tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/brand-names-31235/articlesbrand names – The Conversation2022-04-12T03:22:50Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1751482022-04-12T03:22:50Z2022-04-12T03:22:50ZWhat our negative comments and consumer gripes on social media reveal about us<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444691/original/file-20220207-17-1d38iss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C594%2C5760%2C2854&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A supermarket starts <a href="https://kitchen.nine.com.au/latest/hot-cross-buns-on-sale-after-christmas-coles-supermarkets/4545d232-d183-427a-b677-2ab0d8ce5975">stocking hot-cross buns</a> straight after Christmas. A <a href="https://www.marketingmag.com.au/news-c/new-glad-wrap-cutter-crisis-customer-complaints-spark-reversal-box-innovation/">cling-wrap brand</a> shifts its serrated cutter bar from the base of the box to inside the lid. The maker of M&M’s chocolates changes its marketing. Each time people take to social media <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2022/01/20/mms-efforts-to-be-more-inclusive-met-with-mockery-on-twitter/?sh=6044c12c129f">to complain</a>.</p>
<p>Why do people get so angry about things that seem so trivial? </p>
<p>We’ve examined the issue of consumer anger on social media because, as marketing academics, we’re interested in how companies handle the excessive toxicity that comes with corporate social media engagement. But our research also helps explain the causes of this culture of complaint.</p>
<p>Our findings point to this behaviour meeting two basic psychological needs.</p>
<p>First, complaining is a mechanism for social connection. </p>
<p>Second, it’s an opportunity to boost self-esteem through what psychologists call “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/downward-social-comparison">downward social comparison</a>”. Given social media feeds can be rife with opportunities to feel inferior, complaining about brands is an easy way to feel better about ourselves.</p>
<h2>How we did our research</h2>
<p>To figure out why people complain so much on social media, we analysed negative posts on Facebook about brands caught up in media controversies at the time.</p>
<p>We focused on six companies – a clothing brand, a supermarket, an airline, an e-commerce store, a department store and a beverage company. </p>
<p>Each had a Facebook page with more than 1 million followers. The controversies included alleged employee mistreatment, unethical business practices, bad customer experiences and a poorly received advertising campaign. We analysed hundreds of comments posted on these companies’ pages. We followed up with interviews with 13 social media users who said they used Facebook at least daily and interacted with brands on social media at least weekly. </p>
<p>We asked these 13 people what they posted about and their reasons for posting. We also asked them to speculate about other social media posts regarding the same brands. This enabled us to draw our conclusions.</p>
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<img alt="Image of Facebook feed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457558/original/file-20220412-12-rb38ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457558/original/file-20220412-12-rb38ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457558/original/file-20220412-12-rb38ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457558/original/file-20220412-12-rb38ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457558/original/file-20220412-12-rb38ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457558/original/file-20220412-12-rb38ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457558/original/file-20220412-12-rb38ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Complaining to bond with others</h2>
<p>The most common reason for complaining online was paying for something that didn’t arrive or failed to work in some way. This was our least surprising finding. </p>
<p>More surprising was how many who joined in posting negative comments, without any firsthand experience. We saw this complaining used as a bonding mechanism, with users tagging family or friends in posts about malfunctioning equipment with questions such as: “Has this happened with yours?” </p>
<p>Complaining has long been “a pervasive and important form of social communication”, as psychology professor Mark Alicke and colleagues noted in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167292183004">a 1992 study</a>, published before most people had even heard of the internet. </p>
<p>Social media has amplified this, enabling us to not only complain to friends but also to create a type of social connection with strangers. We could give you dozens of examples from our research, but you can probably think of many from your own experiences.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/does-social-media-make-us-more-or-less-lonely-depends-on-how-you-use-it-128468">Does social media make us more or less lonely? Depends on how you use it</a>
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<p>The people we studied got a kick out of debating strangers, particularly when they felt they had the upper hand. One interviewee told us:</p>
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<p>I kind of like it, because it shows that at least I’m having an impact. If I’m talking about something someone’s so angry about that they write something back, at least we’re having a conversation.</p>
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<p>Such responses speak the social dilemma of social networks. Our increasingly digital existence contributes to real-world social disconnection. To compensate, people look for whatever attention they can find on social media, including through complaining and arguing.</p>
<h2>Downward social comparison</h2>
<p>The second major psychological reward from complaining on social media was to boost their self-esteem. As one participant told us:</p>
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<p>This is kind of that negative thing, but it’s more in a funny, sarcastic, trolling negative thing.</p>
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<p>This pay-off came through strongly when we asked our interviewees to speculate on others’ complaints. “Maybe they’re bored and lonely at home,” said one. “The fact he’s obviously looking down on the people is elevating his position,” said another. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-trolls-dont-just-enjoy-hurting-others-they-also-feel-good-about-themselves-145931">New research shows trolls don't just enjoy hurting others, they also feel good about themselves</a>
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<p>Boosting self-esteem by looking down others is known as “downward social comparison”. This idea was articulated by American social psychologist <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001872675400700202">Leon Festinger in 1954</a>, who suggested humans were hardwired by evolution to compare our value against others. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Leon Festinger's 1954 paper, " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457578/original/file-20220412-30687-341a2j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Leon Festinger’s 1954 paper, ‘A Theory of Social Comparison Processes’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001872675400700202">Human Relations</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Generally we seek comparisons with people like ourselves. Upward social comparisons (to higher-status individuals or groups) is bad for our self-esteeem, while downward comparison (to lower-status targets) can boost our self-esteem. </p>
