A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person for affection or ridicule.
For example, it is adopted by friends to show the level of affection among them.
However, the use of nickname is not exclusive to people. Brands, too, have adopted nicknames to bond with consumers. Though it is given various marketing terms, such as credential name, the intention of brand managers is often to use such names to confer status on brands and create an interaction between the brands and consumers.
According to experts, nicknames are often overlooked as a form of branding, but when they gain traction in popular culture, they are powerful and sustainable drivers. As the operating environment toughens, most brands look for ways to connect with consumers beyond the usual straight-jacketed sales pitch.
As a result, there seems to be an old trend that has refused to go in the marketing community: brand nick-naming or what some professionals call ‘Status conferrer’. It is a situation where brand owners give an appellation to their brands to penetrate consumers’minds. Such names confer authenticity, leadership, respect, honour, satisfaction, among others, on the brands.
While some adopt phrases that easily resonate with the target market, some use one word to show their values ahead of others. Yet, others try to localise the names to connect with the target market.
From fast-consumer-moving goods to service-oriented products, consumers are inundated in the various media platforms with several credential names. Going on the street, in the heavy traffic areas, most customers are lured into buying various services and products with the brand nicknames instead of the names.
Coke’s The-Real-Thing, Legend Extra Stout’s The Real Deal are some of the brands with nicknames consumers easily associate with.
Experts at Brand Agenda, a marketing intelligence firm, said: “The debacle of New Coke in the ‘80’s actually helped solidify the heritage value of Coke Classic. In 1990, Coke ran a campaign that brought back “the real thing” slogan. Even though it has been years, the “real thing”claim is still very closely associated with Coca-Cola in the minds of customers. Time established the brand’s credentials.”
The auto brands over the years are more susceptible to nicknames. While most brands from other market categories get their credential names from their brand owners, the auto brands derive their names from the market based on users’experience.
For instance, when Volkswagen Beetle car, known officially as Volkswagen Type 1, was manufactured, the car was rechristened in Nigeria with names, such as Ijapa (tortoise) and So kinso (the occupant beside the driver needs to get down before those on the back seat can alight) when it hit the country’s auto market in the 70s.
“Given the similarity between the vehicle and the tortoise, it took no time before the appellation ‘Ijapa’ was given to the car. Though it is a Yoruba word, it stuck to the car like a second nature at least in the Southwest,” said a brand analyst.
Also, auto consumers named Cadillac Escalade, Chairman, Infiniti fx35 goes by the name Dwarf, Toyota Starlet and Nissan Micra were nicknamed Rabbit, Toyota Avalon bears Long John, BMW 5 series 05 is rechristened Cobra while Nissan Pathfinder is called Lorry.
Toyota Camry 2001 model was Drop Light; Nissan Xterra, Lego Jeep; Toyota Camry 2003-2005 models, Big for Nothing or Big Daddy; Toyota Camry 1995 model, Orobo.
In the noodles market, leading brand, Indomie, has also got various names though from its brand managers. To make the brand penetrate and resonate with consumers, the brand managers gave the noodles appellations, such as Indomie Belleful, and Hungry Man.
In the beer market, for instance, Guinness Stout is known as Odeku; Star Larger, Shine Shine Bobo, Guilder, The Ultimate. Recently, Nigerian Breweries conferred a credential name ‘Your Excellency’ on one of the brands it bought from Consolidated Breweries, Goldberg.
In the new credential campaign launched in Lagos and Ibadan, the brand handlers said the appellation for Goldberg reinforces its leading position in the market.
Nigerian Breweries Corporate Communications/Brand PR Manager, Patrick Olowokere, said: “As you know, ‘Your Excellency’ is used to address the highest authorities in many political, religious and monarchical circles. As a beer brewed to golden standards by the master brewer, Nigerian Breweries, Goldberg’s excellent credentials earn it the name ‘Your Excellency’among its peers.”
Also, the firm’s Portfolio Manager, Mainstream Lager and Stout Brands, Emmanuel Agu, emphasised that as a brand that demonstrates its high regard for the culture of its target consumers, ‘Your Excellency’ is befitting for Goldberg.
“No other beer brand matches Goldberg’s respect for the people’s culture. From its support of world renowned cultural festivals in Nigeria, including the Osun Osogbo festival, the Ojude Oba festival, the Udiroko festival, the recent installation of the new Oba of Benin to its promotion of Fuji music, Goldberg demonstrates that it occupies a class of its own in adding value to the way of life of the people,” he said.
Nigerian Breweries’ Senior Brand Manager, Regional Mainstream Brands, Funso Ayeni, added: “Just as ‘Your Excellency’ is at the apex of all kinds of addresses used for occupants of certain positions of high standing all over the world, “Your Excellency” is also a befitting address for the befitting beer, Goldberg.”
Why brands are renamed or ‘nicknamed’ by consumers
Black Consumer Insights, an agency specialising in surveys into the emerging markets, reports: Humans endow products and brands with emotional significance and meaning far beyond their actual function.
“Our imagination gives us limitless capacity to derive value and importance from even the most everyday things. The things we buy can help us define ourselves and, to some extent, what we think is possible. If we accept this, there is the opportunity to perhaps unlock the true potential of brands.
“The most successful brands have developed a place in the imagination of people, rather than being associated with a unique selling point as has been done in the past.
“The explanations behind nicknames are fascinating. The moral of the story is that marketers need to be sensitive enough to understand the cultural space that their brands will occupy, and what their brand will mean to the consumer who buys the product,” the agency said.
Why this trend is important to marketers?
According to Bizcommunity, a South African brands content medium, there is an apparent need for marketers and researchers to look beyond the traditional scope when analysing the people who consume products.
“Perhaps too much research is focused on learning what products people buy, what they think of them; and what people think of the marketing campaigns that are supposed to deliver the message. Researchers and marketers need to invest more time addressing people’s underlying needs, and finding out what really matters to them.
“This needs to be approached with an eye towards understanding the emotional territory that people inhabit. This could now be the time for companies to become ‘respondents’ that react to ‘stimuli’, not the other way around. If brands are to be invited into people’s lives, then the companies and marketers behind those brands must be aware of the emerging cultural currents in which their customers live and use them to the very best advantage,” it stated.