It’s that time of the year again. Lights, sweets, music and deals… Even the campus is bustling with events and competitions. Everyday my mailbox gets flooded with competition mailers from different colleges. There are competitions of all kinds- the whacky ones, which expect you to design superheroes, the serious ones which involve market research etc.

I did take time to make up my mind deciding, which one I wanted to enter but I finally enrolled myself for one. This was a competition floated by one of the B-schools which entailed coming up with a product, naming it and making a TVC for the same.

What got me thinking was the naming bit. It’s strange how a name is not just a name, it means so much more for a product. It’s the product’s first identity that sets the stage for it. It forms an image in the consumer’s mind that stays with her. The industry has products with strange names, names that don’t necessarily mean anything. Tzinga and Jinjola are two of such names that have really intrigued me. These names might not have a meaning as such but they definitely help break the clutter and enable the brand capture the consumers’ mind space.

I wonder if a BMW or Audi will be enjoyed by the consumers as much if their brand names are taken away. There is a certain joy in saying that I saw Lamborghini today. You don’t need to explain it, the name talks for itself. What if they are just nameless vehicles? I feel the snob value and the very identity of the product get lost.

Moreover, brand names are the basis on which marketers are able to charge a premium from consumers. I am sure I would not want to pay a grand for a cotton bag if it wasn’t from Fab India or two grand for Crocs which, if you look at it, are rubber chappals.

What’s fascinating is how brand names are soon getting converted into verbs as they become a part of the consumers’ lives. It’s more than obvious to say that you googled information or you flipkarted your books. The names become generic and get added to your day to day vocabulary.

Yes, names are definitely more than just words. So, next time that you go shopping, notice how you unconsciously go for certain products just because they’ve occupied a special space in your mind and heart.