From: http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/1997/01/20/smallb1.html
Friday, January 17, 1997
Make names work for you
Sacramento Business Journal - by Bill "Guerrilla" Gallagher, Ph.D.
Last week we gave you the list of more than 100 guerrilla sales and marketing tools. Remember more than half of them will not cost you anything. This week let's see how they work. Specifically, we'll talk about the Critical Identity Statement portrayed in the company name.
I have a client named Luigi who owns a European-style bakery and a cafeteria-style cafe. The bakery is doing fine. His lunch business is great. He now wants to expand his dinner business. Is Cafe Luigi a good name for a dinner restaurant? No. Do we ever go to a bakery for dinner? No.
His desire to get more dinner customers requires him to shift his Critical Identity Statement, his business name. As I've said in earlier columns, Jiffy Lube is a great name because it tells me exactly what they do, it implies a bargain, and it spells out a benefit to me, quick!
What Critical Identity Statement will give my client all this?
Simple answers are often the best: "Luigi's." To my ear, that sounds like a European place. Loyal customers all know the name. New dinner customers won't be put off by the limiting words "bakery" and "cafe." Now chef Luigi can have any food business he wants, provided it's European style.
Luigi's can profit by accentuating his European identity. Here in North America we still admire Europe a lot. European spas, European cosmetics, and European food all get our attention.
Do you know that Haagen-D...zs ice cream has nothing but its odd name (not found in any recognizable European language) to imply that it's European? Not only that, it's made in New Jersey.
If "Der Wienerschnitzel" really were German, it would be "Das Wienerschnitzel," and Wienerschnitzel has absolutely nothing to do with hot dogs! A Wienerschnitzel is a breaded veal cutlet prepared in the Vienna style.
Names are funny. After World War II, another client's father started an office furniture business in Manhattan. He named his firm Consumer-Ennis. "Ennis" in the 1940s, was used by many firms in the same way "Rama" (Furniture-Rama) was used in the 1960s and "Land" (Furniture-Land) in the 1980s. The 1990s equivalent appears to be " '' Stuff" or " 'R' Us" (Furniture '' Stuff or, maybe, Furniture 'R' Us?)
We changed the store's name to The Office Furniture Outlet. The slogan, colors, logo and everything else followed that name change. Business is up 400 percent! (Yes, they kept a Consumer-Ennis ad in the yellow pages for a while.)
Check out your Critical Identity Statement. Is it clear to all of us exactly what you do?
Bill Gallagher is head of Guerrilla Sales & Marketing in Diamond Springs and co-author of "Guerrilla Selling." For more information on the topics and ideas in this column, call (800) 800-8086 or send e-mail to bguerrilla@aol.com.
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Bill Gallagher, Ph.D.
Over 500,000 business and salespeople have invested in Bill "Guerrilla" Gallagher's Guerrilla Selling: (Unconventional Weapons & Tactics for Increasing Your Sales) because they are serious about doing a lot more business with less hassle and frustration.
Since 1983, Bill Gallagher, Ph.D., has been in demand as one of the nation's leading authorities on sales, marketing and management, conducting thousands of training seminars and workshops throughout North America and Abroad. His informative commentary has been featured in such prestigious publications as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Money and Time magazines. In addition, Bill has appeared on a host of national radio and television shows, including Good Morning America, Today, CNN Headline News, and The CBS Evening News.
Bill's reputation for innovation and quality has earned him repeat engagements with over half the companies featured in the best seller In Search of Excellence. Some of his many satisfied clients include: American Express, Bank of America, Dean Witter Reynolds, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Levi-Strauss, Nortel, National Association of Realtors, Stanford University, and Tyson Foods, Inc. Co-author in the legendary Guerrilla Business series and lead author of Guerrilla Selling, Bill has also received honors for excellence in business training from the governments of Israel, Singapore, the Netherlands, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Who is Bill "Guerrilla" Gallagher? Quite possibly the most entertaining and knowledgeable authority on sales, marketing, and the mysteries of the human mind available today. His recommendations are new, fresh, and guaranteed to produce spectacular results for your business!
Since 1983, Bill Gallagher, Ph.D., has been in demand as one of the nation's leading authorities on sales, marketing and management, conducting thousands of training seminars and workshops throughout North America and Abroad. His informative commentary has been featured in such prestigious publications as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Money and Time magazines. In addition, Bill has appeared on a host of national radio and television shows, including Good Morning America, Today, CNN Headline News, and The CBS Evening News.
Bill's reputation for innovation and quality has earned him repeat engagements with over half the companies featured in the best seller In Search of Excellence. Some of his many satisfied clients include: American Express, Bank of America, Dean Witter Reynolds, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Levi-Strauss, Nortel, National Association of Realtors, Stanford University, and Tyson Foods, Inc. Co-author in the legendary Guerrilla Business series and lead author of Guerrilla Selling, Bill has also received honors for excellence in business training from the governments of Israel, Singapore, the Netherlands, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Who is Bill "Guerrilla" Gallagher? Quite possibly the most entertaining and knowledgeable authority on sales, marketing, and the mysteries of the human mind available today. His recommendations are new, fresh, and guaranteed to produce spectacular results for your business!
Friday, April 25, 2008
Make names work for you
Posted by Sara Gallagher at 10:10 PM
