espresso101 Senior Member Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 5 Expertise: Beginner
Posted Sat Jul 26, 2003, 9:46am Subject: Re: Name assistance?
Very interesting read on Branding and I agree 100% that branding is a key element. Branding is one of the reasons that we have been discussing the name this far into the process and brought it up for discussion among friends, family and acquaintenances.
Establishing top quality products, creating the place to go, customer service and branding are the key elements we looked to when deciding on our new lifestyle as coffee shop owners so that we can establish our success. My wife and I discussed all of these things before venturing out. Almost everything that we have read on this forum and others in regards to these things we have agreed to.
Clear As Mud Coffee LC was decided upon as the name for several reasons and the main reason is for Branding. When we decide to open our 2nd and hopefully when we get to our 5th location we want an unique easily identifiable name that people will remember not only for the quality products and customer service but for the 'wittiness' in the name.
We tossed the name out for honest open criticism from family, friends, acquaintences and even strangers. The results of this study proved that approximately 65% of the people like the name Clear As Mud. When we searched further into the branding world of things like Hoover, Kleenex, Coke, McDonalds, and all the various other products that are well known we decided Clear As Mud would be our Brand. We compromised with close friends on adding coffee to the end of the name to ensure that we let the people that guided us in that direction know that we listened.
Trust me. We listened. Our name is important to us and the other names that we came up with did not stand equally among the potential branding opportunities that Clear As Mud possesses. Thanks for all the input.
johannabanana Senior Member Joined: 13 Jul 2003 Posts: 431 Location: Vienna, Europe Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: La San Marco 1,2,+3group,... Grinder: 2 LSM, 3 Tourmix, 1 demoka... Vac Pot: not yet Drip: Melitta aroma boy,... Roaster: Precision & Mr. Gunter :-D
Posted Sat Jul 26, 2003, 4:12pm Subject: Re: Name assistance?
And "Clear as Mud Coffee LC" it is! Glad to see/read that your confidence is built back up again, as you wished in your first posting.
(Hope you didn't feel offended by mine, it should just have been a stimulation to focus on the benefit of a name :-) I also thought it's more constructive that way, than just saying "I don't think it's the best, in my opinion"
Good luck to you, and I wish you many nice customers! Joey
"Do everything right. You will gratify some people and astonish the rest." (Mark Twain)
Posted Sat Jul 26, 2003, 5:31pm Subject: Re: Name assistance?
espresso101 Said:
We had a name selected after numerous fits and discussions over the name, but now I am having some doubts about the name... so I would appreciate some opinions from this board. The current name we are considering is "Clear As Mud". What are your thoughts?
Well, kind of late in adding my 2 cents worth. My first reactions were:
The word mud doesn't convey to me a positive image about something I'd drink or eat; at least "mudpie" has 'pie' in it.
I don't "get it". Clear as Mud is a euphemism for somethings that's confusing or poorly understood. In all the contexts that I can imagine, it is a negative assessment of a request, document, or outcome. Since you're going for something related to coffee, the meaning is more the literal interpretation: something dark and brown.
I'm no marketing expert. As a consumer, I've noted that most recent names seem to favor an abstract + concrete (à la Starbuck's Coffee; some local places as further examples are Paragon Coffee and JavaBlü) or a clever reflection of a common phrase (Cup-A-Joe, Abrakadabra Toys, The Toy Chest, La Farm Bakery (a French boulangerie)). The "abstract" part becomes the branding if the business moves beyond its origins (à la Barnes & Noble Café).
I did a google search (exact match) on "clear as mud". It seemed the most common uses were negative evaluations or outcomes (my favorite was a treatise on "why grammar sucks").
Final food for thought: I've heard that most businesses fail in less than a year and that's certainly been my observation of local enterprises. It's not the business that's been there for two years that fails, it's the new guy next door that folds in 6-9 months. I suspect mostly because (a) no market, (b) non-competitive, or (c) undercapitalized.
espresso101 Senior Member Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 5 Expertise: Beginner
Posted Sun Jul 27, 2003, 11:29am Subject: Re: Name assistance?
"Well, kind of late in adding my 2 cents worth. My first reactions were:
The word mud doesn't convey to me a positive image about something I'd drink or eat; at least "mudpie" has 'pie' in it.
I don't "get it". Clear as Mud is a euphemism for somethings that's confusing or poorly understood. In all the contexts that I can imagine, it is a negative assessment of a request, document, or outcome. Since you're going for something related to coffee, the meaning is more the literal interpretation: something dark and brown."
Then I owe an explanation since you took the time to reply and offer an opinion of which I do appreciate.
The word Mud is a synonym for coffee as I'm certain most on this forum would know. My father always referred to coffee as a Good cup of Mud. In my military career we again referrenced our gourmet military coffee (sarcasm here :) ) as mud. I am certain referring to coffee as mud has a colorful history well beyond the last 37 plus years. There fore I did not recognize the word Mud as a negative connotation for coffee, yet instead a term of endearment.
The term "clear as mud", is sarcasm when used in normal conversation when someone is confused about the message being delivered. There is no disagreement here. I've used it myself. However, my intent is to take this phrase and hopefully see it to evolve into meaning an excellent cup of coffee, latte, cappuccino or espresso.
In the pursuit of finding the "unique" "catchy" name that is easy to remember and associate with coffee, my wife and I determined that all of the easy ones where taken. Well, I am not one to give up so easily. As I was driving home from a location search I started thinking about references to how a cup of coffee is produced to try and determine the name of our business. It was as I was explaining what crema was to a friend of mine on the cell phone that the name struck me. I was going through the description when in one of my sarcastic states of mind, I said that the crema is "clear as mud".
It was at that point that "Clear As Mud" had potential. Having given thought to the negative connotations that Clear As Mud would have, I believe that this also has good marketing potential. IE... A headline in a newspaper states. It is "Clear As Mud" who has the best coffee in Kansas City. Now is that an article that you would want to read? You the reader would be invited into the mystery of the headline as the author would create the picture of my little shop describing the details, the customer service, and excellent drink creation as he/she would conclude that once again it is "Clear As Mud" who has the best shop in KC.
It is in my assessment that catchy names or names that invite a little curiosity from the receiver have potential for being remembered. Have you not heard of Companies such as "Bad A** Coffee" now to me that is one that I would have stayed away from. But the marketing potential is very good.
I have also done research of other coffee shops that use the word Mud in them, and there are a few for example... Mountain Mudd, Muddies, The Mud Room, Dans Mud and others.
Is there a potential that "Clear As Mud" will not be effective? Of course there is always that risk. Why "Clear As Mud" may become a mediocre coffee shop but that is a risk I am willing to take. I'm also going on the premise that it is not the name that will drive my customers to visit but the quality and products that we provide to them. Then when their friends ask what is the best coffee shop in Kansas City? the reply will be "Why it's "Clear As Mud". :)
Thanks for your time in reading this far. I hope that I have not bored anyone with this continuing saga, I do appreciate the input tremendously.
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