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How Did Santa Claus Indiana Get Its Name?
Spencer County Visitors Bureau
Full disclosure. I’ve been to Santa Claus Indiana, a small town of about 2600 people. It is a big deal if you are a fan of Christmas. And even though I am a professional name developer, I did not know the origin of its name.
Seems obvious, right?
Actually, nobody really knows.
Here is the background. When the town was established in the 1850’s it was first known as Santa Fee. However, the town could not get a post office because it was believed that Santa Fee was too close to an existing town in Indiana, Santa Fe.
There are two theories about how the Santa Claus name was chosen. One theory is that the person who completed the name change application for the post office just wrote Santa Clause as a joke on the naming document. The other theory is that during a Christmas Eve discussion with the public about the name change, the wind blew open the door and a young child shouted “Santa Claus!”.
If I had to choose between a prankster bureaucrat and a small child experiencing the magic of Christmas, I’d side with the small child 10 out of 10 times.
Merry Christmas everybody!
P.S. If you write a letter to Santa and send it to the post office at Santa Claus, Indiana, local residents will write back (the town gets over 20,000 letters to Santa each year)!
HT Morning Brew
Science Says Odd Spelling Can Be Bad Branding
Startups have a bad habit of using intentionally misspelled names. This is not a new trend, but the fact that it continues shows their ignorance of the science of branding. Crunchbase looked at names of recently founded startups and showed that founders are still using offbeat spelling in their company names (https://news.crunchbase.com/startups/offbeat-misspelled-names-ai-skild-lyft/).
A 2023 study at The Ohio State University (https://news.osu.edu/unconventional-spellings-are-a-badd-choyce-for-brand-names/) showed that deliberate misspelling of a brand name was almost always a bad idea. One example used the name Clear and Klear for a seltzer, and Clear was overwhelmingly preferred. Researchers concluded that “Results showed that participants thought the unconventional spelling was a gimmick or marketing tactic designed to make the brand seem cool or trendy. They also thought it made the brand seem less sincere – less honest, down-to-earth and wholesome.”
There were exceptions though. The researchers found that deliberately misspelling words can work in some limited cases, such as when the reason for selecting the name is seen as sincere, or when consumers are seeking a memorable experience. In one study, the researchers found that a bar called “Xtra Chilld Lounge” did appeal to consumers looking for a fun, memorable evening.
In my experience, when you use intentionally misspelled names, you create a “mind puzzle” with your branding. Consumer reaction to the mind puzzle ranges from “rejection to acceptance to confusion.” If your misspelling is seen as trivial (such as Klear versus Clear), then the consumers seem to reject it. If your misspelling is clever (but not confusing), the customer will often spend time trying to figure out why the name was chosen, which can lead to higher recall of the name later and positive attributions to the product. The consumer might enjoy the mind puzzle if they don’t have to work too hard to get your point. When consumers solve the puzzle, they will then have a sense of accomplishment because they were able to figure it out. However, when you go too far, consumers may just get frustrated and confused and move on. Finding the sweet spot of intentional misspelling is not easy!
The lesson here is that intentional misspelling is not necessarily a good or a bad thing, but what is important is how the target customer relates to the name and the product itself. Misspelling for the sake of misspelling (or domain acquisition) can be bad, but if the name makes the target customer curious about a product and willing to investigate it further, then misspelling can be good.
Selective Use of Research
Many years ago, the prevailing position was that light to moderate drinking, especially wine, provided a wide range of health benefits. Recent research has shown that any amount of drinking is bad for you. Which research do you believe?
As reported in Wine Spectator, a new study sought to resolve that conundrum. The study was published in JAMA (August 12) and was conducted by researchers based at Harvard and other institutions. It examined data from over 135,000 current drinkers over the age of 60 in the U.K. The findings indicated that healthy adults from wealthier areas suffered no additional health risks from moderate drinking and those who drink wine with food even enjoyed better health. However, for those adults with existing health problems from poorer areas, the researchers found that any alcohol posed serious health risks.