<p>Research over the past decade or so suggest amplifies our need to find things to feel superior about precisely because it is so effective in making us feel inferior, with social media feeds typically subjecting us to “<a href="https://www.psychreg.org/lives-social-media/">highlight reels</a>” of other people’s beachside holidays, job promotions, romantic dinners and so on. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275507421_Social_comparison_social_media_and_self-esteem">One study</a>, for example, has found that spending more time on social media is associated with a greater likelihood of thinking others are happier and have better lives. </p>
<p>Looking down on companies and brands may be an easy, relatively socially acceptable way for us to feel smarter and superior.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-social-media-affects-children-at-different-ages-and-how-to-protect-them-180374">How social media affects children at different ages – and how to protect them</a>
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<h2>Manipulating our love of complaining</h2>
<p>Some complaining is a good thing. It shows companies we are ready to hold them to account. </p>
<p>But the degree to which complaining is done to scratch psychological itches is complicating the use of social media. Indeed, some companies now deliberately court controversy to exploit our love for complaining.</p>
<p>An example is British breakfast cereal maker Weetabix, which in February 2021 tweeted an image of Weetabix topped with baked beans. This is hardly an important issue. But it generated enough controversy on social media to also spill over into dozen of reports on legacy media. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Weetabix's baked beans on weetabix tweet" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=634&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/457059/original/file-20220408-21-so75f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/weetabix/status/1359074254789165059?lang=en">Twitter</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Whenever you see a brand bringing out some odd flavour, it’s probably not because company executives have lost their minds. It’s more likely their marketing experts are deliberately looking to provoke people to express mirth or disgust about it. </p>
<p>So if you find yourself engaging in online complaining, be mindful of the social and psychological factors lurking below the surface. </p>
<p>Just as you may be taking advantage of a brand to make yourself feel better, it is possible a company is stoking controversy to take advantage of you.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175148/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Complaining on social media meets two basic psychological needs: the desire for connection, and wanting to feel superior.Angela R. Dobele, Associate professor, RMIT UniversityAshleigh Powell (née Druce), Lecturer, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1552592021-02-16T15:24:30Z2021-02-16T15:24:30ZHow to rebrand a fish so that it sounds tastier<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384259/original/file-20210215-19-628lbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5599%2C3724&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Megrim sole...or Cornish sole?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Iakov Filimonov / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>British fishermen have decided to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-55996938">rename two of their biggest exports</a> as they turn to local markets to overcome some Brexit-related difficulties with shipping products abroad. What used to be known as the megrim sole and spider crab will now be Cornish sole and Cornish king crab in order to make them more appealing to the local market. The question is whether a simple name change will make the megrim sole or the spider crab more likeable to the British consumer.</p>
<p>Humans really can eat with their ears, as lots of research has demonstrated the sound heard while eating or drinking can affect the way people think about food. Hearing “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0950329311001807">bitter sounding</a>” music when eating a toffee results in the eater perceiving it to be significantly bitterer. Chewing is not only felt but also heard, and this helps to establish whether the food is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0950329301000532">perceived as “crunchy” or “crisp”</a>. Crispy has been described as a short, high-pitched sound experienced during the first bite and crunchy as a loud and lower-pitched sound, experienced over several chews.</p>
<p>Volume is also a factor. Potato crisps that sound louder when you bite into them are deemed to taste <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-459x.2004.080403.x">crispier and fresher</a>. People also tend to think that the smell of potato crisps are more pleasant after <a href="https://academic.oup.com/chemse/article/36/3/301/506704?login=true">hearing the sound of someone else eating them</a>. All of this demonstrates that sound can make a big difference to how food is perceived.</p>
<h2>The sound of a name</h2>
<p>How a brand sounds when spoken out loud also has a fundamental role to play in how consumers view it. When we hear the name of a product we instantaneously attach meaning to it and form an idea of whether we perceive it positively, even before we have actually seen the product. This happens because different types of sounds have symbolic meaning, something that is apparent from the fact that <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1008184423824">people infer specific meaning from unfamiliar brand names</a>. For example, certain vowels, such as i, ā, ē and e, can lead to a perception that the brands are smaller, lighter, milder, thinner, softer, faster, colder, friendlier and even more feminine. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384292/original/file-20210215-13-1i6cmlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Ikea sign in France" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384292/original/file-20210215-13-1i6cmlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384292/original/file-20210215-13-1i6cmlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384292/original/file-20210215-13-1i6cmlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384292/original/file-20210215-13-1i6cmlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384292/original/file-20210215-13-1i6cmlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384292/original/file-20210215-13-1i6cmlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384292/original/file-20210215-13-1i6cmlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Vowels matter.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">sylv1rob1 / shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Using symbolic sounds for brands also <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10696679.2001.11501889">results in higher levels of likeability</a> and a clearer and stronger positioning in their minds. This is also applicable to food as psychologists found that people believed an ice cream named “Frosh” <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/31/1/43/1812051">was creamier</a> than an ice cream called “Frish”. Just altering one sound makes a big difference to the consumer perception. Such effects demonstrate the positive impact that a well-named brand can have on perceived attractiveness of a product, and the creation of brand names should therefore be considered an important part of successful product marketing.</p>
<h2>Brand association</h2>
