APART from its phallic and religious connotations, Lingam is more than just a name. Which brings to the fore what happens when one has a brand name that is also the name of an infamous personality.
Or for that matter, when one adopts a foreign name without studying its consequence into the local social fabric. When Nissan (then Tan Chong Motors) introduced the Bluebird model into the marketplace two decades ago, the name was likened to something more genital in nature in the local Chinese vernacular.

By the way, in 1931 the first DATSON—meaning “Son of DAT”—was produced. However, the last syllable was changed to “sun”, because “son” also meant “loss”.
Some years back I visited Langkawi which Tun Daim Zainuddin, a Malaysian economist, businessman, politician and a former Finance Minister of Malaysia, had worked very hard to turn into a tourist haven. I chanced upon a brand of chocolates there called Daim and I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. But a quick check on Google revealed that Daim originated as a Swedish chocolate bar, and the brand is now owned by Kraft Foods. Phew!

What’s it worth to a company or a product to have preferred status? For example, when most people think of jewelry, Tiffany’s comes to mind. And if those people had a choice they would purchase jewelry from Tiffany’s or Poh Kong as opposed to “Ralph’s” or some other name that they’ve never heard of.
Branding is more than just coming up with a catchy name and then splashing it all over the airwaves and in print. It’s a process that starts with having a well-defined brand and ultimately leads to preferred status. To become well-defined, a company has to know who they are, what they stand for and why people want to do business with them. Believe it or not, branding works because most buying decisions are based on emotions, not facts.

Shock Value

Probably the most controversial in this genre has to be FCUK. Though they insisted it was an acronym for French Connection United Kingdom, its similarity to the word “Fxxx” caused controversy. They fully exploited this and produced an extremely popular range of t-shirts with messages such as “fcuk this”, “hot as fcuk”, “mile high fcuk”, “too busy to fcuk”, “lucky fcuk”, and so on. Designer Daniel Greenwood later sued the company for inconsistency in shirt titles and lack of lenience. Apparently they first discovered the acronym when a fax was sent from their Hong Kong store FCHK to FCUK. In 2001, during the introduction of French Connection in San Francisco, big banners hung on the front of the newly opened store saying “San Francisco’s first fcuk.” The logo was created in 1997 by Trevor Beattie, the TBWA chairman, after he noticed FCUK was used as shorthand for the company in internal memos.

The advertising campaign courted controversy since its creation, with the Advertising Standards Authority ordering the company to have all of its posters vetted by the watchdog before their release.
Closer to home, similarities of Panasonic vs Pensonic just adds to the confusion to how brands suck each other for fame. Go figure.

Talking about shock value, H&M’s adverts on New York buses featuring Claudia Schiffer showing off the season’s skin-colored underwear also disappeared after complaints. And Benetton’s “On Death Row” campaign caused upset around the globe. Indeed, a lawsuit in Missouri forced the company to write an apology to the families of murder victims and donate US$ 50,000 to the Missouri Crime Victims Fund.

And here’s a case of audio branding: Did you know Harley Davidson engines have a distinctive sound and this has been patented by its makers. There no end to branding in all forms.
To end this piece check out the ad below done by ad agency de Pasquale of Brisbane in Australia, for you know who…

ABOUT THE LINGHAM’s BRAND:

Lingham’s was started in 1908 by an Indian national of the same name. The business was sold to a Chinese family in 1945 after WWII.

The flagship product, Lingham’s Chilli Sauce, was first manufactured in 1908 during the British Colonial era to pamper to the delights of the English masters. This versatile sweet and spicy sauce is now a household name. In the USA, it is known as Lingham’s Hot Sauce.

The exquisite flavour of Lingham’s Chilli Sauce stems from a secret and traditional recipe which has been preserved over the years. Its ingredients continue to be red chilli, sugar, vinegar and salt. It contains no preservatives, colouring matter, artificial flavours or bulking material like tomato puree. Lingham’s is now sold in over 20 countries.

FAILED PRODUCTS:SODOMEE

When that word (and act) was introduced to the Malaysian public in 1999, an upstart local instant noodle manufacturer cleverly capitalised on the buzz. Sodomee™ became an instant hit at mamak stalls and at the dorms of local universities. It was also one of the first one-minute noodles to enter the market.
However the product faded just as fast when it was no longer trendy to utter that word. Packs printed with the ‘favour’ typo became instant collectors’ items.