It is vital that a new product captures the attention of the current generation and it is possible to do this instantaneously with the use of an effective brand name. Leading companies have observed the impact that an appropriately named product has on the market. With this in mind, they have decided to transform previous brand names with the era as they no longer suited the audience that they were aiming for.
Various products can tell you about the generation in which they were fashioned simply by their name. For example ‘Walkman’, the portable sound system; this name highlighted the new concept of the portability of the music center, it was small enough and efficient to carry around with the consumer hence the use of walk – man. This was effective in enticing the current generation and it evoked images of a new generation of sound system. However, this soon became outdated and now for the modern contempories, the use of the sound system ‘iPod’ by apple is widely spread and accepted. Like the Walkman, this name captures the new generation by combining the use of internet shorthand with ‘pod’ which suggests its compact size and modernity. Apple was successful in promoting a modern product name which appealed to its contempories and yet still promotes a quality and sophistication which is hard to beat.
There have been a number of top companies which have altered their own company name in order to suit the needs of the current trends. For example ‘Google’ were entitled ‘BackRub’ up until 1997, and ‘Nike’ was called ‘Blue Ribbon Sports’ until 1978. If they had stuck with their original names would they have been so successful? Would you rather use a search engine called Google than BackRub? Would it be as trendy to have the latest Blue Ribbon Sports trainers as compared to the latest Nikes? This shows the importance of choosing the correct name to represent either your company or the product. The audience and generation must be taken into account as this is who will be primarily promoting the concept. One name could potentially affect the popularity of your products and or company.