<p>While the sound of the name is clearly important so also are the associations coupled with a brand. The adjective Cornish triggers associations with the English county of Cornwall. One of the most commonly visited tourist destinations in the UK, Cornwall is a “brand” in its own right, and its amazing coastline and beaches feature prominently in its <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/146879760100100205">marketing</a>. Therefore when people hear the word Cornish, they are likely to instantaneously think of the sea and seafood. This should be beneficial as places with a more recognised reputation for food can benefit from using the name <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JPMD-10-2018-0081/full/html">as a promotional tool</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384287/original/file-20210215-13-o78ld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="'Harbour seafood' restaurant in Cornwall" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384287/original/file-20210215-13-o78ld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384287/original/file-20210215-13-o78ld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384287/original/file-20210215-13-o78ld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384287/original/file-20210215-13-o78ld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384287/original/file-20210215-13-o78ld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384287/original/file-20210215-13-o78ld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384287/original/file-20210215-13-o78ld6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Why not wash it down with some frish ice cream?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lucian Milasan / shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Do consumers have to try it to like it?</h2>
<p>Many chefs and restaurants are looking to fine tune their food with <a href="https://trulyexperiences.com/blog/magic-multisensory-dining/">multisensory science</a>. For instance diners at The Fat Duck, a restaurant in England run by innovative celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, are played the sounds of waves breaking to enhance the experience of eating a seafood course. </p>
<p>Given developments like this, it is hardly surprising that Cornish fishermen are also considering the importance of a name. It seems the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-55996938">industry thinks</a> that if it can just get people to try its newly branded fish, they will like what they taste. However, with the right-sounding product name consumers won’t even have to try the fish as they will already have made up their minds about whether it is tastes nice. So a simple name change may not be so simple after all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155259/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cathrine Jansson-Boyd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Research suggests that the name of a product affects our perceptions of it – before we have even tried it.Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, Reader in Consumer Psychology, Anglia Ruskin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1504562020-11-27T03:05:22Z2020-11-27T03:05:22ZCoon’s rebranding dilemma: polishing a brand name to stay out of controversy<p>The makers of Coon cheese will no doubt have paid close attention to the publicity surrounding Nestle’s rebadging of its Red Skins and Chicos confectionary brands.</p>
<p>While the change of Chicos to Cheekies was uncontroversial, the change of Red Skins to Red Ripper – a name given decades ago to Soviet serial killer Andrei Chikatilo – was widely mocked.</p>
<p>The perils of rebranding helps explain the length of deliberations by Canadian-owned Saputo Dairy Australia, which has controlled the Coon brand since 2015. It announced in July it would “retire” the name, in the wake of increasing activism about brand names considered to have racist connotations. </p>
<p>“We are working to develop a new brand name that will honour the brand-affinity felt by our valued consumers while aligning with current attitudes and perspectives,” it <a href="https://www.broadsheet.com.au/national/food-and-drink/article/coon-cheese-getting-name-change-following-complaints-racism">said at the time</a>.</p>
<p>Saputo <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/saputo-dairy-australia-affirms-plan-to-dump-racist-coon-cheese-brand/news-story/6dc3af4e241c493cad121acb6f849145">reaffirmed</a> this month it would change the name, but was still “working on the new brand development and look forward to revealing it to our customers and consumers once completed”.</p>
<p>That change can’t come soon enough for Indigenous activist Stephen Hagan, who has lobbied for Coon’s retirement from the Australian market for <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/indigenous/activist-cheesed-off-by-coon-rebranding-delay/news-story/690ffa2dc352dbe3eeaeb0e2fcbc2373">more than two decades</a>. </p>
<p>But the Nestle experience explains why the Coon deliberations are taking so long.</p>
<p>A well-known brand identity is hugely valuable in the food market. It’s how shoppers find and choose things in supermarkets that stock as many as <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/grocery-stores-carry-40000-more-items-than-they-did-in-the-1990s-2017-06-07">40,000 more products</a> than they did 50 years ago. Re-establishing a brand, with a new identity, is expensive and risks losing market share.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Supermarket aisle" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371677/original/file-20201127-14-ey5m7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371677/original/file-20201127-14-ey5m7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371677/original/file-20201127-14-ey5m7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371677/original/file-20201127-14-ey5m7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371677/original/file-20201127-14-ey5m7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371677/original/file-20201127-14-ey5m7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371677/original/file-20201127-14-ey5m7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The average supermarket now has 40,000 more products than 50 years ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How Coon cheese got its name</h2>
<p>Previous owners of the Coon brand, Kraft and Dairy Farmers, resisted demands for a name change on the grounds the association with an American racial slur for African Americans was mere coincidence, with the cheese being named after its American creator Edward William Coon, who <a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US1579196A/en">patented his method</a> for making it – known as “Cooning” – in the 1926.</p>
<p>Australian dairy manufacturers began making cheese using Coon’s methods in the mid-1930s. In keeping with a common branding strategy at the time, the cheese was marketed using the name of its creator. </p>
<p>It is not known if that decision was made with knowledge the word had by then been in use in the US as a <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/9712?lang=en">derogatory term</a> for African Americans for a century.</p>
<p>In any event, the brand lived on in the Australian market. Coon is now the leading brand in the hard/cheddar cheese category, with <a href="https://www.euromonitor.com/cheese-in-australia/report">a 9% market share</a> (followed by Bega with 7.7%).</p>
<p>That share has been built over decades. Research shows strong brand loyalty in the cheese market, particularly for <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3585273">cheddar and sliced cheese</a>. Coon’s owners will therefore be carefully weighing how to rebrand Coon to minimise the risk of shoppers failing to recognise it by another name and opting for another well-known brand. </p>
<h2>Brands on the run</h2>
<p>Given all this, it is reasonable to assume the retirement of Coon is being done under some duress. </p>
