No, not the bodice-ripper kind of romance. The kind with rich storytelling that draws you in and makes you feel something.
Romance Builds Brands
This week’s #tellthetruths video explores a brand name that breaks quite a few naming rules. It’s not clear, not super pronounceable, and not immediately memorable. But the story shines through and that’s what makes it work! Surprisingly, even for someone who obsesses over clarity and memorability, I think this one earns its place through sheer emotional pull. Where do you land on names like this. Do you fall head over heels, or does the spark fizzle before the first date?
This video originally appeared in LinkedIn.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Hey everyone, it’s Rebeca with BrandTrue, and today I want to talk about the element of romance that’s sometimes required in building brands. You know, like storytelling, getting deep into things, and some categories, especially, some situations really call for that as opposed to being straightforward. So as much as I like a transparent name, I’m going to tell you the story of a brand called Itacate.
So Itacate, it might sound a little Spanish, it isn’t even. It’s Nahuatl, which is one of the Central American indigenous languages. And it means food to go, food for the journey. It’s like carry out, take away. And what the story behind the brand is, is that a woman from Mexico, a Mexican American now, started getting into camping and outdoor life and found that, A. it just didn’t feel like it was a welcoming space for her, but also that, like, freeze-dried camping food was hideous to her. She had a different standard. She had certain flavors, flavors that she’s used to, and that are, you know, what she wants to eat. And she realized that there was a space in the market and so, she created a line of food. It’s like, you know, convenient, freeze-dried and it’s to-go, it’s for camping, and it’s for, of course, anyone can eat it, but all of the dishes are more of those Latin flavors, and for a brand such as that to have this not immediately obvious name, to have this name that you have to stick around and learn more to find out what it means is kind of an interesting strategy.
It’s not completely transparent, it’s not so accessible, maybe not so memorable, and therefore, that’s a red flag in most cases, but I think in this case that storytelling and that romance really works. So let me know what you think. Thanks. Bye!
