When someone gives you a nickname it shows that they have some sort of emotional connection to you. A favorable nickname shows a positive emotional connection. Sometimes you can influence the perception others have of you by what you call yourself or what you let others call you.
The Strategic Name Development blog has a post today about companies working to keep their name “pure” in the mind of consumers. They use the example of Lego correcting people who refer to the brand as Legos. Correcting mistakes and mischaracterizations is important. This must be done.
When the public develops a complementary nickname for a company an opportunity can often result. Federal Express is a great example. They have embraced the nickname the public has given them as has Boston Consulting Group and International Business Machines.
Think about this for your own personal brand. If your name is Peter and everyone calls you Pete do you get upset? Do you correct clients if they call you Pete?
I put my full name on all written documents and online. David V. Lorenzo is a serious business name and that’s the impression I want people to have of my work – it is serious stuff.
When I introduce myself to people I always say “I’m Dave Lorenzo”. It is less formal and it is a small attempt to put people at ease
How does your name represent your personal brand?
Nice post.
I know a guy that does industrial cleaning and a few years ago, with a group he knew well, he said he was Dr. Dirt Slasher.
For him it was a joke, but years later, that is what he is known as, because the group thought it was great.
Personally, people seem to love Buzzoodle but we have a lot of people saying Buzznoodle. Luckily, we anticipated that and bought various domain names and forwarded them to the main name.
My 2 cents.
Posted by: Ron McDaniel | September 12, 2005 at 11:02 PM