The more specific you become, such as through the use of 3 or 4-word keywords, the more likely it also becomes that you will be found by people searching for that more specific term. Some businesses are taking this one step further and launch perhaps hundreds of different websites each of which is customized to a precisely defined target market and the searches they are likely to make. In fact, I visited a firm here in Orange County recently and learned that they operated four different websites under very different names but all four basically led people to the same company and address. What I also have seen is the phenomenon of companies buying up not just one but multiple domain names. Yet, even as I recognize the benefits for many companies if they follow such advice, sometimes I wonder if product-centric names aren't making somewhat of a comeback? I see that companies with a name that specifically matches what someone searches for on Google, can be very successful selling their wares online.įor small businesses to show up high on Google, they often have to resort to so-called long-tail strategies, the idea pioneered by TED founder Chris Anderson. Hence, International Business Machines became IBM, Kentucky Fried Chicken started going by KFC, Citibank switched into Citi, and Apple Computer Inc turned into Apple Inc. Indeed, it is difficult to find more than a few (e.g., Nescafé, MasterCard, and MTV) out of the 100 Best Global Brands of 2014 with a name that directly hints at specific products.Īlso, if you have already painted yourself into a product corner that you are feeling is becoming too constrictive, look at ways by which you can become more vague or flexible going forward. This has impacted the naming of companies and the general wisdom is to not name a company after its current product as the means by which you meet customer needs can change over time.

Consistent with this perspective, Theodore Levitt published the classic Harvard Business Review article Marketing Myopia in 1960 in which he claimed that businesses should define themselves more in terms of the needs that they were satisfying rather than by the product that they currently made. The statement that “the purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer” served as an eye-opener to many executives and helped transform many businesses as a result.

In the history of marketing, Peter Drucker's Marketing Concept of 1955 is a milestone.

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