Where do popular brand names come from?

There are strategic and creative processes that will produce the name and certainly Rocket Branding is on top of that list.

But sometimes it is just serendipity.

Snausages, one of the more successful doggie treat brands, is a prime example of happenstance.

My team, at JWT, was trying to work out how to launch this new, hot dog-like treat and, yes it was late in the day and, yes pizza and wine were being served (not beer…we were classy).

The sausage on the pizza, however, had a weird taste to me. I announced that it “was not sausage”. Unfortunately with my accent the others thought I was saying ‘snausages’ and, of course, much laughter and mockery ensued.

When the list of possible names for this new product was shown to the client, ‘LA Doggers’ was on the top, but ‘Snausages’ was also added at the bottom…almost as an inside joke.

Dennis Yader, a young art director did not see it that way. He couldn’t let go of the Snausages name and went ahead and created a rough storyboard for a television campaign featuring a crazy frenetic dog looking for the new treat. It was thrown in testing with the other contenders and ‘boom’, it blew the top of the research.

Dennis’s original, roughly drawn storyboard not only became the launch TV campaign but it drove everything from package design to marketing tactics.

Here is that original campaign. It built the brand for many years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzIiTlCBDgE

It’s amazing what happens when talented people find something to laugh at…hopefully not always at my expense.

Read more about the Snausages story and why it worked. Go to www.rocketbranding.com and buy the book. The case is on page 171.