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 THE LANGUAGE OF ADVERTISING

Interactive matching exercise after the text

When we buy a product, we rarely think twice about its name. But a lot of time, money and effort goes into choosing the right name for the right product. We visited Novamark International, a company that specialises in finding names for consumer products, to see how complicated the process is.

John Murphy Novamark’s managing director, believes that a good brandname is crucial for a producer’s success. This is because it creates a personality that makes people regard a product in a particular way. For example, suppose the product in question is a cheap family shampoo. If it is given an elegant, expensive sounding name, it would be inappropriate for the product and mislead the consumer. If it is given too feminine a name, some men may be reluctant to buy it. If it is given too “national” a name, that makes us think of England, France or wherever, this could cause marketing problems in other countries.

Practical considerations have to be thought of as well. If the shampoo is to be sold in an upright plastic bottle, with a name on the front, then its name has to be short. It wouldn’t make sense to have a long word that run round the bottle, because it would be difficult to read it. If a brandname is to be moulded on to a product, as with many soaps, the same sort of problem could arise.

The last 20 years has sent a massive growth in consumer products that all have to be checked when anything new comes on to the market.  Novamark’s  approach to creating brandnames is very systematic. The Novamark team includes trade-mark lawyers, psychologists, linguists, copy-writers and marketing experts. These people, with the help of a word library and a computer, seek to create a brandname that is legible, memorable, pronounceable, and with positive connotations in the countries it is to be marketed.

First of all various detailed facts and figures have to be found concerning budget, competitors and existing trademarks. Then the product and its needs are examined in order to isolate key words, themes and ideas. Novamark’s  word library is invaluable at this stage because it can produce lists of words from various chosen roots. For example, suppose Novamark are working on a new soap and want to evoke an image of water and freshness, they might suggest aqua as a word root. This word is taken straight from Latin and means water. From this root all sorts of words are suggested such as aquamarine, aquarium, aquatic, aquarius etc. The large number of words obtained are then screened for relevance and appropriateness ( i.e. legibility, memorability etc).

A short list of 300-500 words is now available. These are tested on consumers and ranked according to preference. A second short list of 50 words is eventually made. These are scrutinised until finally a list of no more than4 or 5 words is drawn. The trademark can then be confidently chosen.

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 Fun

Changing a light bulb

Q: How many telemarketers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Only one, but he has to do it while you are eating.
Q: How many conservatives does it take to screw a light bulb?
A: None. If the government just leaves it alone, it screws itself in.
Q: How many "real men" does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. "Real men are" not afraid of dark.
Q: How many "real women" does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. "Real women" would have plenty of real men around to do it.
Q: How many surrealists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two. One to hold the giraffe, the other to fill the bathtub with lots of brightly colored machine tools.

The large office building that Peter works in is showing signs of its advanced age. Structural and cosmetic renovations began well over two years ago, and no end is in sight. The chronic chaos moves unpredictably from floor to floor.

The tenants apparently are feeling the stress. Posted in the elevator one morning was a hand-written warning sign left by the workmen; "Watch your step- floors 3,4 and 5." By lunchtime, someone had added,"… have been removed."

While driving home I was eating an apple. It wasn’t until I tossed the core out of the window that the police car came up behind me. The officer pulled me over, and as I was getting out my license, I joked that I was helping top clean up the  roadside. The core would be home for ants, which would pick up tiny bits of litter.
I was amazed he was nodding in agreement until he said, “So, let’s see your building permit.”

 Sue and her friend Karen were talking about their labour saving devices as they pulled into Sue’s driveway. Karen said,” I love my new garage-door opener.”
“I love mine too, Sue replied and honked the horn three times. That was the signal for her husband to come out and open the garage.

Someone in our neighbourhood put a huge sofa out by the curb for trash collection. Since it was in good shape, many motorists slowed down for a look. But when they saw how enormous it was, they’d leave.
Eventually a compact car pulled up, and two men got out. “This I’ve got to see,“ I thought.
They removed the cushions, turned the sofa upside down and shook it hard. Then they picked up all the coins that tumbled out, and drove off.