Lessons in Branding From Anti Monkey Butt Powder

A few weeks ago I posted a Twitter Poll (Follow me @NameFlash) to gather opinions on Anti Monkey Butt Powder…Good Name or Bad Name? The results indicated that about 70% of people thought Anti Monkey Butt Powder was a bad name.

However, the real learning came from the comments I received about the post. The people who thought it was a bad name were making fun of the name and talking about how they would never buy such a product. The people who thought it was a good name were people who suffered from what might be described as a “chafed butt” due to extended horseback riding, motorcycle riding, or truck driving. Some of the people who responders were actual consumers of the product and were very defensive about the name—they thought it was perfect!

So what is the lesson on branding? I think the owners of Anti Monkey Butt Powder did a terrific job of connecting with their target market—the problem of having a “chafed butt” is not one that everyone has, but if you do have it, you understand what Anti Monkey Butt Powder is designed to do. If you don’t have this problem, then it really doesn’t matter what you think about the name, because you will never buy this product.

I chose Anti Monkey Butt Powder for the Good Name Bad Name poll because I thought it was a fascinating name, and when the passionate responses came in from people who identified with the product, I came to love the name even more!