Corporate brand creation naming has, surprisingly, happened by mistake in many cases. There are a few little known stories that I want to share with you about how some of the worlds conglomerates acquired their names.
Google, formerly “Backrub” was named after a typo mistake, believe it or not. The company name was set to be changed to ‘Googol’.
The definition of Googol is “The number 10 raised to the power 100 (10100), written out as the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros.” This word was to represent the seemingly endless store of information in this search engine. The name was spelt incorrectly as “Google” in 1998, and it stuck!
The Super-brand Apple – This brand is an unusual one in that the name and logo design have no connection to the core purpose of the corporation. The connection for this brand is that the Apple is considered to be the fruit that sparked Issac Newton off in his invention of gravity. Apple for Apple Inc is an inspiration for constant invention and development.
Coca-Cola was named due to this deliciously naughty fizzy drinks ingredients. The famous flavour of Coca-Cola comes from coca leaves and kola nuts. John S. Pemberton changed the ‘k’ of kola to ‘C’ to make the name resonant and consonant.
Häagen-Dazs using clever foreign branding techniques to appear Scandinavian to the American consumers eye. Most of us would agree that the words appear to be from Denmark or some such country.
However, Häagen-Dazs is simply two fabricated words that have no meaning. Mattus, the owner of Häagen-Dazs believed that Denmark was famous for its dairy products and had a strong positive image in America.
Lastly, we consider the famous Nike name and logo. The company chose the name from “Nike – the Greek goddess of victory”. The Nike tick, or ‘swoosh’ was accepted by Nike as it accurately depicts a sign of victory.
If you have any other brand naming stories to share, please leave your story as a comment below.
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And I’m going to leave you with the touching tribute to Steve Jobs that Apple used in the week of his sad death.
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