Things are as they are, not as they should be!

What Were They Thinking?

They say that choosing the right brand name for a product or service is crucial for its success. It’s not an easy and a simple task. This one decision will have significant branding consequences for years. After all, it’s an organization’s entire story, distilled down to one or two words.

When one is developing a name for a business, a product or a service, there are a number of different branding routes one can take.

  • Use the founder or inventor’s name (Hewlett-Packard)
  • Describe what you do (Southwest Airlines)
  • Describe an experience or image (Sprint)
  • Take a word out of context (Apple)
  • Make up a word (Google)

While traveling last week in train, my co-passenger had this brand of mineral water bottle.

2014-10-17 20.43.30

Water Balls!! Water is ok but why Balls? Let us try to understand this brand name by focusing on how both the words identify with a mineral water brand. Water is not available in pellets or balls. Nor is this is packaged in a ball like container. Water-balls are water toys that are played on the water surface, but then how is it related to packaged drinking water? So, these interpretations don’t make any sense with reference to the brand in focus.

Let us now deconstruct the two words in the brand name separately and understand the rationale of this unique brand name. Water is clear to us. Balls could have different meanings. Let’s try and understand what could it mean with reference to packaged drinking water.

  1. Ball – Spherical object or entity – Nope, water is not a spherical entity so the brand manager could not possibly mean this.
  2. Balls Any of various rounded, movable objects used in various athletic activities and games – Again, a package drinking water and a playing ball are far from related.
  3. Balls –Vulgar slang – I am sure nobody in their right mind would use this for their brand of water.
  4. Balls – Testicles – This is out-rightly ruled out too.
  5. Balls – Courage, especially when reckless – Do we need reckless courage to drink this water?
  6. Balls – An exclamation of strong disagreement, contempt, annoyance, etc – Really?!

How did this company come up with this brand name. Wonder, what would be the story behind this brand name! For the life of me, I can’t figure this branding strategy for a packaged drinking water. Can you?

42 Responses

    1. Yes, out-of-the-ordinary names certainly attract attention!! And yes, this brand even got a blog post and so much of discussion on it even though they might not be aware of its existence! 😀

    1. Yes, attention they have got! Must be a small time brand from a small place and am sure people there wouldn’t even think of a brand name, the way we are analyzing it 🙂

  1. They had to have chosen the shock factor to stand out… that would be my guess 🙂
    By the way, there’s one more ball to consider – the gala event (winter ball, ballroom dancing) . Maybe if this is a truly elite brand (:p) , they were trying to convince us that this is a hi-fi water 😀

  2. Haha now that is an interesting line of thought! I can’t figure it out myself…maybe it’s someone like me who has names it..Did you know I was going to name my sister ‘Aaam’ and no she didn’t look like a mango! 😀

  3. Selecting a name is very important because people should immediately identify with the product. IBM – Computers, Xerox – Photocopying, AT&T – Telephone service, Google – Search engine.

    1. True. Deciding on a brand name is not an easy task! It has to be a well thought of strategy as your brand can make or break you!

  4. hahaha I think you did more analysis than the company would have actually done 😀
    You post made me realize that we always try to come up with different and unique names, but Apple gave a simple word a revolutionary change in meaning.

    1. LOL 😀 Yes! And sadly they are unaware that their brand is creating waves in the blog-word 😀
      True, some brand names are amazing stories! Like the one about Lady Gaga. “I was performing in New York and my friends started to call me Gaga,” Stefani Germanotta told Barbara Walters. “They said I was very theatrical … you’re Gaga.” And, as the story goes, a stage name with “natural correctness” was born. Amazing na?!

  5. This is hilarious!! Can’t imagine how they came up with this one unless they were all drunk out of their minds, got to laughing, and came up with this, laughed themselves silly, and woke up the next day with monster hangovers and thought “Water Balls”!! YEAH! Ha ha ha! Thanks for the giggles Shilpa! Love it. I would drink water balls simply because of the looks I would get and the giggles it would create…yeah that is me. HA HA HA!

    1. May be! Wish they come out here and explain their stance! Though I am loving Kathy’s interpretation the most 😀

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