I’m sure the fact that healthy adults who live in wealthier areas have better health outcomes than unhealthy adults who live in poorer areas is not much of a surprise. Wealthy individuals have the money and resources to eat a better diet and generally have better access to healthcare.
And call me skeptical, but the highlighting of “even better health outcomes for those who drink wine with food” is not surprising in an article from Wine Spectator.
Wine Spectator walks a fine line and does not say that drinking is good for you. But they strongly imply that it isn’t bad for you either. I think there is some selective use of data in their reporting!
C4 Versus 4C – Branding Too Close For Comfort?
My local BJ’s brochure advertised sales on these drink products:
I did a double take – were these the same brand or owned by the same company? Very similar names and colors.
Turns out they are different products owned by different companies. I investigated the trademark status of these names and found that they both are registered trademarks:
Both offer very similar products in the drink category (C4 has a powdered drink mix). They are registered in different International Classes, but the similarity of the marks is what is important and from a trademark standpoint C4 and 4C would be considered to be very similar.
I’m not questioning the trademark office, but I am questioning the management of C4. When they filed, they had to be aware of 4C (check the registration dates above). Why would you launch a product with a nearly identical name/branding to a competitor?
Dad Jokes
Photo Credit: https://babylonbee.com/news/dad-lands-dream-job-at-brewery-coming-up-with-puns-for-naming-beers
We all have heard “Dad Jokes.” Heck, I’ve been known to throw out a few when my daughters were younger, and I thoroughly enjoyed their eye rolls when I delivered the punchline.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a Dad Joke as “a wholesome joke of the type said to be told by fathers with a punchline that is often an obvious or predictable pun or play on words and usually judged to be endearingly corny or unfunny.”
If you are good at Dad Jokes, then you might be highly qualified to name craft beers. In fact, that is how Mark Carson got his job as “Chief Naming Officer” at High West Beer, a craft brewery in Austin Texas. Mark draws on his years of dad-joke-making to christen each beverage with a creative, catchy, punny moniker.
Here are some of the names Mark has developed:
- Pursuit Of Hoppiness
- Wheat the People
- Lager? I Barely Knew Her
- Malter White
- Hefeweizenburg
- Brews Almighty
- Ale’s Well That Ends Well
- On The Road A-Guinness (not to be confused with his other stroke of genius Smart Alek Guinness)
- Hopportunity Knocks
- What You Talkin Stout Willis
- Beauty And The Yeast
- Brewed Awakening
- Hop To Conclusions
- Jagged Little Pilsner
Mark named over two hundred new beers in his first week on the job including ‘It Takes Brew To Tango’ and ‘Hop-shank Redemption.’ Like a good Dad Joke teller, he never runs out of names!
A “reverse euphemism?”
You’ve heard of a euphemism (a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant). Think downsized instead of fired. A correctional facility instead of a jail. Light bladder leakage instead of incontinence.
Well, here is a case where an organization is giving something a name that is MORE offensive in order to accomplish a worthy goal.
The Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board unanimously adopted a new term, “menstrual discharge collection devices” (MDCDs), to replace “feminine hygiene products,” aiming to clarify the essential nature of these items and end the discriminatory “tampon tax.”
The term change aims to eliminate debates in male-dominated legislatures regarding the necessity of taxing menstrual products and prevents arguments about comparable products for men.
Despite some initial resistance, the term “MDCDs” has gained acceptance, with Kentucky and Indiana already introducing bills using the new terminology, following the example of Texas and other states that have ended the tampon tax since 2016.
Applause for this creative use of naming!
The “Same But Different” Naming Strategy Strikes Again
Jeep Exploits This Strategy To Make Its Plug-In Hybrid More Accessible
Last month I wrote a full debrief of the “Same But Different” naming strategy that McDonaldsTM is using with its CosMc’s beverage-focused chain. https://nameflash.com/2024/01/the-brilliance-of-same-but-different-as-a-naming-strategy/ I provided the science behind use of this strategy (and it is plentiful), but the TL; DR summary is familiarity breeds comfort when it comes to names of new ventures.