<p>But social media, woke activism and the internationalisation of the Black Lives Matter movement has changed the landscape, putting pressure on companies to retire all brand names associated with historic racial stereotypes. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/brands-backing-black-lives-matter-it-might-be-a-marketing-ploy-but-it-also-shows-leadership-139874">Brands backing Black Lives Matter: it might be a marketing ploy, but it also shows leadership</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Those brands include Minnesota-based Land O’Lakes butter (dropping its logo featuring a native American woman), Eskimo Pie ice-cream (now Edy’s Pie), and US Conagra Foods’ Mrs Butterworth’s brand of syrups, packaged in bottles the shape of a “matronly” woman.</p>
<p>The biggest to fall is the “Aunt Jemima” brand of pancake mixes, syrups and breakfast foods. In June, Quaker Foods North America (owned by PepsiCo) announced it <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/17/aunt-jemima-products-change-name-image-racial-stereotype">would finally retire</a> the brand, in use since 1889 and named after a character from 19th century minstrel shows. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The Aunt Jemima's brand of cake mixes, syrups and breakfast foods has been around since 1889." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371674/original/file-20201127-24-pelr7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371674/original/file-20201127-24-pelr7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371674/original/file-20201127-24-pelr7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371674/original/file-20201127-24-pelr7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371674/original/file-20201127-24-pelr7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371674/original/file-20201127-24-pelr7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371674/original/file-20201127-24-pelr7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aunt Jemima’s brand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like Coon’s owners, Aunt Jemima’s owners are still deliberating on how to rebrand. </p>
<p>Should it, for example, attempt to replace the Aunt Jemima visual identity with another character (or characters) better representing people of colour? Or will it simply “deracialise” the brand. After all, while removing stereotypical black faces from brands achieves one objective of the Black Lives Matter movement, removing all black faces isn’t necessarily a step forward in promoting diversity. </p>
<p>But that would be an extremely difficult feat to pull off.</p>
<p>It’s more likely Quaker Foods will emulate the approach taken by US multinational Mars, which in September announced the end of Uncle Ben’s, a rice brand launched in 1946 named after an African American rice farmer whose logo features a bow-tied “Chicago chef and waiter named Frank Brown”. Mars has opted to rebadge as “Ben’s Original” and drop the face.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="www.foodnavigator-usa.com" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371676/original/file-20201127-19-1s937b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371676/original/file-20201127-19-1s937b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=199&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371676/original/file-20201127-19-1s937b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=199&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371676/original/file-20201127-19-1s937b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=199&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371676/original/file-20201127-19-1s937b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371676/original/file-20201127-19-1s937b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371676/original/file-20201127-19-1s937b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Uncle Ben’s rebranding as Ben’s Original.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2020/09/23/We-listened-we-learned-we-re-changing-Uncle-Ben-s-rebrands-to-more-inclusive-Ben-s-Original</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The gravity of the deliberation over Aunt Jemima’s is exemplified by the sales boost for a competitor in the syrup market, Michele Foods, founded by African American woman Michele Hoskins. She <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakang/2020/08/18/black-owned-syrup-companys-sales-jump-78-after-aunt-jemima-brand-retirement/?sh=324f68705394">told Forbes</a> that July sales of her company’s syrups – based on a recipe handed down to her from her great great grandmother, America Washington, a freed slave – were 78% higher than the year before. </p>
<p>The Michele’s brand features Hoskins herself on the label. But as she told Forbes: “People want authentic products.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/where-woke-came-from-and-why-marketers-should-think-twice-before-jumping-on-the-social-activism-bandwagon-122713">Where 'woke' came from and why marketers should think twice before jumping on the social activism bandwagon</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Maintaining brand continuity</h2>
<p>Whatever Saputo decides is the next name for Coon, its intention will be to quell criticism without dramatically changing brand identity.</p>
<p>It will seek to do what Nestle clearly sought to do with renaming its <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-16/red-ripper-and-cheekies-the-new-name-of-allens-red-skin-chicos/12887278">Red Skins and Chicos</a> confectionery. It will want to change the name as little as possible and retain continuity with brand colours and styling.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371675/original/file-20201127-20-1k7fl1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371675/original/file-20201127-20-1k7fl1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371675/original/file-20201127-20-1k7fl1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371675/original/file-20201127-20-1k7fl1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371675/original/file-20201127-20-1k7fl1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371675/original/file-20201127-20-1k7fl1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371675/original/file-20201127-20-1k7fl1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From Red Skins to Red Ripper: little else in the brand identity has changed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Note the new branding for Red Rippers looks almost identical to Red Skins (and the same with Chicos to Cheekies). So long as supermarkets stock these products in the same place on the shelves, customer confusion should be minimised.</p>
<p>Moon cheese, perhaps?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150456/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abas Mirzaei does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nestle’s experience explains why the Coon deliberations are taking so long.Abas Mirzaei, Senior Lecturer - Branding, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/979512018-06-14T14:46:51Z2018-06-14T14:46:51ZFrom Salad Cream to the Severn bridge, renaming is an emotive issue<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223021/original/file-20180613-32307-1ok1c6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/hywelplaidcymru/status/982907879823994880">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The American food giant Heinz sparked controversy with a <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/2018-06-05/heinz-salad-cream-could-become-sandwich-cream/">recent proposal</a> to change the name of one of its best known products. If it goes ahead, there will be no more Salad Cream in the world’s kitchens. We will have to make do with bottles of Sandwich Cream instead.</p>
<p>The argument for doing this seems logical enough – apparently only 14% of buyers actually use it on salads. This makes sense to me as a consumer, as I’ve only ever used it to make cheese and salad cream sandwiches – a favourite picnic treat in the UK. </p>
