In the 1950’s Forrest Raffel, a graduate of Cornell University Hotel and Restaurant Administration, and his younger brother Leroy, a graduate of Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania, bought an uncle’s restaurant equipment business. This company turned out to be an excellent entry into the foodservice business for the two brothers, and they quickly became one of America’s leading foodservice consulting firms. Their company designed and installed hundreds of foodservice facilities including the flight kitchens at the Greater Pittsburgh International Airport, the interiors of six Ohio Turnpike restaurants, and the foodservice facilities for the Hospitality Inn motel chain of Standard Oil of Ohio.
Being good businessmen who looked for opportunities, the Raffel brothers felt that fast food had profitable potential, but they wanted to start a franchise that served something other than hamburgers. Late one rainy Halloween night, they joined a group of people who wanted to get a $.79 roast beef sandwich. That night they got the idea for what to serve in their fast food restaurants, roast beef.
After making that decision, they discussed what to name their new venture. They wanted “Big Tex.” I am not certain why unless in their minds roast beef tied to the main product of Texas, beef. When I think of Texas beef, I think of barbeque beef, not roast beef. However, I am looking back at their thoughts many years later.
An Akron businessman owned the name Big Tex, and the Raffel brothers negotiated with him to obtain the name. They were unsuccessful in these discussions, forcing the Raffel brothers to make another choice. Forrest tells what happened. “We came up with Arby’s, which stands for R. B., the initials of the Raffel Brothers. Although I guess customers might think the initials stand for roast beef.”
I’m not certain how they arrived at adding the A before R and B and the Y after them, but they did create a new word that represented a new category of fast food, a restaurant that served roast beef. They were correct in several aspects. The name they created was easy to pronounce. It was distinctively different, which fit the new category they started. The word started from scratch with no associations to other words, foods, or categories. That meant they could build the meanings of Arby’s. They created a blank slate in customers’ minds to impress what Arby’s was and what customers would get from eating there. Today people around the world know Arby’s serves roast beef.
That’s a wise way to name a business.
Last week I heard of a business that had been in operation for ten years whose owner is changing its name due to the addition of a new service. The new name is in Norwegian, a language not generally understood in the United States. The name change will cause confusion with current customers who likely will think that this is a different business and that the original business not longer exits. Since those customers and potential customers will not understand what the new name means, they will not know what the business offers and what they would get out of shopping there. Unlike the Raffel brothers, this business owner is making all the wrong moves regarding a business name.
What’s in a business name? Everything. It is a business’s first communication with customers. It tells customers what the business offers. It piques their interest by differentiating the business. These only apply if the customer quickly receives a clear communication of what the business offers. If the name is unclear, causes confusion, or doesn’t make sense, the customer will not give the business attention and move on to other businesses.
Take time deciding a name, whether for your business or for a product or service. Make certain customers can easily, quickly, and clearly understand what the names represents. Ask others what the name communicates to them before you finalize a name.
The name you choose could make or break your venture.
This week's marketing trivia challenge is What name have you encountered that was either clear or unclear? E-mail me your answer.
Being good businessmen who looked for opportunities, the Raffel brothers felt that fast food had profitable potential, but they wanted to start a franchise that served something other than hamburgers. Late one rainy Halloween night, they joined a group of people who wanted to get a $.79 roast beef sandwich. That night they got the idea for what to serve in their fast food restaurants, roast beef.
After making that decision, they discussed what to name their new venture. They wanted “Big Tex.” I am not certain why unless in their minds roast beef tied to the main product of Texas, beef. When I think of Texas beef, I think of barbeque beef, not roast beef. However, I am looking back at their thoughts many years later.
An Akron businessman owned the name Big Tex, and the Raffel brothers negotiated with him to obtain the name. They were unsuccessful in these discussions, forcing the Raffel brothers to make another choice. Forrest tells what happened. “We came up with Arby’s, which stands for R. B., the initials of the Raffel Brothers. Although I guess customers might think the initials stand for roast beef.”
I’m not certain how they arrived at adding the A before R and B and the Y after them, but they did create a new word that represented a new category of fast food, a restaurant that served roast beef. They were correct in several aspects. The name they created was easy to pronounce. It was distinctively different, which fit the new category they started. The word started from scratch with no associations to other words, foods, or categories. That meant they could build the meanings of Arby’s. They created a blank slate in customers’ minds to impress what Arby’s was and what customers would get from eating there. Today people around the world know Arby’s serves roast beef.
That’s a wise way to name a business.
Last week I heard of a business that had been in operation for ten years whose owner is changing its name due to the addition of a new service. The new name is in Norwegian, a language not generally understood in the United States. The name change will cause confusion with current customers who likely will think that this is a different business and that the original business not longer exits. Since those customers and potential customers will not understand what the new name means, they will not know what the business offers and what they would get out of shopping there. Unlike the Raffel brothers, this business owner is making all the wrong moves regarding a business name.
What’s in a business name? Everything. It is a business’s first communication with customers. It tells customers what the business offers. It piques their interest by differentiating the business. These only apply if the customer quickly receives a clear communication of what the business offers. If the name is unclear, causes confusion, or doesn’t make sense, the customer will not give the business attention and move on to other businesses.
Take time deciding a name, whether for your business or for a product or service. Make certain customers can easily, quickly, and clearly understand what the names represents. Ask others what the name communicates to them before you finalize a name.
The name you choose could make or break your venture.
This week's marketing trivia challenge is What name have you encountered that was either clear or unclear? E-mail me your answer.
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