CorpComms Magazine

Coca Cola, Kit Kat and Jelly Belly beans may have more than their sugary charm to explain their enduring popularity. A study published in the Journal of Marketing claims that repetitive sounding brand names favourably influence consumers.

Reiterated sounds such as Hubba Bubba, Tutti Frutti and Chunky Monkey evoke positive associations, according to study 'The Sound of Brands' by Jennifer Argo, marketing professor at the University of Alberta, Canada.

Argo conducted one experiment in which participants were invited to rank identical samples of ice cream which had been given different names. Tasters more often preferred the ice cream with the phonetically repetitive name.

Sounding out a brand name aloud can give companies a flavour of how consumers will respond to it. Names that do not follow comfortable linguistic patterns for a particular region may be less likely to catch on. Though there are many reasons for Google's mixed fortunes in China, the fact that its name is extremely difficult to pronounce for many Chinese tongues created marketing problems from the beginning.

The study also advises companies and products with a phonetically repetitive brand name to take advantage of auditory media like television and radio to make the most of their marketing strategy.

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