27th
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet
What’s in a name? I’m pretty sure old Billy Shakespeare didn’t have spray lubricant and Napa Valley on his mind when he wrote Romeo and Juliet but that question has come up for me recently based on a couple of ads I’ve seen.
The first is from an online campaign I saw by a coalition of vineyards seeking to protect “place,” the regions in which their grapes grow.
The second is a print ad for a new product from PB B’laster, a small but successful player in the lubricant category, that launched something called PB50. Can you guess the competitor they’re taking on?
Name is naturally an important part of any brand and these ads are trying to achieve opposing goals around brand name in their respective categories – the former seeking to prevent encroachment from knock-offs, the latter attempting to play off WD-40’s brand equity and poach users.
I’m not sure trying to steal brand name (or place) is a viable strategy in the long run. A product, or service, is only as good as the value it delivers. Name is a heuristic to which users attach experiences. If that experience is poor then it doesn’t matter if you come up with a clever smokescreen of a name, your product will fail in the long run.
If PB50 is worth its salt, it should be able to stand on its own. Perhaps the thinking is that playing off the name will encourage trial and the resulting product performance will drive repeat purchase and loyalty. I’m not buying it.
The issue of the vineyards is a bit more dicey. If cheap bottles are being sold as Champagne, the poor quality erodes the value of the French region and its output while playing in a different price range. I lean toward the belief that playing a game with knockoffs like this is a race to the bottom.
As I see it, a brand whose name is being encroached on can:
1. Choose to ignore the knockoff and potentially see share erode
2. Race to the bottom in order to maintain share and run the risk of damaging the brand
3. Push back as the wine campaign is doing while drawing attention to the competition
4. Spend resources on improving the brand and its offerings, counting on the user to see value, not just price
It will be interesting to see what WD-40 does. I’d go with option 4, not an easy road but one that allows you to act, not react, maintain control over that which is in your purview, and protect profit margins along the way.
What do you think? Would you choose a different option? Are there any good examples of brands that launched into the stratosphere off the back of another brand name or are they all just low-price players?
The problem with PB B’laster is that it is trying to up-end an institution and failing miserably. “PB-50″ is even harder to say, in my opionion. It has the same amount of syllables but just sounds wrong.
I can’t remember when the last time someone said to me, “Hey, where’s the spray lubricant?”, it has always been, “Pass me the WD-40″. The brand name has turned into the universal symbol for the product.
I agree with you on Number 4. You can’t really go after these people because they don’t deserve the attention. All you can do is just re-enforce your own value and people will see it.
The only other company I can think of immediately that holds the same kind of brand-power is Dockers. They too, have a brand name that is synonymous with the item it sells. They arent’t “casual slacks” or “relaxed dress pants” they are “Dockers!”
Good Article.
Thing is, my problem would be that they aren’t the same product… and that they should be used in conjunction with each-other.
WD means “water displacing” – it dissolves rust and drives out water. It’s a non-petroleum cleaner, NOT a lubricant. I’ll say again, WD40 is NOT a lubricant and trying to use it as such is just asking for it to fail.
PB50 is a petroleum based lubricant.
It’s why restoring rusted items like chains my process is to first run it through a degreaser, then wash it in soap and water with a wire brush, then hose it in WD-40 and let it sit for a day, THEN hose it in a lubricant like 3 in 1, Marvel or PB50.
I think that’s the intent of the name, to imply it’s the lubricant you should use after cleaning with WD-40.
Again, WD-40 is NOT a lubricant, it’s a cleaner. PB50 is a lubricant.