<p>But does it really matter what it’s actually used for? After all, it’s been called Salad Cream for more than 100 years since its launch in 1914. Heinz obviously thinks so, though perhaps it didn’t anticipate the depth of feeling which this proposed renaming would provoke. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/salad-cream-name-change-sandwich-14752030&ust=1529060100000000&usg=AFQjCNGbEq0-fiA8uzOLyU_zcOser-4QAw&hl=en&source=gmail">On social media</a> there has been outrage, disbelief, and comparisons made with previous renaming events – like when Marathon bars became Snickers, and Opal fruits gave way to Starburst. </p>
<p>The depth of feeling surrounding the renaming of these products is interesting to me as <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/onomastics">an onomastician</a> – someone who studies names. As fellow onomastician <a href="http://onomastics.co.uk">Carole Hough explains</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Names are interesting for what they tell us about ourselves and about the people who share or have shared the world with us. The choices we make in giving names to our children, our pets and our homes reflect the things that are important to us.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Names are a phenomenon of interest, hiding in plain sight. They are at the heart of how we communicate with each other, and one of the first things we focus on when learning a new language. </p>
<h2>That’s not my name</h2>
<p>In <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2158244016658935">my own research</a>, I’ve discussed how I am often unwittingly renamed by strangers, who assume the English pronunciation of “Sarah” (pronounced Serruh), rather than the Welsh (and globally more common) pronunciation of “Sara” (phonetically Sᴂᴂ) with two hard “A"s and a rolling "R”. </p>
<p>While I have personally found this irritating, others have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/tea.21196">written more harrowing accounts</a> of being renamed by teachers who don’t understand how languages other than English are written, with some letters having accents. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maria_Rivera_Maulucci">María S. Rivera Maulucci</a>, of Columbia University explains:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My parents gave me the name, María, and when I learned to write, my mother taught me to put a slanted line, not a dot, over the letter, i, in my name. Yet in school, what was a source of ethnic pride was erased. I distinctly remember my kindergarten teacher screaming at me: “That is not how you write the letter, i!” She made me erase the accent mark and replace it with a dot. That was when I became Maria.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/18/paul-nuttall-mocked-calling-leanne-wood-natalie-twice-itv-debate/">during a TV debate</a> ahead of the 2017 UK general election, UKIP’s Paul Nuttall annoyed Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood, by twice referring to her as “Natalie” in the space of 20 minutes. Speculation as to why Nuttall made this blunder ranged from confusing her with the actress Natalie Wood, and also the former Green Party Leader, Natalie Bennett. But many on social media <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/18/paul-nuttall-mocked-calling-leanne-wood-natalie-twice-itv-debate/">saw it as evidence</a> of a lack of respect towards women, in that he couldn’t tell them apart.</p>
<p>This was an interesting angle, since the general election ran parallel to the <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/the-handmaids-tale-how-to-watch-uk_uk_591aef6be4b07d5f6ba60493">UK television broadcast</a> of an adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale. Margaret Atwood’s famous novel is the story of a dystopian, patriarchal future, where fertile women are enslaved as “handmaidens”, with every aspect of their former identities removed. </p>
<p>This includes their names, which are replaced by a patronymic made up of the name of their master and the word “of”, to indicate subjugation. The main character’s master is named Fred, so she becomes “Offred”. </p>
<h2>A bridge too far</h2>
<p>Another recent example of a <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/wales/2018-05-14/first-minister-welcomed-renaming-of-second-severn-crossing-months-before-new-name-was-announced/">controversial renaming</a> proposal concerns the bridge in the UK which spans the River Severn – the Severn Bridge, or Pont Hafren, to give it its Welsh name. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223022/original/file-20180613-32327-1ez49vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223022/original/file-20180613-32327-1ez49vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223022/original/file-20180613-32327-1ez49vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223022/original/file-20180613-32327-1ez49vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223022/original/file-20180613-32327-1ez49vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223022/original/file-20180613-32327-1ez49vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223022/original/file-20180613-32327-1ez49vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prince of Wales or Gareth Bale Bridge? How about leaving it alone?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/severn-way-bristol-uk-january-052017-645598015?src=7uLYcowc5SNZqPGZFdzGWA-1-3">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is an important distinction, because all names – whether for products, brands, bridges, or our own personal names – are words which reflect the cultures and languages from which they emanate. </p>
<p>As with all bridges, the Severn Bridge/Pont Hafren, has a foot on two banks. In this case, one in England and one in Wales. Objections to the renaming of the bridge therefore have a cultural and linguistic component, and are linked to the uneasy history between the constituent countries of the UK, particularly the <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qmCuBwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+welsh+language+a+pocket+guide&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjG9u6ikL_bAhUPLVAKHdBoC6sQ6AEIKTAA#v=snippet&q=language%20clause&f=false">oppression of the Welsh language</a>. </p>
<p>The fact that the bridge will be renamed “The Prince of Wales Bridge” has further emotive connotations, due to the complex political tensions regarding the “British” royal family in Wales.</p>
<p>In response, more than 27,000 people have <a href="https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/more-27000-people-sign-petition-14505988">signed a petition</a> against this new moniker. On the other side, newspaper columnist <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-43699083">Rod Liddle reacted</a> by directly attacking not only the Welsh people but also the Welsh language.</p>
<p>His comments were met with astonishment and disdain by the Welsh press and politicians, who pointed out the lack of accuracy of his throwaway comment that the Welsh language has no vowels. It has also <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-racism-against-welsh-people-is-still-racism-96303">been claimed</a> that Liddle’s attack is tantamount to racism.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"982907879823994880"}"></div></p>
<p>Then, following the sensational performance of Welsh footballer Gareth Bale’s at the Champions League final, a fresh <a href="https://www.change.org/p/alun-cairns-mp-rename-the-2nd-severn-crossing-after-gareth-bale">petition was launched</a> – calling for the Severn Bridge to be named after him instead.</p>
<p>As an onomastician, I will be following the Heinz salad cream debate with much interest. I am firmly in camp “remain”, as I have been on other recent issues, including the renaming of Pont Hafren.</p>
