A brand name that is remembered is a brand name that wins in the marketplace—and possibly the polling place. The candidate brand matter.
What Makes a Name Memorable?
Many factors create name that is easy to remember: great features and benefits and effective, frequent advertising chief among them. In politics, things like party, platform, personality and past performance are key to any candidate brand.
That said a name with intrinsic memorability always has the leg up. The best brand names are unique. When I mention the brand Delta, do you think of airlines, faucets, power tools or dental insurance? It also helps to be unusual. Generic names are not memorable. That is why Walgreen’s is a better brand than Drugstore.com. A name that is evocative helps, even if the actual meaning isn’t clear. Häagen-Dazs might not mean anything, but it definitely sounds European, what with the ümlauts and all. Associations matter.
Smith Is NOT Distinctive, Evocative, Meaningful or Memorable
Do candidate brand names work like brand names? Does Mr. Rumplestiltskin have a better chance of election than Mr. Smith? We conducted a fast survey of top-of-mind associations with candidate brand names in the 2010 House and Senate races.
Winning Candidate Brand Names–Four Clear Insights:
1) Hyphenated names always lose. People seem to want you to have a clear, singular identity.
2) It helps a lot if your name makes people think about beer.
3) Celebrity associations are by far the most common, for good and bad.
4) Woe to the candidate who makes a voter remember an old girlfriend/boyfriend in a relationship that ended badly.
Here are the race-by-race winner picks–by name alone, asterix marks the panel’s winner:
US Congress
AL-2 | Bright* | Roby | Roby is too much like Raby |
AL-5 | Griffith* | Raby | Raby too much like Roby |
AR-1 | Crawford | Causey* | A good cause or causing trouble |
AR-2 | Snyder* | Griffin | Griffin too much like Griffith |
AR-4 | Ross* | Rankin | Ranking high–too high; snooty |
AZ-1 | Kirkpatrick | Gosar* | Gosar just sounds friendly |
AZ-3 | Hulburd* | Quayle | Quayle brand too associated with other product, his Dad |
AZ-5 | Mitchell | Schweikert | Schweikert is so much fun to say |
AZ-7 | Grijalva* | McClung | Grijalva is so memorable; sounds like ice cream |
AZ-8 | Giffords* | Kelly | Giffords is a Washington ice cream store; also a football player |
CA-11 | McNerney* | Harmer | Who wants to elect a Harmer; rather have a Healer; though McNerney sounds nerdy |
CA-18 | Cardoza | Berryhill* | A thrill on blue Berryhill |
CA-19 | Goodwin* | Denham | Any name with good is good |
CA-20 | Vidak | Costa* | Vidak sounds like a drug |
CA-3 | Lungren | Bera* | Sounds like Yogi |
CA-44 | Calvert | Hedrick* | Heads are good |
CA-45 | Bono Mack* | Pougnet | Sonny Bono + U2’s Bono + Mack Daddy; other candidate sounds like poo |
CA-47 | Tran* | Sanchez | Like tran of thought |
CO-2 | Bailey* | Polis | Irish crème |
CO-3 | Salazar* | Tipton | Tipton sounds like a mean name; bossy cheerleader |
CO-4 | Markey | Gardner* | Growing in gardens is good |
CO-7 | Perlmutter | Frazier* | Brendan or the TV show |
CT-1 | Larson | Brickley* | Solid as a brick |
CT-4 | Himes | Debicella* | Makes me think of Debbie, in a good way |
CT-5 | Murphy* | Caligiuri | Caligula was famounsly bad. Murphy is the guy you want next to you in the bar. |
DE-L | Urquhart | Carney* | Other guy sounds like his name begins with a burp |
FL-12 | Putnam | Edwards | Draw–neither name stands out |
FL-2 | Boyd* | Southerland | Seems solid |
