A brief study on Alpha-numeric brand names.

“A brand name that contains

one or more numbers in either

written form (e.g., Ten) or digit

form(e.g.,10) is referred to as

an alpha-numeric brand

name.”

BRAND names and numbers are both important, yet relatively distinct parts of a

consumer's world. However, brand names with numbers in them are an important

managerial option in today's marketing environment. At the same time, consumer notions

about brand names that are composed in part or completely of numbers are not well

understood.

You can include a number in a brand. That works fine. But what you can't do is have two

successive numbers in two brands and not expect people to be confused.

Although approximately 10,000 of the 1.35 million Federally Registered trademarks are

comprised in part or in whole of a number, the role of numbers in brand names is poorly

understood.

In many instances the precise meaning of a number may be opaque to consumers.

The data suggest the addition of a numeric component to a brand name increases the

number of technical product associations that consumers make with the name.

Most numeric brand names see the light of day because someone is either lazy or tries to

be overly smart. Both are not case studies for delivering a timeless and memorable brand

name.

They point at a missing message or depth in the name.

Those numbers (hence your brand name) mean nothing to the target audience, until they

happen to read your About section on your web site, hoping to learn more about the

reasoning behind the name.

May have no apparent meaning.

May denote something specific to the industry.

Different numbers have different meaning in different cultures.

May point at a product feature according to the manufacturer.

Some digits act as adjectives co-relating it with brand aspects like feminine, powerful,

smooth, etc.

The overly smart create an arbitrary number based on the founders birthdays or other

personal anecdotes or fun facts.

If your brand name will focus on a sole number, that very number needs to be significant

to others.

The number, or word needs a partner to add value and create purpose. This forms an

Alphanumeric Brand Name.

If you are able to connect a meaningful number to a meaningful word, such as Social123

(Easy as 1-2-3) or 99Designs (99 equals big variety), you create a story and build a strong

value proposition. You will have the added benefit of obtaining IP rights and securing your

domain name swiftly.

The basic rule for numbers is that consumers have a subconscious preference for familiar

and easy-to-process information. Familiar numbers are those we are confronted with on a

regular basis.

A Research shows that consumers’ preference for numbers from 1 to 20 is 8.9% greater than their

preference for numbers between 21 and 89. This is probably down to us using numbers under 20 more

than numbers above 20.

Easy-to-process numbers are those we have added up or multiplied on regular occasions. Like table of

four has been drilled into us in primary school, but not the table of 68. We therefore recognize the

product of 4 times 4 (i.e. 16) instantly and appreciate it more than the product of 68 times 68 (=4,624).

The study also showed that the products of multiplications (whole numbers under 100) have a 15.5%

higher preference score than other numbers. Consumers prefer the number 12 over the number 57.

The products of multiplications of numbers below 100 are stored in our brain, and therefore easier to

recognize, which makes that we sooner prefer them.

Researchers presume that use of numbers in brand names prove attractive for product categories

where consumers have little prior knowledge of the product (products that you do not purchase

regularly or products with little differentiating value). These are basically low-involvement situations.

The idea behind 15Five originated in

the 1980s with ESPRIT founder Doug

Tompkins, who realized that if he asked

all of his employees to spend 15 minutes

writing a report that took their manager

no more than 5 minutes to read,

his employees would feel heard and he

would have better insight into the

workings of his company.

19 Entertainment – Talent company founded by Simon Fuller and "named after Paul Hardcastle's single 19, the

first No. 1 Fuller had a hand in", according to TV Guide. After selling 19 Entertainment to CKX, Inc, Fuller founded XIX

Entertainment, which is 19 in Roman numerals.

20th Century Fox – Film studio; formed in 1935 through the merger of William Fox's Fox Film, and Twentieth

Century Pictures.

23andMe – Using the 23 pairs of chromosomes that make up each person's genome, the company helps

individuals make sense of their own genome.

27b/6 – The apartment where George Orwell wrote the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four was number 27B on level 6.

37signals – Web development company; named for the 37 radio telescope signals identified by astronomer Paul

Horowitz as potential messages from extraterrestrial intelligence.In 2014, the company renamed itself Basecamp, after

its main product.

3Com – Network technology producer; the three coms are computer, communication, and compatibility.

3M – from the company's original name, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company.

7-Eleven – Convenience stores; renamed from "U-Tote'm" in 1946 to reflect their newly extended hours, 7:00 am

until 11:00 pm

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