Recently JeepTM used the “Same But Different” strategy to launch its plug-in hybrid line “4 X e.” Even the clever logo design reinforces the plug-in aspect.
What Jeep is leveraging is decades of “4 X 4” communication. The public is so very comfortable with “4 X 4” as a moniker that putting a slight twist to it causes some people to notice the change. The replacement of the second “4” with “e” is a way to leverage that level of comfort into plug-in hybrids.
Even though I identified the “Same But Different” naming strategy in action, I am not a fan of its application here. “4 X 4” communicates a very specific quality of the vehicle. “4 X 4” indicates a system in which a vehicle’s engine powers all 4 wheels evenly with the end benefit of being able to get traction in messy situations like snow or off-road. “4 X e” twists that into something different.
Are these new Jeeps no longer 4 X 4? Have they reduced the effectiveness of the “4 X 4” capability of the plug-in hybrid Jeep? In other words, are “4 X e” vehicles less capable than regular Jeeps? If that creeps into the minds of consumers, this innovation is doomed!
The Brilliance of “Same But Different” As A Naming Strategy
How McDonald’s Is Using This Strategy To Appeal To A Competitor’s Customers
Did you know that if your name is Dennis, you are significantly more likely to choose dentistry as a career?
While “Dennis the Dentist” might sound funny to you, there was a study done on the role of someone’s name on their career choice. In Why Susie Sells Seashells by the Seashore: Implicit Egotism and Major Life Decisions Pelham, Mirenberg and Jones studied the role that people’s thoughts and feelings about themselves play in their important day-to-day decisions and behaviors. They concluded that because most people possess positive associations about themselves, most people prefer things that are connected to the self (e.g., the letters in one’s name).
The study on career choice examined the first names of Jerry, Dennis, and Walter which respectively ranked 39th, 40th, and 41st in frequency for male first names. A nationwide search focusing on each of these specific first names revealed 482 dentists named Dennis, 257 dentists named Walter, and 270 dentists named Jerry. Therefore, people named Dennis are significantly more likely than people named Jerry or Walter to work as dentists, which suggests that people named Dennis do, in fact, gravitate toward dentistry.
As another example, the researchers examined the relationship of someone’s first name and the city in which they live. Believe it or not, there are a disproportionate number of men named Jack living in Jacksonville and Phil living in Philadelphia. There are a disproportionate number of women named Mildred living in Milwaukee, as well as Virginias living in Virginia Beach. While it is possible that people named Jack tend to settle in Jacksonville, the authors suggest that new parents might be more open to those names that are consistent with their environment. The study was replicated in Canada and found that, like their American counterparts, Canadian residents tended to reside in places that resembled their surnames.
“Familiarity breeds contempt” is a quote from one of Aesop’s fables. It seems that in the case of brand names, however, familiarity breeds comfort. In the real world, people named Paul prefer Pepsi while those named Carol prefer Coke. Psychologists call this the Name-Letter Effect, and it is a well-studied phenomenon first identified by Jozef Nuttin. The Coke/Pepsi effect was shown to be especially relevant when respondents were thirsty in a study by C. Miguel Brendl et al. Some psychologists attribute this effect to “Implicit Egotism.” Given the numerous scientific studies that back this theory, it is hard to argue with their conclusions.
This week McDonald’s opened CosMc’s, a beverage-focused chain, in a suburb of Chicago (https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2023/12/08/mcdonalds-cosmcs-beverage-chain-starbucks/). This article claims that the competitor McDonald’s is attacking is Starbucks, and to a certain extent that appears to be true. But a more likely scenario is McDonald’s has Sonic in its sights. Sonic is the #11 Fast-Food Chain in America and growing rapidly.
This is where McDonald’s is using the “Same But Different” naming strategy. CosMc’s is about as close to Sonic as you can get from a trademark infringement standpoint. The product lineup at CosMc’s is very similar to the beverage focus of Sonic. And the menu items that aren’t beverages are very snackable tasty treats, like Sonic.
