Harness the Power of Names, Stories, Signature Words and Phrases
By Catherine Kaputa
The words you use can be powerful and stick in the mind, or blow away like a feather in the wind. New words or unusual words and expressions slow you down. They make you take notice of them. They stick in your consciousness. They create visual and verbal connections. Their effect lasts long after they are first said. They can linger in your consciousness and even be subliminal in the brand image it creates.
Brand managers pay a great deal of attention to verbal identity: naming products, developing taglines, and trying to own a word or phrase in the mind of prospects. Today, people from all backgrounds are using catch phrases to make their ideas and point of view more memorable. People magazine did a feature in the December 27, 2004 issue on, “The Best Catchphrases of the Year.” Here are some of the people and the lines that made the news in 2004:
“Flip-flopper” -George Bush
“You’re fired.” – Donald Trump
“He’s just not that into you.” –Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo
“Who’s your daddy?” – Yankees fans to Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez
“Economic girly men” - Arnold Schwarzenegger
You should harness the power of words, too. If you are a corporate executive, you can develop signature words and expressions for your ideas. You’ll find that you will become a more powerful and effective communicator whether it is a memo, presentation or phone conversation. One client recently carved out a new niche market for a new financial services product and gave not only the new product but the target audience an exciting name to sell it in internally before the consumer launch.
If you are an entrepreneur, you’ll want to develop interesting names for your products and services, and catch phrases to lock your company and its benefits into the minds of prospects. For one of my clients, Sales Mindshare, a sales training and consulting company, SelfBrand named one of her signature sales workshops, Sell SMART.
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Sell Solutions |
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M |
Capture Mindshare |
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A |
Become the Added Value |
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R |
Get the Right Customer Reaction |
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T |
Make Time Valuable
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And to complement the new verbal identity, we worked with Boomerang Studio to develop an interesting visual identity through a logo.
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Feb.1, 2005 Vol.1, No.1
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Q: A colleague at work has put Ph.D. after his name on his business card and email signature. I am wondering if I should brand myself by putting “MBA” after my name?
A: Sometimes “branding” can be obnoxious or heavy-handed, which is what SelfBrand thinks of putting “MBA” after your name. We feel the same way about “Ph.D.” unless it a credential in your job function.
Who We Are
Catherine Kaputa is a career and business coach who uses branding principles and strategies
to help executives, enterpreneurs and companies achieve business results.
www.selfbrand.com
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Upcoming Talk
February 10, 2005
Financial Women's Association
New York City
Sponsored by
Credit Suisse First Boston
5:45 - 8:00 pm
To register:
www.fwa.org/index_calendar.htm
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