一些品牌的有趣起源
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The creativity and simplicity of some of the most successful brands are what made them instantly recognizable and memorable. Without difficulties, they communicate to their audience precisely the message they want to send. However, the origins of some of them are more interesting than you might think.
Pepsi, a drink for indigestion Like many other carbonated beverages, Pepsi began to be sold as a remedy for indigestion. Pharmacist Caleb Bradham prepared it in the soda fountain of his pharmacy using a mixture of sugar, caramel, water, lemon oil, kola nuts, and nutmeg. The original name was "Brad's Drink," which he sold with the slogan: "Exhilarating, Invigorating, Aids Digestion." The drink turned out to be so popular that Bradham decided to change its name to a more attractive one. So, drawing inspiration from the word dyspepsia, the medical name for indigestion, and the kola nut that was part of the recipe, he renamed the product "Pepsi-Cola." Nowadays, this centennial drink is a brand that has steadily grown thanks to the advertisements done by distinguished artists and celebrities. Google, a typo The world's largest search engine developed an influential brand that spread like a communications giant and even led to the creation of the verb "google" in the English language. It's undeniable that Google currently possesses one of the most extensive data centers in the world, which collects internet information. Even during their freshman year at Stanford University, its founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, already knew the potential their company had. That's why the original plan was to name it "googol," based on the Googol number, which is equivalent to 10 to the 100th power, a huge number, but one that is not infinite. Due to a mistake, Larry Page misspelled the name: Instead of "googol," he wrote "google," and the web and the company were registered with this "error." But, in fact, this mistake only worked to distinguish the search engine from the rest and rise to what it is today. McDonald's, the inventors of fast food The entrepreneur Ray Kroc was the mastermind behind the expansion of the chain, but the original name comes from the last name of the inventors of the "fast food" concept: Maurice "Mac" and Richard "Dick" McDonald. Before 1940, they owned and operated a successful restaurant, but once World War II was over, they decided to try a new system to reduce the time people waited for their food. The first McDonald's opened in 1948. It had a menu of only a few items and executed standardized processes that allowed the brothers to accelerate the food preparation and sell it at a very competitive price. Their success led them to remodel the architecture of the restaurant too, building the prototype of the famous golden arches. Soon after, the McDonald brothers bought Ray Krocs many milkshake mixers at a time when the market was on decline. The businessman was shocked at the efficiency of the restaurant and came up with the idea of developing franchises throughout the United States. He became their agent and bought 100% of the firm in the 1960s. The famous golden arches that identify the brand have evolved with time, but they're still one of the most recognizable logos on the planet because of their simplicity and vibrant color. Gatorade, help winning When in 1965, the Florida Gators university team was showing deficient performance and a series of heat-related illnesses on the field, doctors got down to work at the coach's request to find out what was going wrong. The specialists discovered that when the players played a game, they lost electrolytes and carbohydrates but did not recover them, so they developed a drink that met these needs. They called it Gator-Aid. The product proved to be a vast success among the Gators, and its popularity spread like wildfire in the sports world. When the time came to start producing it commercially, the name was replaced with Gatorade. However, its success only intensified over the years and today the brand has expanded into something much bigger than brightly colored drinks. Rolex, the whisper of success According to Hans Wilsdorf, founder of the exclusive watches label, he tried everything to give his new product a proper name. Wilsdorf was looking for something short that could be easily pronounced in any language. It also had to look good on the watch's surface. After combining all the alphabet letters in thousands of ways and coming up with a hundred potential names, none seemed powerful enough. But a trip on a horse-drawn trolley would change the fate of his newly founded company, because a "genius," as he called it, whispered the word "Rolex" into his ear. Häagen-Dazs, Danish?...pride This premium ice cream went a long way to satisfy the palates of the American public, or that is what they've tried to make us believe. Its creator, Reuben Mattus, was actually a Jewish immigrant from Poland who lived in the United States. Together with his wife, they created a name that seems Scandinavian, but it is just an invented word. Naming his ice cream Häagen-Dazs, he fulfilled a double purpose. Mattus wanted to pay tribute to Denmark, the only country that defended Jewish people during World War II, so he used Danish spelling in the name of his brand. He also wanted to add a bit of exoticism, since it was ice cream of the highest quality. He was sure the name would give his product a more distinguished profile. Zara, taking inspiration from a movie When magnate Amancio Ortega wanted to name his clothing business, he initially thought of calling it "Zorba," like the 1964 movie, Zorba The Greek, as he was a big fan of the Anthony Quinn film. He had even made the frame to put the letters on the poster of his shop in A Coruña. However, shortly before the inauguration in 1975, he realized that his store was pretty close to a bar named, precisely, "Zorba." Since it would've been very confusing to the customers to have 2 businesses with the same name in such a small radius, Ortega took the sign and decided to add an "a," and remove the "b," coining the name of one of the most recognizable Spanish brands in the world. Amazon.com, a river of possibilities Amazon.com started its days in Jeff Bezos' garage in 1994, but didn't always bear the name that distinguishes it today. What was originally an online bookstore was going to have the magical name "Cadabra." However, the brand's first lawyer, Todd Tarbert, convinced Bezos that the word sounded very similar to "cadaver." It was time to pick another name. Bezos came up with the name Relentless. In fact, the web domain exists and now redirects the user to Amazon.com. But finally, the name Amazon was selected, and so, "the largest bookstore in the world" would bear the name of the longest river in the world, the Amazon. It wouldn't be just an online bookstore, but a technological process that would simplify electronic purchases and change history forever. This is what it looked like in the 90s (look at the logo with the river). IKEA, the Scandinavian enigma Founded in 1943, when its creator was only 17 years old, IKEA went from selling all kinds of objects to becoming the benchmark of Swedish creativity worldwide with its furniture for assembly that facilitates packaging and transport. However, those who don't understand Swedish have always wondered what the word IKEA means in that language. The answer? It's an acronym that is a combo of the first letters of founder's first name and last name: Ingvar Kamprad, the farm where he grew up: Elmtaryd, and the town in southern Sweden where it was located: Agunnaryd. Curious fact: Unlike the company, the name of each product does have a Swedish origin (mostly). The categories can be found in the IKEA Dictionary. |
