What's the 5th Worst Branding Mistake Businesses Make?

Their Name and Slogan Aren't Purposeful

Every year several dozen companies pay millions to place a 30-60 second ad during the Super Bowl.

Some of those ads produce big laughs. But if, one day later, you can't remember the company or the product that was featured in that ad that made you howl, that wasn't a purposeful ad.

If you want your brand to POP! out, it's got to be Purposeful, Original and Pithy. As ad genius Bill Bernbach said, "Dullness will not sell your product; neither will irrelevant brilliance."

I’m always on the lookout for shining examples of organizations and individuals who are standing out from their crowd – for all the right reasons.

I can think of no finer example than 13 year old Jack McShane who is bringing “lawn and order” to New Orleans City Park. After Hurricane Katrina flooded this formerly beautiful park, the city abandoned it. They had no funds to keep it up and personnel were too busy re-building infrastructure.

Jack said, “It bothered me that it didn’t look good. Nobody was taking care of it, so I decided I had to.”

Jack took his family’s lawn-mower out of the garage, walked across the street and got to work. People started thanking him for his efforts, so he recruited other “Mow-rons” to help out.

Their original slogan, 'The Mow-Rons are in City Park, the idiots are in City Hall,'" was intended to be edgy. After awhile, Jack decided it was inappropriate and counter-productive, so he changed it.

The result? A perfect POP! name. What does this fine young man now call his grass-roots organization? Weeding by Example.

As a result of that smile-inducing name, he's been interviewed by Katie Couric, featured on CNN, and thousands of people are contributing to his worthy cause. Now that's a purposeful brand!

Do you have recent examples of companies, causes and creations that have POP’d out for all the right reasons? Submit your nominations. If they make our POP! Hall of Fame, we'll send an autographd copy of POP! (which Edelman Sr. VP Marilynn Mobley says, "If you liked Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, you'll like Sam Horn's POP!")

What's the 4th Worst Branding Mistake Organizations Make?

They Can’t Explain Their Brand in 15 Seconds or Less

“My grandfather actually invented Cliff Notes. It was in 1952, and he was . . .
well, to make a long story short.” - Steven Wright

Remember when Andy Warhol said everyone would get 15 minutes of fame? In today’s rush-rush world, we don’t have that long to get people’s attention. We have about 15 seconds.

If you can’t quickly explain your brand in a way people get it and want it, they will move on. They are simply too busy to give us “the time of their day” unless we can quickly convince them we're worth their valuable attention.

That’s why it’s crucial to “Cliff Note” your brand's story into a concise, compelling Elevator Speech that captures interest in what you have to offer . . . in under 15 seconds.

Sound like an impossible dream? Not if you link your unfamiliar brand to something with which people are familiar and fond.

The secret is not to try to explain your brand. The more you try to explain what your brand does, the more confused potential customers will become. Instead, ask yourself, “What is my brand like . . . that my target audience already likes?’

I learned the power of this concept while in Denver for a speaking engagement with my teen-aged sons. We had a night free, so we went downstairs to the hotel concierge and asked if he had any suggestions for a fun night out.

He took one look at Tom and Andrew and said, “You’ve got to go to D & B’s.”

We were from Maui at the time and had no idea what he was talking about. We asked, “What’s D & B’s.”

He did NOT try to explain what D & B’s was. Imagine if he had said, “Well, it’s kind of like a restaurant, but it’s also a sports bar and they’ve got video games and TV’s and sometimes guys go there to watch football or play pool. But families go there too to play carnival games, kind of like an indoor amusement park.”

We would have looked at him in consternation and said, “Huh?” It’s just TMI (Too Much Information.) The longer he talked, the more baffled we would have become.

Instead, he thought about it for a moment and then smiled and said simply, “It’s like a . . . Chuck E. Cheese for adults.”

Perfect. Eight words and we knew exactly what it was and wanted to go there. By comparing D & B’s (something new) to Chuck E. Cheese (something we knew), he “told and sold” their brand in one succinct sentence. They should have put him on commission.

Do you have an elevator speech for your brand?

