Should brands embrace slang names?

Marketing, The Marketing Society Forum, 2 December 2009

McDonald’s has attracted a lot of attention following its application to register its popular nickname, MaccyD’s, as a trademark, raising the question of whether this brand strategy could work for others. The Marketing Society Forum asks the question; Should companies embrace slang names for their brands? 

“Yes” says Don Williams, Chief Executive, pi global

Great brands aren’t products — they’re personalities and, just like any personal-ity, they become part of our lives for better or worse.

Is it any surprise that consumers (and, of course, the press) create nick-names for them such as Macca for Paul McCartney and Becks for David Beckham?

The best brand names are short and punchy. Coca-Cola has four syllables and Coke has one. The two live happily side by side, the Coca-Cola script acting as an iconic visual mnemonic for the brand, and Coke providing a consumer-friendly verbal branding.

Everyone reading this probably has a nickname, abbreviation or derivation. Usually these names are affectionate, but occasionally they’re not.

If anything these names demonstrate inherent brand strength through familiarity. After all, I’m writing this on my Mac, not an Apple Macintosh.

An extract taken from Marketing, The Marketing Society Forum, 2 December 2009. The Marketing Society is the most influential network of senior marketers dedicated to championing marketing in the UK.