So where does the “…But Different” come into play? McDonald’s is fortunate to have an incredible backstory with CosMc, an orange alien introduced in the 1980’s (https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-cosmc-obscure-mcdonalds-alien-mascot-new-spinoff-chain-2023-7). The name also leverages the “Mc” which is the anchor for everything McDonald’s. Finally, CosMc’s extends the “happy place” feeling of McDonald’s even further. Just look at this “mission statement” from the CosMc.com website:
At CosMc’s, you’ll find exactly what you need to take you to your happy place. And you’ll feel rejuvenated by more than just a drink. We know that everyday life can weigh us down.
So we’re on a mission to lift humans up with every sip.
As I’ve often said, when you see brilliance in naming, you have to call it out. Well played McDonald’s!
Five Steps To Develop Your Personal Brand
Personal Branding Is Not Just For Influencers — You Need It Too!
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com
I know, not another article on personal branding!
Here is a different way to think about it. “Personal Branding” is just a shortcut description of the process of figuring out who you are, what you stand for, how you interact with others, and where you are going in the future. I think everyone would agree that those are critically important things to understand and communicate. And that is what personal branding can do for you!
Personal branding is essential for leaders who want to be successful in their business efforts. Establishing a clear, concise, and compelling personal brand can enhance your trust and credibility, which can help in raising money or attracting public interest in your business. A strong personal brand can enable you to stand out from the crowd and establish yourself as an expert in your community. Finally, having a strong personal brand can lead to superior networking possibilities.
Building a personal brand may seem challenging, but it is actually a very simple process. This process mirrors the one I would use to develop a brand strategy when I was working at a top consumer products company. Here is the 5-step process for developing a personal brand:
- Identify your most important target audience.
- Define your role in your area of expertise.
- Communicate your meaningful point of difference.
- Provide the most important reason why one should believe this point of difference.
- Express your brand personality.
Let’s cover each step of the process in detail. Then I’ll show you how to put it together in a Personal Brand Positioning Statement that can be a touchstone for how to present yourself to the world.
TARGET AUDIENCE
While it is true that your personal brand will be exposed to everyone, you should not consider “everyone” to be your Target Audience. An effective leader will tailor his/her brand to the Target Audience that is most relevant.
Seth Godin is a marketing genius, and his book This Is Marketing contains an entire chapter dedicated to finding “The Smallest Viable Market” for your business, product, or service. Seth advocates starting small. Here are some relevant quotes from Chapter 4 of his book:
· “The relentless pursuit of mass will make you boring, because mass means average, it means the center of the curve, it requires you to offend no-one and satisfy everyone.”
· “Instead of trying to reach everyone,” he says, “we should seek to reach the smallest viable audience and delight them so thoughtfully and fully that they tell others.”
· “‘It’s not for you’ shows the ability to respect someone enough that you’re not going to waste their time, pander to them, or insist that they change their beliefs. It shows respect for those you seek to serve, to say to them, ‘I made this for you. Not for the other folks, but for you.’”
Consider the most relevant niche market for your personal brand and don’t be afraid to start small!
Here is an example. A few years ago, I hired a handyman to install a new garage door opener. He did a fantastic job. I was so impressed by his dedication to the quality of his work that I tried to get him to help me with some other projects. And even though these projects were well within his skillset he told me no, that he only did garage door openers. He said that focusing on garage door openers was enough to keep him busy, and because that was all he did he could delve into the intricacies of different manufacturers and models, to enable him to install all types of openers with ease. He truly was an expert in this niche, and I have recommended him to others who need to have a garage door opener installed. But don’t ask him to do anything else!
ROLE & AREA OF EXPERTISE
What do you call yourself? Are you a consultant? Are you a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer? Are you an expert in a specific field? Answer the question: What do you do?
Where do you operate? Consider geography if geography is important (e.g., a local plumber). Consider the scope of your operations (e.g., if you own a limousine are you in the transportation business or are you in the wedding party business or the bachelor party or prom business?).
