BRANDING BEGINS WITH A NAME!

This article by U NARAYANADAS on branding in the pharmaceutical industry, the second in a series of four appeared in Express Pharma Pulse of December 23, 2004 

A ‘Brand’ is considered to be a mixture of attributes some tangible, others intangible. All these attributes are condensed into and expressed in a trademark that differentiates it from others and is expected to create value and influence (buying) behaviour.

The perceived value of a brand depends on the viewer’s perspective: for the marketer a promise; for the consumer the delivery of that promise; for the business the security of earning profits; legally an intellectual property.

BRANDING BEGINS WITH A NAME!

The antecedents of branding may be traced to the days when cattle used to be tattooed with a mark to indicate their ownership. The objectives of modern branding are partly the same. A ‘Brand’ is considered to be a mixture of attributes some tangible, others intangible. All these attributes are condensed into and expressed in a trademark that differentiates it from others and is expected to create value and influence (buying) behaviour.

The perceived value of a brand depends on the viewer’s perspective: for the marketer a promise; for the consumer the delivery of that promise; for the business the security of earning profits; legally an intellectual property.

Additionally, brands aid customers to choose from a wide variety. Naming brands that pack so much value into them is a difficult exercise. It is not just coining a name but encrypting a concept that would unravel when the name is used. The famous positioning guru Jack Trout called one of his books ‘Get the Name Right’, but, essentially, it deals with encrypting a concept. Randall S Rozin, Global Manager of Branding at Dow Corning and an editorial board member of Journal of Brand Management, says that a good (brand) name is better than riches. In an instructive article on the dos and don’ts of creating names, he lists the interesting example of Chevrolet that wanted to name one of their cars Nova till someone pointed out that it means “Does not go” in Spanish. Similarly when Coca-Cola sought to name a citrus drink Urge in Sweden (Surge in other countries), it ran into legal problems as people with the same surname objected to it.

These examples may seem exotic, as Indian brand names may not encounter such problems at the moment. This may be so because we do not have any global brands (exceptions are few and far between). As the Indian industry looks towards wider horizons, hopefully, we shall soon create global brands. There is an entry in Drug Index listing Pamela as a brand of paracetamol and racemethionine. Let us hope that a Ms Pamela will not take umbrage at her name being bandied about associating it with an antipyretic.

THE WORKS BEHIND THE WORDS!

Carmaker Daimler exhibited the prototype of a new car to some of its dealers. One of them, an enterprising chap, offered to sell a third of the produce if the car was named after his daughter Mercedes. Thus was born the brand name for the most coveted automobile - Mercedes.

Here is a list of amusing and (maybe) instructive stories behind coining some other popular brand names. (See box.)

NAMING CATEGORIES

There are three broad categories into which brand names may be classified:

DESCRIPTIVE NAME: A name, which describes a product or service for which it is intended.

For eg: Abdec, Cetzine, Ostocalcium.

ASSOCIATIVE NAME: A name, which indicates a benefit or aspect of a product by association of an original or striking idea.

For e.g.: Acibloc, Mucolite.

FREESTANDING NAME: A name, which has no link with the product but has a meaning of its own.

For e.g.: A M P M, 11 P M.

The following may also be considered:

ABSTRACT NAME: A name that is entirely created and has no meaning of its own. Abstract names may also be classified as a sub-set of freestanding names as they too do not have any link to the product or service.

For e.g.: Avil, Zinetac.

COINED NAME: Any name that has been in some way created; such a name may be descriptive, associative or freestanding.

For e.g.: Allenburys, Kokkos (See below)

ACRONYM NAME: A name that has been coined by using an acronym of a larger unwieldy name.

For e.g.: Amul, Noida.

We find a majority of Indian pharma brand names falling in the descriptive category and few in the associative category. The two examples given above under the freestanding category do not strictly conform to the definition as they indicate the two times in the one case and late night dosing in the other. And it was difficult to find names under the other categories on a cursory examination of Drug Index. Occasionally, we find (mostly generic companies) prefixing or suffixing all their brands with a part (or full) of their corporate name.

This may be because we would like to play safe by giving the reluctant doctor a cue to remember our product, which limits our freedom to be creative. As we move into the next epoch, which does not permit copycats we might see more creativity in coining names that encrypt concepts.

THE STORY OF A GREEK SOLUTION

The writer was heading a marketing team that sought to introduce an amoxycillin and cloxacillin combination brand several years ago. The market was already choc-a-block with dozens of similar brand; some of them big names. The team’s objective was to launch its brand-successfully - into the crowded market. How does one do it without the doctor brushing it aside with: ‘Oh! Not another? I have enough of them’. With that the interview peters out and the field staff will not just lose morale but all interest in the product.

The team had many sittings to thrash out the issue. In one of the sittings the team went through the attributes of the product (which was not yet a brand) and decided to focus on its gram-positive spectrum, especially its ability to combat staphylococcal infections. The team tried the use of computer software that coined hundreds of names based on specified parameters. None of them was satisfactory.

An idea germinated when someone pointed out in one of the meetings, that the word staphylococcus emerged from two Greek words, staph meaning bunch and kokkos meaning grape. In fact, the microscopic picture of staphylococcus looks like a bunch of grapes. The explanation seemed to deliver a name. A concept began to take shape. The team decided that it would tell the doctor about shapes and Greeks. And, of course, solutions to his problems. (Else what would be the point in meeting him?) The interview would not be killed. On the other hand it would kindle the doctor’s interest. The company’s medical representatives were instructed to tell the doctor about ‘A Greek Solution for Coccal Infections’. The first page of the Visual Aid carried only the picture of a bunch of grapes and the caption: ‘A Greek Solution for Coccal Infections’. The brand was christened Kokkos. Doctors who would normally rush medical representatives through their detailing gave the story an interested hearing, were amused with its details and asked several questions or entered into animated discussions. Needless to say that Kokkos was a runaway success as a brand and far exceeded the company’s marketing objectives during the year of its launch. There were other components in the marketing of this brand and may be discussed elsewhere on occasion.