Astonish Your Customer(s)

The dog brand

I just read a touching internet email spoken from a dog's point of view. 

Within the note, a great question was asked. Why aren't any cars named after dogs, given that every other (high performance) animal is used as name - Jaguar, Mustang, et al. ?

What a great question - for that matter, why aren't more consumer products associated with the dog - man's best friend, a member of the family, the animal that gets medical care similar to a human, the animal that merits a human-style burial?  

It doesn't have to be just the name, it could be promotional programs and cause-related partnerships. 

Every brand aspires to have an emotional bond with the audience - how about using one of the most emotive elements in humans life as one of the pathways? 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B. 

What to name your (consulting) business

In the LinkedIn era, it is easy to find and bump into people that were former colleagues as well as people that you legitimately might be able to serve. 

When you see that "John A. Smith" is now President or Principal of "John Smith Marketing" or "Smith Business Ventures" or "JAS Innovations", what comes to mind?

1. Wow, he landed a killer senior role 
2. He is working for himself until he can find something permanent   
3. He's posing as a consultant to cover his unemployed status 

Unless your name and reputation has real power and weight in an industry, I wouldn't suggest naming your nascent business after yourself. Just feels like more of a cover story, in most instances, than a real business.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B. 

Most powerful words in health care

I read once that Toyota created the brand name Lexus as a play on the word luxury. Seems like a reasonable story and a super-smart brand name for a high-end product. 

Got me wondering what the most powerful words in health care are. 

• Cured
• Remission
• Recovered 
• Discharged
• Relief  

Or, maybe it's the following.

• Clean bill of health 
• Feel like normal 
• Feel like my old self 
• Never better 
• Better than ever 
• Fit as a fiddle 

These are the words that real people use to describe themselves and the feeling that they have when something related to their own health goes right. 

Why don't any OTC or Pharma brands create a brand name using one of these words or phrases as a jumping off point?

O.D.O.o.O.D.B. 

Survivor - super-charged

Survivor has become a powerful idea in the popular lexicon. 

First of all, it has been a hit TV show which connotes both good and bad things. 

More poignantly, in health care (breast cancer survivor) and society/culture (incest and rape survivor) it defines a person who has overcome some of the worst physical and psychological challenges an individual can face. 

Wonder why more brands aren't leveraging the survivor word and image in branding and communication?

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.