A Name That Helps

There is great advan­tage in a name that tells a story. The name is usu­ally promi­nently dis­played. To jus­tify the space it occu­pies, it should aid the adver­tis­ing. Some such names are almost com­plete adver­tise­ments in them­selves. May Breath is such a name. Cream of Wheat is another. That name alone has been worth a for­tune. Other exam­ples are Dutch Cleanser, Cuti­cura, Dynashine, Minute Tapi­oca, 3-​​in-​​One Oil, Holeproof, Alcorub, etc.

Such names may be pro­tected, yet the name itself describes the prod­uct, so it makes a valu­able display.

Other coined names are mean­ing­less. Some exam­ples are Kodak, Karo, Sapo­lio, Vase­line, Kotex, Lux, Pos­tum, etc. They can be pro­tected, and long-​​continued adver­tis­ing may give them a mean­ing. When this is accom­plished they become very valuable.

But the great major­ity of them never attain status.

Such names do not aid the adver­tis­ing. It is very doubt­ful that they jus­tify dis­play. The ser­vice of the prod­uct, not the name, is the impor­tant thing in adver­tis­ing. A vast amount of space is wasted in dis­play­ing names and pic­tures which tell no sell­ing story. The ten­dency of mod­ern adver­tis­ing is to elim­i­nate waste.

Other coined names sig­nify ingre­di­ents which any­one may use. Exam­ples are Syrup of Figs, Coconut Oil Sham­poo, Tar Soap, Pal­mo­live Soap, etc.

Such prod­ucts may dom­i­nate a mar­ket if the price is rea­son­able, but they must to a degree meet com­pe­ti­tion. They invite sub­sti­tu­tion. They are nat­u­rally clas­si­fied with other prod­ucts which have like ingre­di­ents, so the price must remain in that class.

Toasted Corn Flakes and Malted Milk are exam­ples of unfor­tu­nate names. In each of those cases one adver­tiser cre­ated a new demand. When the demand was cre­ated, oth­ers shared it because they could use the name. The orig­i­na­tors depended only on a brand. It is inter­est­ing to spec­u­late on how much more prof­itable a coined name might have been.

On a patented prod­uct it must be remem­bered that the right to a name expires with that patent. Names like Cas­to­ria, Aspirin, Shred­ded Wheat Bis­cuit, etc., have become com­mon property.

This is a very seri­ous point to con­sider. It often makes a patent an unde­sir­able protection.

Another seri­ous fault in coined names is friv­o­lity. In seek­ing unique­ness one gets some­thing triv­ial. And that is a fatal hand­i­cap in a seri­ous prod­uct. It almost pro­hibits respect.

When a prod­uct must be called by a com­mon name, the best aux­il­iary name is a man’s name. It is much bet­ter than a coined name, for it shows that some man is proud of his creation.

Thus the ques­tion of a name is of seri­ous impor­tance in lay­ing the foun­da­tions of a new under­tak­ing. Some names have become the chief fac­tors in suc­cess. Some have lost for their orig­i­na­tors four-​​fifths of the trade they developed.

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