<p>But it is not the first time Salad Cream fans have been worried. There was an outcry in the 1999, when Heinz was reportedly considering calling a halt on production altogether. This generated so much publicity that <a href="https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/heinz-relaunches-salad-cream-pounds-10m-trendy-ads/70066">Heinz relaunched Salad Cream</a> the following year with a £10m advertising campaign. A similar end to this scandal would be a mouthwatering prospect for Heinz.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-racism-against-welsh-people-is-still-racism-96303">Why racism against Welsh people is still racism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97951/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara Louise Wheeler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What’s in a name? A valued sense of history and identity.Sara Louise Wheeler, Darlithydd mewn Polisi Cymdeithasol (Cyfrwng Cymraeg)/ Lecturer in Social Policy (Welsh medium), Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/770932017-05-09T14:16:03Z2017-05-09T14:16:03ZPrescribing generic drugs will reduce patient confusion and medication errors<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168498/original/file-20170509-20757-1w3h710.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If doctors prescribe generic drugs rather than their brand name equivalents, most times patients benefit.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/559764574?src=cvIlBVQ8z139t7FZlLOmNg-1-81&size=medium_jpg">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In last night’s federal budget, Treasurer Scott Morrison announced an <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-01/budget-to-push-generic-medicines-to-save-dollars/8486736">anticipated</a> range of measures to encourage doctors to prescribe generic medicines rather than their more expensive brand name equivalents. So unless specified by the doctor, patients will receive a prescription with the generic medication name on it.</em></p>
<p><em>This is part of A$1.8 billion in measures announced to reduce the drugs bill over five years. But beyond saving costs, the push towards generics may also reduce confusion among patients and medication errors.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p>“Are you taking aspirin at the moment?” I ask Iris, a pensioner in her 80s.</p>
<p>“No dear, I haven’t taken that for years,” she says, as she empties a large brown paper bag filled with medication boxes, new, old and empty.</p>
<p>I see a new bottle of aspirin emerge from the bag and ask if she is taking them.</p>
<p>“Oh yes, I always take my <em>Astrix</em> tablets.”</p>
<p>It’s not just elderly people who can be confused about which medication they’re taking. <a href="https://theconversation.com/cant-pronounce-the-name-of-your-medicine-heres-why-15416">Drug names are long, complex</a> and there are usually multiple brands for the same product.</p>
<p>For any medication, there are likely to be <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2011/195/11/what-s-name-brand-name-confusion-and-generic-medicines">up to 15 different</a> brands available. People are likely to use these brand names to describe the drug, like Iris did with her Astrix tablets.</p>
<p>In Australia in 2010 only <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/AH/AH12009">19.5% of scripts</a> issued by GPs used the generic term for a drug, compared with 83% in the United Kingdom.</p>
<p>Encouraging doctors to prescribe generics goes beyond economic value. It has the potential to lead to a simplification of the language around medications, less influence on our purchasing decision by pharmaceutical marketing, and fewer medication errors by both doctors and consumers.</p>
<p>When we visit the GP, unless a specific reason exists, we should receive a script written with the generic term.</p>
<h2>What is a generic term for a medication?</h2>
<p>The generic term for a medication is the name of the <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/book/prominence-active-ingredients-medicine-labels">active ingredient</a> it contains. This is the ingredient that actually does the work of controlling your asthma or reducing your risk of heart disease.</p>
<p>There is only one generic name for each medication. But several different brands may be available. The brand name is usually the largest writing on the packet. Nurofen, for instance, is the brand name for the generic medication ibuprofen.</p>
<p>Generic medications are available for older drugs, and are commonly offered by your pharmacist as a cheaper alternative to the original branded medication. These drugs are tested to contain exactly the same active ingredients, <a href="https://www.tga.gov.au/publication/australian-regulatory-guidelines-prescription-medicines-argpm">so they produce the same effects</a>. </p>
<p>However, there are a few rare exceptions, such as in <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059131106000033">some epilepsy medications</a>, where drug levels may differ slightly between brands. So in such cases, doctors can choose to prescribe the branded version for its specific clinical benefits.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-do-generic-medicines-compare-with-brand-leaders-1386">Explainer: how to generic medicines compare with brand leaders?</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>Which medicine name your doctor writes on you prescription - brand name or generic - can <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2011/195/11/what-s-name-brand-name-confusion-and-generic-medicines">often be a lottery</a>. </p>
<p>If your doctor writes a prescription for a brand name, your pharmacist may offer to substitute this for an equivalent generic drug. So, people often leave the pharmacy with a medication name or package that bears no resemblance to the prescription.</p>
<h2>Potentially confusing for patients</h2>
<p>The main problem with all these multiple names is the potential for confusion, especially for those most likely to use multiple medications - <a href="http://journals.lww.com/americantherapeutics/Abstract/publishahead/Error_in_Drugs_Consumption_Among_Older_Patients_.98899.aspx">the elderly</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, patients are at risk of not understanding which medications they are taking or why they are taking them. This often leads to doubling-up of a certain drug (taking two brands of the same medication), or forgetting to take them because the name on the package doesn’t match the script.</p>
<p>This problem of some patients’ poor medication literacy significantly affects doctors, nurses and pharmacists, who need to know which medications people are using. While our own GP may have your list of medications, often we visit multiple doctors who won’t have access to these list (different GPs while on holidays, emergency departments or specialists). If patients doesn’t know their medications, neither will doctors.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168541/original/file-20170509-11023-o7zd95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168541/original/file-20170509-11023-o7zd95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/168541/original/file-20170509-11023-o7zd95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168541/original/file-20170509-11023-o7zd95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168541/original/file-20170509-11023-o7zd95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168541/original/file-20170509-11023-o7zd95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168541/original/file-20170509-11023-o7zd95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/168541/original/file-20170509-11023-o7zd95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Many elderly patients are confused about the names of their medications.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>An advisory group for Australian pharmaceuticals, well aware of the dangers this confusion can cause, and as far back as 2005, <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/5B47B202BBFAFE02CA257BF0001C6AAC/$File/guiding.pdf">promoted the use</a> of prescribing and labelling with generic terms. The US Institute for Safe Medication Practices estimates that <a href="https://www.ismp.org/newsletters/acutecare/articles/20070809.asp">25% of medication errors</a> result from name confusion.</p>
