Proper naming or how to stand out among the crowd of startups
After our first publication about the history of the start-up “Metnie Kabanchik”, we received many comments about the name of our project. As usual, the opinions of the audience are divided. Therefore, we decided to publish out of turn a separate post on naming and share our experience and observations.
Why did we choose this name? At that time, it seemed to us funny and eye-catching. Even the American equivalent, from which we took an example, had the name “TaskRabbit” (literally “task + rabbit”, ie, “rabbits performing tasks”). In 2012, a boom of start-ups continued in Ukraine, which struggled to gain the attention of niche media. It was necessary to stand out among all this mass of young projects and a bit scandalous name should have helped us in this.
But a few weeks before the launch of the project, we learned that not only did it occur to us to use the catch phrase “throw a pig”. The same name and similar domain (kabanchi.com) previously used a startup for the delivery of food from supermarkets. But for some reason, the founders of this project decided to rebrand on Zakaz.ua.
This fact slightly shook our confidence in the correct choice of the brand. But we have become so accustomed to this working title that we simply could not call it differently. And it was very difficult for us to believe that such a name would hinder the development of our project. Therefore, in September 2012, the project was launched on the Kabanchik.com.ua domain under the “Metnie Kabanchik” brand.
The very first Facebook post about the launch of the project brought a lot of comments and reposts. Naturally, not everyone admired our name. But few people refrained from commenting, and this was very encouraging. Many readers took this news as a change in the kabanchi.com business model, i.e. We inevitably got a share of PR and reputation, which was abandoned by the creators of the project Zakaz.ua.
')
A month after the launch, we sent a request to the editors of AIN.ua for the crash test of startups . This publication received a lot more views and comments than most previous crash tests. We felt the same in June 2015 after the publication on the podium “Zuckerberg will call” . What do you think, what is the reason? :)
After the crash test, requests from journalists began to fall one after the other. At first, we were interested in mid-level media, and then on top Internet and print media. The synergy of the creative name and social significance of the startup produced an explosive PR wave effect.
After joining our team to the EastLabs business incubator tutorial, a wave of PR began to turn into a tsunami. During the week we were visited by three film crews from different TV channels. How did a small startup manage to get so much attention from leading media?
We believe that the main key to success on the battlefield for PR was precisely the distinguished and well-remembered name. From the point of view of physiology, the brightest, most emotional moments are best remembered. What emotions would you call a name, for example, “Quick Help”? That's right - no. And what would a person think when he first heard the name of the project “Throw the piglet”? “Is this a joke?”, “How-how is the project called?” :) ”,“ I haven't heard the more ridiculous name! ”,“ I wonder what they are doing? I'll go see ... ”. That's the main secret of correct naming - a strong emotional outbreak and questions that arise in the head of the user.
Many experts said that experts would not want to work on the hog, because The name of the project is offensive to them. But the number of registrations of performers doubles every quarter, and the total number of interested professionals has reached 62,000 people. Is this enough argument to dispel all doubts?
We even started to keep our own statistics on the attitude of users to our brand name. According to the collected data, 9 out of 10 people treat the brand “positively”, 1 - “negatively”. But no one remains indifferent, and this is the task of proper branding.
Perhaps this fact, together with a quality product, influenced other statistics: according to our data, more than 40% of new customers come to the site on the recommendation of friends or acquaintances. And each new artist brings 2-3 friends to the service.
Unfortunately, we could not use one brand in all countries. Domains Kabanchik.ru and Kabanchik.by are normally perceived in Russia and Belarus (with the same positive / negative ratio as in Ukraine). But using the “Kabanchik” brand in Kazakhstan, where 70% of the population is Muslim, would be unwise. Therefore, after meetings with several familiar residents of Kazakhstan, we stopped at the brand MegaMaster.kz
When launching a project in the EU or other markets, you will most likely also have to use another brand. We do not even exclude the full rebranding of all projects. But to the question: “If you could return to the past, you would change the name of your project”, we would answer: “No. It was the right decision. At the start of the project, this is the name that is needed.
