Art & Design / Resources

Blue Sky Thinking: The Importance of Names, Identifications and their Significance

Share this post

Would you ever guess the media is systematically programmed? Everyday life consists of marketing, shopping, products and services. We are constantly surrounded by cause and effect. We need, and brands supply.  An interesting find in government offices is the arrangement of mirrors alongside or behind the clerks that process documents such as visas and other frustrating forms. Have you ever been in line for so long that you wonder why there are arbitrary mirrors everywhere?

My guess may seem one-sided, but you can blue sky think for yourself. Mirrors may be placed there for the customer. Places like the DMV have mirrors, and it’s not planted there so we can gawk at ourselves, but perhaps in irascibility, and the need to lash out at the clerk for responding crudely, we end up seeing our angry reflection and immediately compose ourselves.

This theory is quite shocking, considering that someone had devised a plan to prevent disorder in government offices, or any place that may attract the hasty customer. Usually, places with high traffic will use this strategy to “control” customers. Essentially, this is a fragment of the vast world of marketing and consumer behavior.

We, as consumers, are usually distracted by the impact marketing does with our lives and our mind, but most importantly with our emotions. Effective marketing pulls at the heartstrings and captures the hearts of viewers everywhere.

Children with no preconceived notions of vocabulary words and names will distinguish experiences with brand names. Thus, sustaining a business takes an entire generation to remain successful, such as Macy’s, a household name for departmental shopping.

Photo Credit: Mental Mojo

Understanding consumer behavior enables us to grasp effective marketing and its many channels. For a successful product or service, the initial step or thought process will usually involve an emotion. Therefore, names, colors and elements, such as typography, play a part in our idealistic perception of what we desire or trust.

A great way to start is to integrate human senses into the pursuit. Perhaps a scent distinguishes your boutique, or the sound of music signifies a cafe. A name will be the first perception of your business. Many times, words can be names, such as Whole Foods. Both words are nouns, each meaning different things, but with the combination and association of both words, we as Whole Foods shoppers, associate completeness (whole) and satisfaction (food) to trigger our scent and taste sensations.

For many entrepreneurs, initiating an equivocal word as a name has many benefits. It creates uniqueness and personality to your brand, as well as a fresh start, as many people don’t understand the meaning of the new word, which is now your brand name. For example, KitKat. The name has no meaning, but upon successful typography, delicious taste, euphonious advertisements and an appealing color palette, KitKat is a global success.

For names like Toys ‘R’ Us, the customer will automatically associate toys with the brand, which in most cases is a good preconception. But for stores like The Athlete’s Foot (they sell athletic shoes) might be a bad idea. For places like debt collection agencies, sometimes a cheerful or uplifting name might be exceedingly favorable, such as Calvary Debt Collectors.

For effective marketing, exploring the target market consumer and the present generation will advance your brand in a positive direction.

Related stories

Eddie Peake’s Concrete Pitch: A Review in Retrospect

Another Kind of Life

Another Kind of Life: Photography on the Margins