<h2>Why do doctors use brand names when prescribing?</h2>
<p>In a busy clinic running half an hour behind, the generic name of a medication is often the last thing on the doctor’s mind. There are thousands of medications and even the most diligent doctor can’t remember them all. </p>
<p>Pharmaceutical companies have marketed brand name medication to both doctors and (in some countries) consumers, so they are far more memorable and palatable – for instance Viagra, rather than the generic term sildenafil.</p>
<p>But when doctors rely on using brand names in conversation and prescribing, this can cause confusion. Doctors using branded prescribing can lead to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3307571/">serious medication errors</a>. This may be due not knowing the active ingredients in those medications, or mixing up brand names, which are becoming increasingly difficult to recognise when written in doctor’s handwriting.</p>
<p>So, to avoid confusion, medication errors and allowing for patient control over purchasing decisions, we <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/imj.12805/full">recommend</a> doctors use generic terms when prescribing unless a specific reason exists.</p>
<h2>How does this affect me?</h2>
<p>Everyone uses medications. The key issue here is autonomy. A script that contains the generic term for a medication allows that person to decide exactly what type of medication they wish to purchase, rather than that be influenced by what brand the doctor writes on the script.</p>
<p>When language excludes (for instance, by being complex or relying on jargon) or confuses, it restricts our autonomy. At present, the language of medications may have two, three or ten words for each drug, and the words we use are often influenced by pharmaceutical marketing and what a doctor prescribes. </p>
<p>The greatest effect of this budget announcement may be the chance to simplify this language to a singular generic drug term, to reduce confusion and allow us to be more involved with our medication decisions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77093/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Grant does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A push towards prescribing generic medications rather than their branded equivalents, as flagged in the budget, may have benefits beyond simple cost savings.Matthew Grant, Research Fellow, Palliative Medicine Physician, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/670042016-10-13T11:33:52Z2016-10-13T11:33:52ZWalking on fire water: how a whisky maker put its brand to work for refugees<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141596/original/image-20161013-31336-1k8igu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> </figcaption></figure><p>Who best to try to change the narrative around Syrian refugees? A new film by a Sundance-winning director to raise donations for the international NGO Mercy Corps has been funded not by a traditional media organisation – but a well-known whisky maker.</p>
<p>Johnnie Walker, part of consumer giant Diageo commissioned Talal Derki, best known for his award-winning feature documentary <a href="http://www.returntohoms.com/">Return To Homs</a>, to make a film about the island of Lesvos, which last year helped around half a million refugees making the dangerous voyage across the Aegean Sea. </p>
<p>Some of the islanders (who are featured in the film) were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/24/greek-islanders-to-be-nominated-nobel-peace-prize">nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize</a> for their actions. These included fishermen Stratis Valamios and Thanassis Marmarinos, and 85-year-old Aimilia Kamvisi.</p>
<p>The film Ode to Lesvos has had 31m views since its launch last month, according to Johnnie Walker, and Mercy Corps says the film has raised almost £1,500 for the charity so far. From my conversations with Johnnie Walker, Mercy Corps and director Talal Derki, the message all three want to push is that the film is a way of repositioning the story of the refugee crisis that has <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/refugee-crisis-20183">dominated the news agenda</a> over the past year.</p>
<p>“My point of view was as a Syrian refugee and exile,” says Derki. “For me, I wanted to do the story in a positive way to show it as inspiration … This is a work about finding out who can change things around themselves.”</p>
<p>The subtitled four-and-a-half minute film, which features several islanders speaking about their experiences in rescuing refugees and which includes dramatic pictures of piles of abandoned lifejackets, is resolutely upbeat and beautifully shot. You can view it below:</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4iDRksHhshg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>For Selena Victor, director of Policy & Advocacy at <a href="https://www.mercycorps.org.uk/">Mercy Corps</a>, the message was key: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is so much rhetoric that is anti-refugees, anti-outsiders about closing borders and political debate. But when people come face to face with refugees, it’s not the case. From our perspective it is really interesting that this film harnesses the goodwill people show in life and death situations. We wanted to challenge the media portrayal that sees refugees as either those drowning, or generating a dangerous security threat.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Unlike in his previous documentary, Derki made a conscious choice in Ode to Lesvos to focus on the Greek islanders, rather than the refugees who were helped: “I wanted it to be about the Greeks and their experience and their reaction.” This, says Guy Escolme, global brand director for Johnnie Walker, fitted well with their new Storyline programme which works with writers, directors and photographers to create “inspiring stories of positivity and progress”. </p>
<p>So far, Storyline has released a film about a post-war art project in Colombia, plus a perhaps more typical one about an Edinburgh-based whisky blender travelling to New York with a limited edition rye blend. Says Escolme:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We’ve always sought to tell inspiring stories of the human spirit. The Keep Walking campaign is really about people doing extraordinary things … And we wanted to tell the story of how the Lesvos residents responded to a crisis in front of them and we thought they would inspire other people … We hope people are inspired to reflect what it would take to be a better person, and also as a call to action, people can go ahead and make a donation.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141597/original/image-20161013-31308-gmjug9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141597/original/image-20161013-31308-gmjug9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141597/original/image-20161013-31308-gmjug9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141597/original/image-20161013-31308-gmjug9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141597/original/image-20161013-31308-gmjug9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141597/original/image-20161013-31308-gmjug9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141597/original/image-20161013-31308-gmjug9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Diageo and Johnny Walker have involved themselves in other humanitarian campaigns.