Finally, I offer you a small test. There are two analytics services: VisualWebsiteOptimization (literally “Visual Website Optimization”) and CrazyEgg (literally “Crazy Egg”). Which of these two names can you remember tomorrow? :)
Why did we choose this name? At that time, it seemed to us funny and eye-catching. Even the American equivalent, from which we took an example, had the name “TaskRabbit” (literally “task + rabbit”, ie, “rabbits performing tasks”). In 2012, a boom of start-ups continued in Ukraine, which struggled to gain the attention of niche media. It was necessary to stand out among all this mass of young projects and a bit scandalous name should have helped us in this.
But a few weeks before the launch of the project, we learned that not only did it occur to us to use the catch phrase “throw a pig”. The same name and similar domain (kabanchi.com) previously used a startup for the delivery of food from supermarkets. But for some reason, the founders of this project decided to rebrand on Zakaz.ua.
This fact slightly shook our confidence in the correct choice of the brand. But we have become so accustomed to this working title that we simply could not call it differently. And it was very difficult for us to believe that such a name would hinder the development of our project. Therefore, in September 2012, the project was launched on the Kabanchik.com.ua domain under the “Metnie Kabanchik” brand.
Cause emotions
The very first Facebook post about the launch of the project brought a lot of comments and reposts. Naturally, not everyone admired our name. But few people refrained from commenting, and this was very encouraging. Many readers took this news as a change in the kabanchi.com business model, i.e. We inevitably got a share of PR and reputation, which was abandoned by the creators of the project Zakaz.ua.
')
A month after the launch, we sent a request to the editors of AIN.ua for the crash test of startups . This publication received a lot more views and comments than most previous crash tests. We felt the same in June 2015 after the publication on the podium “Zuckerberg will call” . What do you think, what is the reason? :)
After the crash test, requests from journalists began to fall one after the other. At first, we were interested in mid-level media, and then on top Internet and print media. The synergy of the creative name and social significance of the startup produced an explosive PR wave effect.
Sink into the mind
After joining our team to the EastLabs business incubator tutorial, a wave of PR began to turn into a tsunami. During the week we were visited by three film crews from different TV channels. How did a small startup manage to get so much attention from leading media?
We believe that the main key to success on the battlefield for PR was precisely the distinguished and well-remembered name. From the point of view of physiology, the brightest, most emotional moments are best remembered. What emotions would you call a name, for example, “Quick Help”? That's right - no. And what would a person think when he first heard the name of the project “Throw the piglet”? “Is this a joke?”, “How-how is the project called?” :) ”,“ I haven't heard the more ridiculous name! ”,“ I wonder what they are doing? I'll go see ... ”. That's the main secret of correct naming - a strong emotional outbreak and questions that arise in the head of the user.
Many experts said that experts would not want to work on the hog, because The name of the project is offensive to them. But the number of registrations of performers doubles every quarter, and the total number of interested professionals has reached 62,000 people. Is this enough argument to dispel all doubts?
We even started to keep our own statistics on the attitude of users to our brand name. According to the collected data, 9 out of 10 people treat the brand “positively”, 1 - “negatively”. But no one remains indifferent, and this is the task of proper branding.
Perhaps this fact, together with a quality product, influenced other statistics: according to our data, more than 40% of new customers come to the site on the recommendation of friends or acquaintances. And each new artist brings 2-3 friends to the service.
Take into account the peculiarities of the mentality
Unfortunately, we could not use one brand in all countries. Domains Kabanchik.ru and Kabanchik.by are normally perceived in Russia and Belarus (with the same positive / negative ratio as in Ukraine). But using the “Kabanchik” brand in Kazakhstan, where 70% of the population is Muslim, would be unwise. Therefore, after meetings with several familiar residents of Kazakhstan, we stopped at the brand MegaMaster.kz
When launching a project in the EU or other markets, you will most likely also have to use another brand. We do not even exclude the full rebranding of all projects. But to the question: “If you could return to the past, you would change the name of your project”, we would answer: “No. It was the right decision. At the start of the project, this is the name that is needed.
Remember tomorrow
Finally, I offer you a small test. There are two analytics services: VisualWebsiteOptimization (literally “Visual Website Optimization”) and CrazyEgg (literally “Crazy Egg”). Which of these two names can you remember tomorrow? :)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/293828/
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