How is it possible that different brands can have the same name, like Dove Chocolates and Dove personal care products?
How Can Different Brands Have The Same Name?
In this #tellthetruths video Rebeca explains how that can be, and therefore why it isn’t necessarily the kiss of death for a brand name if someone else is already using it. The key is to be in TOTALLY different areas of business.
This video originally appeared in LinkedIn
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TRANSCRIPT:
– Hi everyone. It’s Rebeca with BrandTrue. And today we’re going to talk about how different brands can have the same name. So I was sitting down getting ready to do a video about Monster, the recruiting brand, and Does This Name Suck? The recruiting firm online. You know who I mean. And then it hit me that Monster is also an energy drink. And I thought it’d be even more fun to talk about the fact that sometimes different brands have the same name. Monster and Monster is my new favorite example because it’s a more modern example.
There’s some heritage brands like Dove, the skincare brand, and Dove the chocolates, but they were both born around the same time, around ’58,’59. There’s Delta Faucet, and Delta Dental Insurance, and Delta is an airline. And there you go. As I’m describing them, I’m describing very different businesses. That’s the secret. Sometimes when looking for a brand name, people will figure out that someone else has the name and they’ll think, “I can’t have it.” And the truth is, yes, you can have it, providing that someone else using the name is in a very distinct area of business so that there’s no risk of the average consumer being confused that it’s the same company.
I’ll give you an added wrinkle that if it’s a really big company, they’re much more likely to come after you with an expensive problem saying that there’s potential for confusion. They’re protecting their name. That’s a real issue. But if you wanna name something something and it’s a bagel shop in Spokane, and you’re nothing like a bagel shop, or a bakery, or food in any way, you’re probably going to be okay. So the thing that people get stuck on is the URL. Monster.com is the recruiting firm. Well, the beverage is drinkmonster.com and to use a terrible pun they’ve had a monster of success. It hasn’t exactly been a problem for them that the recruiting firm exists. They’re clearly different. There’s no consumer confusion. So that’s how two different brands can have the same name. Absolutely, it’s possible. Let me know what you think about this. Bye!
