Lung Gases... and other Ridiculous Marketing Terms
I was sitting in the convenience store parking lot, just about to pull out with my hot cup of coffee and drive away, when a semi-truck pulled in hauling a cargo of pressurized tanks. Across the bottom of the trailer read, "CO2. NOx. O2." But, what term did the company see fit to categorize all these products? "Lung Gases," was written in big bold letters. C'mon... are you serious? Lung Gases?
Descriptive? Yes. Accurate? Yes. Appealing? That's arguable. Even though marketing is about much more than pretty pictures and catchy names, I'm going to perpetuate the stereotype for a moment while I rant on product nomenclature.
Why are names and terms important?
Well, If you're lucky enough to get someone's attention, you don't have long to describe yourself. You goal in those few seconds is to be memorable. That means two things: uniqueness combined with clarity of value. If I ask you what you do, you've got to be able to tell me in a way that I can connect to some aspect of my life that I will recall later. Lung gases? Does that fit the bill? Well, two arguments for it would be (1) it's unique enough I decided to blog about it and (2) I do know precisely what they're talking about.
Sometimes, the quest for artistic flare in a product name totally negates the clarity of its meaning. In our movie theatres, I often see ads for fandango (or something like that) and I NEVER think later, "you know where I should by my movie ticket... fandango." Nope. Not once.
By contrast, some of the most widely-known and memorable new product names (of recent history) have been utterly simple. MySpace, Reddit, iPhone, and Smart Car are just a few examples. Without much thought at all, one can easily ascertain what these products are and, if you have even a slight need for them, pique an interest.
So, lung gases... good or bad? If I'm the purchaser of such products at a nursing home or other health care organization, would I recall this company? It's likely, yes. Would I buy from them? That's another question altogether. See, the "perceived value" we talked about earlier is more than just the product itself. Is there an implied lack of professionalism in a medical supply company that names its product "Lung Gases?" I tend to think so. What about you. Would you name your next product "Lung Gases?" Convince me...
Descriptive? Yes. Accurate? Yes. Appealing? That's arguable. Even though marketing is about much more than pretty pictures and catchy names, I'm going to perpetuate the stereotype for a moment while I rant on product nomenclature.
Why are names and terms important?
Well, If you're lucky enough to get someone's attention, you don't have long to describe yourself. You goal in those few seconds is to be memorable. That means two things: uniqueness combined with clarity of value. If I ask you what you do, you've got to be able to tell me in a way that I can connect to some aspect of my life that I will recall later. Lung gases? Does that fit the bill? Well, two arguments for it would be (1) it's unique enough I decided to blog about it and (2) I do know precisely what they're talking about.
Sometimes, the quest for artistic flare in a product name totally negates the clarity of its meaning. In our movie theatres, I often see ads for fandango (or something like that) and I NEVER think later, "you know where I should by my movie ticket... fandango." Nope. Not once.
By contrast, some of the most widely-known and memorable new product names (of recent history) have been utterly simple. MySpace, Reddit, iPhone, and Smart Car are just a few examples. Without much thought at all, one can easily ascertain what these products are and, if you have even a slight need for them, pique an interest.
So, lung gases... good or bad? If I'm the purchaser of such products at a nursing home or other health care organization, would I recall this company? It's likely, yes. Would I buy from them? That's another question altogether. See, the "perceived value" we talked about earlier is more than just the product itself. Is there an implied lack of professionalism in a medical supply company that names its product "Lung Gases?" I tend to think so. What about you. Would you name your next product "Lung Gases?" Convince me...
Labels: marketing communication
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