What's in a name?

A strong brand is invaluable. In the cluttered market a company's brand is the way the outside world perceives the product or service. For example, think about some general business problems: your clients might think you're too small for a job, or not technically capable, or charge too much, all can be solved by the way you make your customers perceive the brand. Apple is a great example of a positive brand (yes I know you've heard it all before). Simple, effective, unique, and well, genius really. Steve Jobs has done an incredible job of marketing the apple products. Come on, if you can sell your product for pretty much double of that of your competitors and still be leading the market, you're doing something right. Seriously, what was Juliet thinking when she said "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet"? Maybe, but she was referring to Leo (or Romeo, whatever) and honestly with that face, I wouldn't care what he called himself either.

I'm beginning to learn, thanks to my brand management class at uni, that building a strong brand identity can be a lengthy and expensive process. You just have to turn to Coles or Woolworths to get an example of how much time and money companies put into developing their image (up to $140million a year, ouch!). 

So how far will companies go to grab some attention and get their name recognised? Those massive red hand Coles have just introduced pretty much scream cheap and annoying to me, i'm staying well away from that place. But in 1998 Geelong football player, Garry Hocking was paid by Whiskas (yes, the cat food company) to change his name to yes, you guessed it, Whiskas! The company paid the in debt club over $120,000 during the promotion. Isn't that crazy? He legally changed his name to Whiskas for some cash. The company even printed his face on some cat food tins. I don't know about you but when I think of cat food, it doesn't exactly scream football players to me. But it DID get my attention.

I think I got a bit off topic but ultimately what i'm trying to say is, branding is important. How could you differentiate people from each other if we didn't each have our own brand. I am Hayley and you are you. We aren't the same. That's how people tell the difference between each other. Just like many products, we decide which one to buy through our knowledge and research of the brands reputation and image.

HAHA sorry, had to add a picture. Cracks me up.