The goal is to be able to communicate what you do in your area of expertise with just a few words. It could be as simple as “I’m a CPA who specializes in small business taxes.”
MEANINGFUL POINT OF DIFFERENCE
What is your unique “special sauce” that you, and only you, provide. Your Point of Difference should be the most compelling and motivating benefit that you can own in the hearts and minds of your Target Audience.
The word own is bolded and italicized because that is critically important. To establish a strong positioning in the marketplace, you must have a compelling and motivating benefit that you can own.
Here is a 3-step process to identify your Point of Difference:
Identify aspects of your product or service that your competitors cannot imitate. Put a star beside anything that cannot be easily duplicated, reproduced, or copied.
Decide what emotional need is being specifically met by your product or service. Think about this from the perspective of your Target Audience and add it to your list.
Answer the question your customers are asking: “What’s in it for me?” Make it to the point and state it as a benefit to the customer. Such as:
- Target: “Expect more. Pay less.”
- U.S. Peace Corp: “The toughest job you’ll ever love.”
- M&M’s: “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.”
- FedEx: “When your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight.”
Your Point of Difference should be so clear that it stands out in a field of competing voices. For example, if my water heater dies, I’m calling “Mr. Water Heater” who offers “same day service.”
REASON WHY
Tell me why I should believe the meaningful Point of Difference. Provide evidence to support your claim. You could offer proof (over 1000 satisfied clients) or endorsement (recommended by Good Housekeeping or Angi) or expertise (only Bill Smith has served in both the House of Representatives and the Senate) or explanation (I’ve worked with disadvantaged youth since 1995 and have personally ensured that more than 100 have graduated from college) or even reviews (cite comments from people who have worked with you in the past).
BRAND PERSONALITY
Personality is all about how you will interact with your Target Audience. Personality humanizes your brand in the eyes of your Target Audience.
The traditional way to develop your Brand Personality is to describe your brand as a person. In other words, if you walked into the room, how would someone describe you? Is this the way you wish to be perceived? If not, consider how you might change your personality.
For example, in the comparison between Apple and Microsoft, Apple would be a young, hip, creative type and Microsoft would be an older, mature professional type. In fact, this difference was visualized in the famous “Mac versus PC” ads (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eEG5LVXdKo).
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Once you have done the work on each component, you should put them together in a Personal Brand Positioning Statement. Here is how I would do it:
To (TARGET AUDIENCE), I am a (ROLE & AREA OF EXPERTISE) that (MEANINGFUL POINT OF DIFFERENCE) because (REASON WHY). My brand personality is (BRAND PERSONALITY).
As an example, here is a Brand Positioning Statement for a small business CPA:
To owners of small businesses (under $1 million in sales), I am a CPA/tax preparer who is uniquely qualified to assist small businesses in tax preparation because I have 25+ years of experience in small business tax preparation and have a long list of satisfied clients. My brand personality is competence as evidenced by being intelligent and highly skilled, reliable in delivering results on time and within budget, and hard working (I work until the client is happy).
FINAL THOUGHTS
Personal Branding is an essential tool for business professionals to use to communicate who you are, what you stand for, how you interact with others, and where you are going in the future. A clear, concise, and compelling personal brand can supercharge your career, lead to immense personal growth, and maximize the impact you have in your areas of influence.
Name It So Google Finds It
A lot of new businesses have jumped on the “Name It So Google Can Find It” #naming trend. Here are a few examples:
Thai Food Near Me™ (https://www.thaifoodnearmenyc.com/)
Barber Shop Near Me ™ (https://www.barbershopnearmecoralsprings.com/)
Plumber Near Me ™ (https://plumbernearmerva.com/)
Launching your business with an SEO-driven name can be a powerful marketing tool, as long as there aren’t other companies with similar names. Google will even help with your marketing efforts, as the autofill feature often suggests “near me” as an appendage to a search term.
HT to The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/26/23931825/google-search-local-seo-thai-food-near-me-maps
"Better Branding Through Science"
