If you've watched television at all in the past few months, you've likely seen the commercial for dishwashing soap, Electrasol, in which they show a lot of sparkling (plastic) diamonds and announce that "Finish is the new name for Electrasol."
Huh? Does this mean that good ol' Electrasol, that's been around since automatic dishwashers were invented, has been improved? Nope, they just decided to change the name. Period. End of story.
But why would they do that? Electrasol is practically the generic for automatic dishwashing soap and if it's not the leading brand, I'd be very surprised. My wife tried another "store" brand a few months back and the stuff just wouldn't clean the dishes. So she went right out and bought a new pack of Electrasol—problem solved!
Now I know that the name "Electrasol" kinda reeks of retro, but is that bad if the product sells well and has a name that is known and remembered for quality?
Finish is the name that the manufacturer uses for the product in other areas of the world—did they just want to consolidate? Personally, I don't care what they call it in France, I just like clean dishes.
Branding takes a lot of time and effort to develop. But once a strong brand is established, why mess with it? I had a difficult time remembering Electrasol's "New" name in order write this. After all, "Electrasol" means clean dishes. "Finish" means to complete something (what? ...dishes?) …or a native of Finland.
Point is: if the branding image is strong, why would you want to start over?
What's a good new name for Kleenex? How 'bout "Sneezex? …or V8 Juice? Could become V6 Juice with all the high gas prices. Wonder Bread …hmmmm?
Gotta go now, the dishes need to be done. Where's the Electrasol?
5 comments:
I like Electrasol just fine the way it is. Seems strange to throw decades of branding away and give it a new name. I wonder what they could be thinking?
most likely they hired some 'hot ad guy' who felt they needed an update....and perhaps the CEO is tired and thought ahh.thats how we'll deal with the economy. I doubt it will last long, and because of the way the commercial is introduced, I think they could revert back pretty quick. thank goodness
I'm with the original poster-- I can't remember the new name. I always think its diamond something because that's all i remember about the commercials!
When I was a kid in the 60s in Virginia, there were basically three brands of diswasher detergent available, Electrosol, Cascade, and Finish. Therefore, Finish is NOT "the new name for Electrosol." Finish is Finish! Electrosol is Electrosol! What kind of con game are they trying to pull? Why do they want us to THINK they're the same!
Luckily the ad blitz is mostly over! Does this mean that now we're supposed to forget "Finish" ever was known as Electrasol? In other words, are we finished with the old name? I think not, a strong brand identity, like Electrasol enjoyed for all those years, will certainly stick in the minds of consumers. The question then is: why change the name and have to build the brand all over again?
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