FL-22 | West* | Klein | Makes me think of the Western Frontier, cowboys, beautiful land |
FL-24 | Kosmas | Miller* | Beer! |
FL-25 | Diaz-Balart | Garcia* | Jerry! |
FL-8 | Grayson | Webster* | Grayson sounds like an old guy; Webster is the dictionary–very knowledgeable |
GA-12 | Barrow | Burns* | Barrow is a snooty name |
GA-2 | Bishop* | Keown | Don’t know how to say Keown |
GA-8 | Marshall* | Scott | Marshall Plan helped people |
HI-1 | Djou | Hanabusa* | Name is fun to say |
IA-1 | Lange* | Braley | Hockey skates |
IA-2 | Miller-Meeks | Loebsack | Sounds like something a rapper could work into a song |
IA-3 | Zaun | Boswell* | Zaun sounds somehow painful |
ID-1 | Labrador* | Minnick | Everybody loves dogs, especially big, silly dogs |
ID-2 | Crawford* | Simpson* | Tie between Cindy Crawford and Homer Simpson |
IL-10 | Dold | Seals* | Dolt who is old? Seals are so cute |
IL-11 | Halvorson | Kinzinger* | Zingers are exciting |
IL-14 | Foster* | Hultgren | Beer! |
IL-17 | Hare* | Schilling | Buggs Bunny for Congress |
IL-8 | Bean* | Walsh | Beans are good for you. Cute |
IN-2 | Walorski | Donnelly* | Sounds like a solid, upstanding person |
IN-8 | Ellsworth | Van Haaften* | Heavy metal name |
IN-9 | Hill* | Young* | Another draw–two names with bland associations |
KS-3 | Moore | Yoder* | Like Yoda |
KS-4 | Goyle* | Pompeo | Olive Oyle, gargoyle |
KY-3 | Lally | Yarmuth* | Lally sounds silly |
KY-6 | Barrow | Chandler* | Both snooty names, but Chandler has “Friends” |
LA-2 | Cao* | Richmond | Just sounds more interesting |
LA-3 | Melancon | Sangisetty* | Fun to say–sounds like a fun person who doesn’t take self seriously |
MA-10 | Delahunt* | Keating | Works better in a limerick |
MA-4 | Frank | Beilat* | Sounds like a humble person–Frank is first name/last name |
MA-5 | Tsongas | Golnik* | Good golly, it’s Golnick |
MA-6 | Tierney* | Hudak | Pretty actress |
MD-1 | Kratovil* | Harris | Sounds like a bug killer and Congress needs cleaning up |
ME-1 | Scontras | Pingree* | Rhymes with “agree”; just like the happy sound; Scontras is too nasal |
ME-2 | Levesque* | Michaud | Sounds descriptive–that statue is sooo levesque |
MI-1 | McDowell | Benishek* | Healthful, Flavorful, Beneful; benefiber |
MI-15 | Steele* | Dingell | Dingell sounds like Dingellberries |
MI-3 | Ehlers | Amash* | Sounds strong, compelling |
MI-7 | Walberg* | Schauer | Mark Wahlberg |
MI-9 | Peters* | Raczkowski | Can’t say the other one |
MN-1 | Walz* | Demmer | Demme and Demmers vs. a graceful dance |
MN-3 | Mullins | Lujan* | A Chicago DJ from the 1970’s; Lo-Jack |
MN-6 | Clark | Bachmann* | Clark bars don’t taste that great; Bachmann is pretzels |
MN-7 | Peterson | Byberg* | Seriously don’t know why, but I like this name better |
MN-8 | Oberstar | Cravaack* | Sounds like a Batman sound–punch The Joker in the jaw and cravaack! |
MO-3 | Carnahan | Martin* | Steve Martin among others |
MO-4 | Skelton* | Hartzler | Red Skelton |
MO-5 | Cleaver | Turk* | We need young Turks in Congress |
MS-1 | Childers | Nunnelee* | Don’t want none of Nunnelee |
MS-2 | Thompson | Marcy* | Makes me think of a nice girl |
MS-4 | Taylor | Palazzo* | Elegant pants, a nice home in Italy |
NC-11 | Shuler | Miller* | Beer! |
NC-2 | Etheridge | Ellmers* | Glue–gotta put stuff back together |
NC-4 | Price | Lawson* | Law and order–the other candidate might want to spend |
NC-7 | McIntyre* | Pantano | No reason given, but everyone likes this name bettere |
NC-8 | Johnson | Kissell* | Sounds like sweet little kiss |
ND-AL | Pomeroy* | Berg | Very cute dog |