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some may feel uneasy that an NGO should be working in such close contact with a company that’s primary aim is to sell alcohol. Victor, however, is adamant that Mercy Corps, which has a long relationship with Diageo, has no ethical problems with this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We partner with enormous range of people at Mercy Corps – civil society, local NGOs private sector, think tanks, everyone has something to contribute. Of course, we had a conversation about it and we respect everyone’s position on how they feel about alcohol but this was a really positive film brought to us by a company we had worked with and respected in the past and it was just such a good and important way to get the message out.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p><em>Donations can be made here: <a href="https://www.mercycorps.org/johnniewalker">www.mercycorps.org/johnniewalker</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67004/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Glenda Cooper does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When commercial considerations work with charitable concerns for the common good.Glenda Cooper, Lecturer in Journalism, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/648782016-09-26T19:45:19Z2016-09-26T19:45:19ZFrom chickens and pickles to iSnack 2.0: the trends behind the brand names you remember<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137690/original/image-20160914-4989-6u1eq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research shows the letters used for product names are subject to trends, much like anything else.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image sourced from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1981, advertising researcher Ira Schloss published a journal article headlined “Chickens and pickles”. The research found the letter “K” was overrepresented as the initial letter in top brand names. </p>
<p>Thirty-five years on we see it in <a href="http://www.specialk.com.au/en_au/home-page.html">Kellogg’s Special K</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Ka">Ford’s Ka</a>, and the cider known simply as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_%28cider%29">K</a>.</p>
<p>But <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10350330.2013.799003">recent research</a> suggests the (initial) letters used for product names are subject to trends, much like anything else. In the early years of the 21st century, for example, it was fashionable to have X as the initial letter of a product or brand name (think <a href="http://www.xbox.com/en-AU">Xbox</a>, <a href="https://au.tv.yahoo.com/x-factor/#page1">X-factor</a>). </p>
<p>More recently, the explosion of the lower-case “i” prefix, in the wake of the <a href="http://www.apple.com/au/">Apple™</a> revolution, spurred a range of “i” inspired brand names: <a href="http://www.trulydeeply.com.au/brand-engagement/isnack-2-0-when-brand-naming-goes-wrong/">iSnack 2.0</a> and <a href="http://iview.abc.net.au/">iView</a>. </p>
<p>The authors suggested that both X and i are used to appeal to a younger generation of customers through a style of writing that, in part, mimics text messaging.</p>
<p>So how did K come to be used more often in brand names than would be expected by chance? <a href="http://search.proquest.com/openview/dd430465caf707a8af9a0fa94525c9d0/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1818414">Research suggests</a> that the sharp-sounding K might cut through background noise more effectively than other speech sounds. </p>
<p>The same research also suggested that K has some very unique characteristics that lend themselves well to brand names. Firstly, it has positive <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_symbolism">sound symbolism</a>. It is also versatile in that it can be used in combination with commonly appearing initial letters such as S, L, or R. </p>
<p>K is also unique in the sense that the letter C ensures that K occurs infrequently as the initial letter in words. And K is memorable because it is what linguists refer to as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_consonant">plosive</a>. The research mentioned above demonstrated that words beginning with plosive sounds (i.e. B, hard C, D, G, K, P, and T) are easier to remember.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.2003.10639137">Further research</a> has argued that because K has the same sound as a hard C, companies can generate unusual spellings for their products (e.g. <a href="https://www.kitkat.com/">Kit-Kat</a>, <a href="https://www.krispykreme.com.au/shop-online?gclid=CLaX24qz-c4CFQsjvQodCS0Gug">Krispy Kreme Doughnuts</a>) which, again, and because of uniqueness, has the potential to enhance brand name recall and recognition.</p>
<p>Interestingly, Kit-Kat and Krispy-Kreme have repeating phonetic sounds. And <a href="http://journals.ama.org/doi/abs/10.1509/jmkg.74.4.97">research</a> has found that exposing people to brand names containing repeating phonetic sounds (e.g. Coca-Cola, <a href="http://www.wrigley.com/aunz/brands/hubba-bubba.aspx">Hubba Bubba</a>, <a href="http://www.jellybelly.com.au/">Jelly Belly</a>) can have a positive effect on their evaluations of the brand and their choice of product.</p>
<h2>Our findings</h2>
<p>Using the top 200 company names from the Fortune 500 list, and comparing the initial letter-frequency to two benchmarks, <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41262-016-0007-3">our analyses</a> revealed, in fact, that A and J are overrepresented as initial letters in top company names, while S is underrepresented. In neither of our analyses was the letter K overrepresented among top company names. </p>
<p>If there has been a shift in companies’ and/or consumers’ preferences for rounded letters, why might this have occurred? </p>
<p>Perhaps the popularity of J in company names is a result of the popularity of baby names beginning with J? <a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/content/23/10/1067.short">Research</a> has suggested that “names are more likely to be popular when similar-sounding names have been popular recently”, and that this should hold for names across a variety of domains (e.g. songs, companies). </p>
<p>As our list of company names began in 2010, we used <a href="http://www.babycenter.com/top-baby-names-2009">a list of the top 200 baby names</a> from 2009 to see if the “popular recently” hypothesis held true. To our surprise, baby names that had J as the first letter occurred at a frequency greater than that of words in the English language. As such, the preference parents had for names beginning with J some five or six years ago may be contributing to the popularity of companies that have a J as the initial letter of their names today. </p>
<p><a href="http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mksc.1110.0633">The idea here</a> is that company names that are comparable, but not identical, “to currently popular cultural items may be particularly successful” because they are the perfect combination of originality and familiarity. For example, “Johnson & Johnson” may be popular at the moment because the name Johnathan was popular in the recent past. </p>
<p>So what does the future hold for company names? If there is a link between baby names and company names, companies beginning with A, E, J, K, and L may be successful in the near future. These were the most popular baby names in 2015 and their first letters occurred with a frequency greater than that of words in the English language. </p>
<p>Given that J is the only letter with a rounded shape here, it may be that company names with initial letters that are angular in shape (e.g. K) will soon experience a surge in popularity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64878/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>George Van Doorn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How did K come to be used more often in brand names than would be expected by chance?George Van Doorn, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Federation University AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.