MAM
A BILLION BUSINESS NAMES CLASH ON E-COMMERCE
The dilution of a business name by so many similar names points to the demise of the power of once-unique names. They have become a big marketing liability by being just background noise with no distinction in today’s fiercely competitive marketplace. It’s a soup all right.
E-commerce is growing in leaps and bounds. Searching on global engines for business names based on “Web” or “Net,” like WebCom, WebTech, NetSys or NetWeb, will now result in millions of matches. This signals a crisis for business name identities, corporate images and global cyber-branding and domain name management.
The same goes for the other top 100 most diluted words, suffixes, prefixes and roots as they have equally glutted the business marketplace. Words like info, data, tech, cell or soft have been overly used and abused in the naming of products, services and companies.
There are a handful of exceptions, like Microsoft or WebEx.
Alphabet Soup
This dilution points to the demise of the power of once-unique names, as they now have become a big marketing liability by being just being just background noise with no distinction in today’s fiercely competitive marketplace. It’s a soup all right.
In an earlier study by ABC Namebank in 1997, the same diluted names pointed to less than 10,000 possible hits, while today’s numbers are at hundreds of millions. Once identical names reach an unfathomable number, that name identity is doomed.
This raises serious questions for the executives of those hundreds of millions of businesses around the globe hoping to achieve superior sales. The fundamental laws of corporate image and naming in cyber branding clearly demand a simple, very unique and a powerful name identity, or else entire advertising and branding budgets are bound to be wasted.
The point here is that even if customers manage to find one of these companies through a search, the brand recognition is still blurred as millions of similar names compete for attention.
This driving force of the new name economy will simply get worse as we engage a virtual society where every second, millions of generic and diluted names are being crushed into the e-commerce arena. Zillions of fluid, wireless names, images and messages are racing against each other like a 24-7 battle scene from “Lord of The Rings.”
Is the Name Working?
The biggest problem has been when businesses in developing countries simply copy names from the West. With 246 countries, and a large majority of them playing amateur branding games, it is very easy for the numbers to add up a billion. It may be true that most of the users are not large or legit, but the names do cram the global search engines.
No matter how and where these type of names originated and irrespective of whether they were created as a sudden bolt of lightning or developed over many months by outsourced teams of fancy branding professionals, the question remains: Is it working? And to what standard?
Users of these diluted monikers are not suing each other, because they have no chance of defending the generic nature of the name. Still, somehow it is a taboo for the senior executives to openly discuss the name issues. This makes for prolonged agony as most marketing and branding slowly bleeds corporate resources, reducing the visibility on e-commerce while the cash registers keep getting quieter.
When you have a NetThis and WebThat, how do customers keep it all straight? The beauty of well-known brand names like PlayStation, Rolex, Panasonic or Google is that they are so easily identifiable from the crowd.
There is a lot to be said for highly unique, proprietary naming. This is not just a branding game any longer. Business naming never was a creative exercise; it is supposed to be a very tactical black and white maneuver to capture the right alpha-structure and to make sure that it is not only simple and highly related to the business, but most critically, it is available for a globally protected trademark along with a matching dot-com.
Three Golden Rules of Naming
For the true masters of naming architects, this is a normal, doable task, but to creative branding brainstormers, it is just a game of making large random lists, hence, the current naming and duplication crisis. Seek out the right expertise and the right methodology to end with a “Five Star Standard” business name.
The golden rules for choosing a business name start with the premise that a company should never lean under someone else’s umbrella, or it will wind up getting wet. Don’t be a copycat. It is very bad to copy or borrow from an established identity. Trying to resemble an established legendary name is fruitless in the long run.
Creativity is important but over-creativity can be damaging. It can cause fire. Do not twist, bend, stretch, exaggerate, corrupt or modify alphabetic structures without certified and proven skills. It might result in difficult, confusing and unpronounceable names.
Work locally, but name globally. A name is only good when it is free and clear to travel around the globe without encountering translation problems or trademark conflicts.
Without a proper and in-depth understanding of corporate nomenclature, rules of global cyber-branding and domain name identities, it is no longer possible to play the real e-commerce game. The sooner the analysis is done, the sooner the results will come.
MAM
Mangaldeep partners with Vrindavan Vibes at ISKCON Vrindavan event
Fragrance brand backs youth led kirtan gathering that drew 4000 plus devotees.
MUMBAI: If devotion had a soundtrack, Vrindavan recently turned the volume up. Mangaldeep Incense has partnered with Vrindavan Vibes at ISKCON Vrindavan, an emerging devotional gathering that blends traditional kirtans with a youthful, community driven atmosphere. The first day of the celebrations alone drew more than 4000 devotees, signalling the growing appeal of participatory spiritual events among younger audiences.
More than a festive collaboration, the association reflects a broader cultural shift in how spirituality is being experienced today. Vrindavan Vibes Jamming, described as a kirtan utsav, brings together youth, families and devotees for collective singing within a sacred temple setting, turning devotion into a shared, immersive experience.
For Mangaldeep, the partnership positions the brand as a long term enabler of community led devotion. Vrindavan, long regarded as the spiritual home of Lord Krishna, remains a vibrant centre for bhajans, temple gatherings and devotional music that attracts pilgrims and visitors from across the country.
As part of the collaboration, Mangaldeep has introduced a fragrance led experience within the venue. This includes ambient fragrance pillars designed to enhance the devotional ambience, a curated Khusbhoo Path experience, a selfie booth for visitors to capture shared memories, and specially designed souvenirs for devotees attending the event.
Mangaldeep divisional CEO of the matches and agarbatti division Rohit Dogra said the initiative reflects the changing ways in which faith is being expressed.
“At Mangaldeep, devotion has always been at the heart of everything we do. Today we are witnessing a beautiful shift in how spirituality is expressed, particularly among young India where bhajans and kirtans are becoming vibrant collective experiences of faith and belonging. Our partnership with ISKCON Vrindavan for Vrindavan Vibes reflects this evolution,” he said.
Bhajan and kirtan gatherings are increasingly emerging as spaces for emotional connection and cultural identity, especially for younger audiences looking for a sense of grounding in an otherwise fast paced world. Participants at the event described the gathering as a moment of calm and shared joy, as chants and music brought thousands together in a collective expression of faith.
By aligning with Vrindavan Vibes, Mangaldeep is positioning itself not just as an incense brand, but as a facilitator of shared spiritual experiences, extending its presence from homes and temples to large scale community led devotional platforms.
