiator can secure your ideal domain name at the right price vs. forcing you back to the drawing board. If the true goal of branding is to build loyalty, create an emotional bond, increase word of mouth advertising, and command market share, then marketers deserve to know the correct rules of the road. by Elizabeth J. Goodgold |
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