Brands and their names

A brand definitely needs to be known by its name and more the powerful better the recall. I agree with Arvind when he says that there is no use in creating a brand when its name is not to be highlighted. Likewise my friend who gave the example of Lifebouy and red soap forgets that it would become a problem if a similar red soap is introduced into the market and the same was to be publicised. Thats where competition steps in. An example to prove this point would be - Financial papers which the world over are yellow newsprint. In india there are four major financial papers - Economic Times, Financial Express, Business standard and Business Line. Out of the four the first three come in yellow newsprint and business line is in white colour. But what is famous here? It is Economic times by virtue of its better brand image and not the other publications.

Another example of the power of a good name for a brand would be Fevicol. In a cliched segment where the primary target audience are illiterate carpenters and hardware store sales men as the first pushers of a product, Fevicol by virtue of its branding and image has managed to survive and do well. So also with Dettol where it has almost become a generic name for antiseptic liquid. How many people go out and buy Savlon which is a similar antiseptic with same type of packaging and colour. Answer is none because the company behind Savlon hasnt spent much on branding like Dettol has.