In my post What's in a name, I told the story of how I read an article in a magazine (not an advertisement) and became interested in buying the product. The product was called Boots No. 7 Protect and Perfect Intense Beauty Serum. However, between the decision to buy the product and the trip to purchase, I had forgotten the product name.
In consumer marketing, this is called a disaster.
There were two reasons why I couldn't remember the product name. The first reason had to do with the name. That is what we will discuss in this post.
Let's count the words in the full product name - a whopping 9 words. Now, no marketer I know ever sets out to create a product with a name longer than that of the Prince of Wales (which is 6 words). Shorter is better.
So, how did this name get so long? Probably a combination of corporate policy, competitive overload, and lack of standards. Let's see what insight we can get from dissecting it.
Boots = the name of the company
No. 7 = the brand name
Already there is a problem here. The "No. 7" brand name simply cannot stand on its own - at least not in a global marketplace. You know you are in trouble when you have to buy placement space on Google to get higher ranking for your brand name. And even then it isn't listed first there today.
Perhaps this brand is well known in its birth place (United Kingdom), but it is going to have a hard time elsewhere. "No. 7" cannot stand without "Boots". In other words, the brand really is "Boots No. 7". 3 words. Too long.
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Protect and Perfect = product line name
When I do a search, I can find a number of other products that fall under this umbrella. For that reason I think "Protect and Perfect" is meant to be a product line. When you look at the number of products under the brand name (the Boots web site shows 50 skin care products and 100 many makeup products for the brand), you can see why Boots turned to product lines. Product lines are a monetarily cheap way to make a brand go further.
But product line layers muddle the brand and perplex the customer.
On top of that, a 3 word product line name is truly ugly. Especially when you tack it on to a 3 word brand name. And we haven't even come to the name of the product yet.
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Intense Beauty Serum = product name
The product name looks o.k. on its own. But there are problems lurking. Look at the other products in the line:
- Protect and Perfect Moisturizing Body Serum
- Protect and Perfect Intense Beauty Serum
- Protect and Perfect Beauty Serum
- Protect and Perfect Eye Cream
- Protect and Perfect Hand Cream SPF 15
- Protect and Perfect Day Cream SPF 15
- Protect and Perfect Night Cream
- Protect and Perfect Lip Care
Two other products use the word "Serum". One other product uses the phrase "Beauty Serum". Having so many product names in the line that look alike is very confusing.
It could be so simple. This product name could be 2 words long.
Brand + Product Name
To summarize, Boots' product naming problems are threefold:
- Lack of brevity in all naming (brand, product line, product name)
- Product line complexity instead of new brand development
- Poorly selected names
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