the importance of being (insert name here)..

Juliet Capulet once pondered: "what is in a name? A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet." Although I do get that she was really just looking for loopholes for her star- crossed lover, I think she was overlooking a few things.

Does it change the substance of the product or being? Does it add something of value? Or does it do just the opposite?  

 Juliet reasons that if Romeo wasn't called Romeo and wasn't a Montague, he would still be the same guy. So the name really doesn't mean much and it's okay to love him. While that is true, she misses the fact that if Romeo wasn't called Romeo Montague but, say George Invisible, they could've lived happily every after. After all, he's still the same guy, right? Just less tragic. 


So what is in a name?

A name helps us recognize a person or product's reputation.  It creates awareness of their existence and acts as a  promise between the named and namers; that when you hear that name- you know what to expect. Names need to be carefully selected, cultivated and properly maintained because whilst they can be the strongest asset one can have; a wrongly given label can be just as damaging. Whether we admit to it or not, names - good and bad - affect how we see and what we think of commodities/people/businesses. 


I live in a city where everyone almost knows everyone. You could go to a party thinking that you only know that host and when you get there, you discover someone who knows someone that you know.  Creating a name for yourself here would not be terribly difficult as news travels fast. However, if you were ever unfortunate enough to be labelled with a bad name, the news would still travel just as quickly. Actually, that's not true. It would travel faster. Bad news seems always seems to travel faster than good news. Why is that so?  A good brand name is just like trust: it takes years to build but only seconds for it to be destroyed.  On the same token, a bad name is hard to bounce from and turn it around to be good. 

So what is in a name?


Is a name what you make of it? Do you take a word and then make something great for it? Or dos  you find a word which you feel embodies the greatness you wish to achieve?

-Marie