Remember, don’t try to explain it. Ask yourself, “What is my brand like - that these potential customers like?” If you compare your idea, company, product or service to something with which they’re familiar and fond, the light will go on in their eyes and their eyebrows will rise. That’s the way to win buy-in in 15 seconds or less.

Want to know the other 4 branding mistakes organizations make -- and how to avoid them? Keep checking this blog and I'll share them in the days ahead.

Into instant gratification? Email us at info@SamHorn.com with "8 Biggest Branding Mistakes" in the subject heading and we'll email you the entire article you can use in your organization's newsletter.

#3 Branding Mistake Organizations Make

The Third Worst Branding Mistake Organizations Make?

Their Brand Name is Hard to Pronounce

What do Google, Roomba, Boppy, Snuba and Yahoo all have in common?

They all are fun, easy-to-say-and-remember names that have made their companies millions.

What you call your business is hugely important. If people don’t immediately understand it, they’ll move on.

That’s why it’s crucial to coin a catchy brand name that stops people in their tracks and makes their eyebrows go UP.

What’s this about making people’s eyebrows go up? It is a tangible way to check the commercial viability of your brand name – anytime, anywhere, for free.

Simply tell people your name . . and watch their eyebrows. If their eyebrows knit or furrow, it’s back to the drawing board. It means they’re perplexed. And if people find your name perplexing, you’ve got a problem.

Why? People are way too busy to take the time to figure out something that’s confusing. If they don't instantly get your name, YOU won't get their business.

The Eyebrow Test is an almost infallible way to test market the appeal of your brand. When people are intrigued, their eyebrows go up. It’s a visceral almost involuntary indication of curiosity. It’s the mind’s way of saying, “Hmm, this is interesting, tell me more.”

Do people "get" your brand name the first time they hear or see it? If so, good for you.

If not, you might want to purchase a copy of POP! (which Ken Blanchard says is a "fun, lively guide to getting heard, getting results, getting remembered") at www.SamHornPOP.com, and turn to Chapters 16-18 to discover how you can coin an easy-to-pronounce-and-remember brand name that makes eyebrows and sales go UP.

How to Create a Million-Dollar Business Name and Brand

What's in a business name and brand?

Your future.

You have about 10 seconds to get people's favorable attention. If your business name or brand is unpronounceable, nonsensical, or boring . . .people will move on and you will have lost potential clients and sales.

Your goal is to produce a business name and brand that POP! - that are Purposeful,, Original, and Pithy - so people are instantly intrigued.

A compelling business name and brand can catapult your company's appeal, marketshare and revenue.

For example, two farmers in Virginia were looking for a health-conscious, low-fat alternative to traditional beef. They cross-bred a cow and a yak to produce what they laughingly call a "Frankensteer."

What to call these cattle-yak hybrids? Use one of Sam Horn's POP! Techniques called Alphabetizing to create a hybrid name. Take the word "cattle" and talk it through the Alphabet, changing the sound of the first syllable to match the related letter. Eventually, you come up with YATTLE.

Big deal, you say. You bet it's a big deal. Washington Post ran a two page article on August 11 about this new species - and now millions of people know about Yattle because these enterprising entrepreneurs used a little brainpower to come up with an attention-grabbing name that helped their pet project get noticed on a national level.

Want to corner a niche? Create a niche. And the best way to create a niche is to coin a new word. When you create a new word for your business name and brand, you have no competition because you are now one-of-a-kind. That's what generates media attention. That's what helps yor product POP! off the shelf. That's what motivates people to check out your website. That's what compels people to remember your business name and brand.

Want a few other examples? What would you call a musical based on Dr. Seuss's work? Seussical.

What do call a new form of "portable" yogurt that's designed for busy, on-the-go parents and kids? Gogurt.

What would you name a sight-seeing business in Alaska that takes tourists up in float planes? Flight-seeing.

The good news? You don't have to have a million dollar budget to come up with a million-dollar business name and brand -- you just need a little brainpower and Sam Horn's POP! Process.

The Alphabetizing technique is just one of 25 POP! Techniques entrepreneurs and organizations can use to create a business name and brand that help them stand out from the crowd. For more information about Sam Horn's POP! Process and Brand Camps, visit www.SamHornPOP.com