What’s in a Name? A Rose by Any Name Would Smell as Sweet – Brand Management 128
What’s in a Name?
Case Study
It was 18th August 1992, when we at Intas decided to launch cisapride, a gastric prokinetic. We were not the first. Unipride (Torrent), Esorid (Sun), Santiza (Cadila), Cisade (Unichem) – all formidable companies. Intas was a little more than a start-up. And I had just joined Intas as the Group Product Manager.
There was fire burning within us to succeed and make this brand successful. So we started looking for a brand name. We shortlisted almost 5 but all were mundane and dull.
Suddenly our bright young boy, Chirayu Upadhyaya came out with the suggestion Cisa. I liked it immensely. I suggested to “Chirayu, why don’t you meet some KOLs and double check?” He was on the job immediately
A week later we met again and there was a big smile on his face: “All doctors liked the name Cisa.”
“Okay then, let us go ahead with Cisa”
“But Vivek Sir, there is one problem; most of them were pronouncing it as Ciza”
I almost jumped on my seat. “Repeat it again Chirayu.” “Ciza – spelt as C-I-Z-A”, he repeated.
“That’s beauty of a name!,” I almost screamed.
“That’s it Chirayu, the brand name will be Ciza and not Cisa”
Ciza went on to make history. It catapulted Intas to the next level.
Chirayu Upadhyayas’ contribution to what Intas is today is tremendous.
About five centuries back, when William Shakespeare wrote in his play Romeo and Juliet: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, he had no inkling of brands and brand names. A brand name makes a great difference.
Look at Dolo-650 for instance. Apart from segmenting the product for high fever and backed by numerous CME’s on ‘Fever of Unknown Origin’, the short, sweet brand name made all the difference to make it a mega brand.
A great brand name is not just something that looks cool and is fun to say again and again. And it is not great because you like it. It’s great because it communicates something to customers.
In his book, ‘Brand Gap’, Marty Neumeier says: “The need for good brand names originates with customers, and customers will always want convenient ways of identifying, remembering, discussing, and comparing brands. The right name can be a brand’s most valuable asset, driving differentiation and speeding acceptance.”
What is a good brand name in pharma?
Let us take the example of vildagliptin, a DPP-4 inhibitor for Type 2 diabetes. As soon as the patent expired somewhere in December 2019, there was a mad rush to introduce vildagliptin. About a 150 manufacturers had queued up for registration. Here are some brand names.
- · Vildazest
- · Activilda
- · Vildawyn
- · Intaglip
- · Alvida
- · Jubivilda,
- · Happyglip
- · Glipta
- · Gliptagreat
- · Gliptabest
Similar thinking for a similar product by all brand managers! No differentiation anywhere. And the doctor is expected to remember them. No thinking behind the brand names. No creativity, no innovative thoughts.
A brand name doesn’t have much value if no one can remember it. Find a name that is simple, easy to pronounce, and evocative. Keep names “short and sweet” and making sure that whatever name you choose can be easily spelled and searched online.
Brand building starts with three foundational elements:
1. The WHY for the Brand
2. The Brand Vision
3. The Brand Name
A good strong brand name helps establish and maintain a unique presence in the minds of the padocumers. Your brand name is the first detail padocumers learn about your brand. If you get it wrong, you could lose their loyalty before they even try your product.
Choose a brand name that clearly resonates in the minds of the doctors. Here are some tips, not exhaustive, but may lead you to think differently and creatively.
1. The brand name should be distinctive and should stand apart from the hundreds of competitors. Let me reiterate, when vildagliptin lost patent, over a 150 companies had queued up to get registration! Your brand name must not only be distinctive in the segment but in the industry.
‘A to Z’ from Alkem immediately comes to my mind in this respect.
Crafting a distinctive brand is the key. It is easier than crafting a differentiating brand. For example, pantoprazole from Zydus cannot be really different than pantoprazole form Sun Pharma
When Intas launched Zen (carbamazepine) it had a distinct name. No relation to the disease (epilepsy or bipolar disorder) or the generic name.
2. The brand name should be memorable. A brand name doesn’t have value if your doctors cannot remember it. A short and sweet brand name is generally memorable. Do you recall Sweetex from Boots many, many years ago? It contained saccharine but was withdrawn because of the controversy on its adverse effects. But even after many years, the brand name is still remembered.
That was an example of a real memorable name.
A short sweet name also cuts through the industry noise and clutter. Or else you keep on getting names like you saw for vildagliptin.
A short name is much easier to prescribe than a lengthy one. Besides, it should be easy to spell and pronounce.
3. The brand name should be easily pronounceable by the target audience. In this regard, consider the name Alpenliebe, a candy or a lollipop mean for kids. Ask a four-year old to pronounce it. “Wow, isn’t that a mouthful for a four-year-old?”
It should have two or three syllables or may be even one. Go0gle, Twitter or Facebook. All have two syllables. Halls, Dell or Axe are brand names with just one syllable. Even doctors will prefer short, pithy, memorable names. And if your name is more than three syllables long it will be shortened. It will happen and it is beyond your control, so be warned. Example, Coca Cola is shortened to Coke.
4. Often foreign words play a role in strengthening a brand name. As a child, when passing along Annie Beasant Road in Bombay (Mumbai) I used to see the board ‘Wockhardt’, a pharma company at Poonam Chambers. For many years I thought that Wockhardt was a German MNC. Till I joined this profession and the medical representative of this company told me its original was Worli Chemicals. And reflecting back, I wonder whether this company would have had the same high stature and standing if the name was ‘Worli Chemicals’?
In 2002 when I was at Torrent and we were launching citalopram, we had a hell of a time to find a suitable brand name. Citalopram was an SSRI antidepressant. All thoughts were revolving around the disease and the generic. I rejected all of them. I wanted something unique.
Umesh Prabhu, then the brand manager, started browsing foreign language dictionaries in the Torrent Library and identified ‘felecia’, the Spanish word for happiness. Happiness was a sort of antonym for depression. We tweaked that name and called it Feliz. Feliz went on to be the brand leader in the category.
5. Finally, remember to ensure that your name is available and open for use. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find one word brand name name ideas that hasn’t already been snapped up by other companies. Your brand name must defensible in the court of law.
True, it’s an exasperating experience when the search for the brand name starts.
Take Zap from Intas for clonazepam. Its name was challenged and was forced to be changed to Zapiz.
Or Losec from from Astra Zeneca. The name was challenged by Hoechst which had Lasix, furosemide. Years after its launch Losec had to be changed to Prolosec.
In summary, when thinking about a name for your new product name, think like Google. Avoid indication, usage or generic product specificity in the name.
That’s how all brand managers think. And when you think alike similar names emerge as in: Famocid, Famonit, Famotin, Famonite, Facid and many more.
Incidentally, Famocid was coined by me in 1990 and then I loved it and even patted my back. But 32 years later, I am wiser and would never think of such a generic-oriented name because I know all my other 100 friends would thinking similarly.