NE-2 | Terry | White | Draw–neither name preferred and no associations with either name |
NH-1 | Shea-Porter | Guinta* | The other person sounds confused |
NH-2 | Kuster | Bass* | Beer! With the added bonus of fishing |
NJ-1 | Glading* | Andrews | And a glading time was had by all |
NJ-12 | Holt | Sipprelle* | A light drink in a sunny southern European square |
NJ-2 | Stein* | LoBiondo | What beer sometimes comes in |
NJ-3 | Runyan* | Adler | Paul Bunyan, Todd Ruddgren |
NJ-6 | Little | Pallone* | Italian bread specialty |
NM-1 | Barela | Heinrich* | Sounds like a manuever to help you stop choking to death |
NM-2 | Teague* | Pearce | In another league |
NM-3 | Luján* | Mullins | Lojack |
NV-3 | Titus* | Heck | A strong leader |
NY-1 | Bishop | Altschuler* | Old Skool |
NY-13 | McMahon | Grimm* | Fairy tale guy |
NY-19 | Hall | Hayworth* | Rita beats Hall & Oates |
NY-20 | Gibson | Murphy* | Always a straight up guy–good to have as a wingman |
NY-22 | Hinchey | Phillips* | Hinchey is too ginchey |
NY-23 | Owens | Doheny* | Fashionable street |
NY-24 | Hanna* | Arcuri | Makes great cartoons |
NY-25 | Maffei | Buerkle* | A cute burp |
NY-29 | Zeller* | Reed | Z words are always cool |
NY-4 | McCarthy | Becker* | The other guy was a charlatan |
OH-1 | Driehaus | Chabot* | A decent table wine |
OH-10 | Kucinich | Corrigan* | Too bad about the heroin Billy |
OH-12 | Tiberi* | Brooks | A river |
OH-13 | Sutton* | Ganley | Ganley sounds ungainly |
OH-15 | Kilroy* | Stivers | He is always there |
OH-16 | Boccieri* | Renacci | Maker of bocce balls |
OH-18 | Space* | Gibbs | Spacely Sprockets |
OH-6 | Wilson* | Johnson | Great balls |
OH-9 | Kaptur | Iott* | Iott could be idiot, but the other one is too much like captor/jailer |
OK-2 | Boren | Thompson* | Thompson is a boring name, but not so much as Boren |
OR-1 | Wu* | Cornilles | Always go for the Wu |
OR-4 | DeFazio | Robinson* | Mrs. Robinson and Jack Robinson |
OR-5 | Bruun | Schrader* | Sounds like a shredder–not in terms of ruining documents, but in terms of tearing up the course |
PA-10 | Carney* | Marino | Art from the Honeymooners |
PA-11 | Kanjorski* | Barletta | Sounds like a can-do perso |
PA-12 | Critz | Burns* | Critz sounds broken–yeah, the microwave is on the critz |
PA-13 | Schwartz | Adcock* | Beevis and Butthead would like this name |
PA-15 | Dent | Callahan* | Do you feel lucky, punk? |
PA-17 | Holden* | Argall | Catcher in the Rye |
PA-3 | Dahlkemper* | Kelly | Less common of a name |
PA-4 | Altmire* | Rothfus | Solid like old mud |
PA-6 | Gerlach | Trivedi* | Sounds like a greaser from the 1950’s–friend to Fonzi |
PA-7 | Meehan* | Lentz | Just partial to M words |
PA-8 | Murphy* | Fitzpatrick | He’s the law |
RI-1 | Loughlin | Cicilline* | A hill in Rome where the villas are |
RI-2 | Zaccaria | Langevin* | Sounds more elegant |
SC-5 | Spratt* | Mulvaney | Will eat no fat |
SD-L | Noem* | Herseth Sandlin | To Noem is to love em |
TN-4 | Davis | DesJarlais* | Sounds like a light lunch wine |
TN-5 | Cooper* | Hall | Alice Cooper edges out Hall & Oates |
TN-6 | Carter | Black* | No one wants another Jimmy Carter |
TN-8 | Fincher | Herron* | Both are birds–finches are nice, but herons are amazing |
TX-15 | Hinjosa | Zamora* | Hinjosa sounds like a sneeze |
TX-25 | Doggett* | Campbell | Dogs are better than soup |
TX-27 | Ortiz* | Farenthold | Farenthold sounds like Parenthold, like being grounded |
TX-17 | Edwards | Flores* | Less boring–John Edwards is the association and not a positive one |
TX-23 | Rodriguez* | Canseco | Strong baseball bias for this name |
UT-2 | Matheson | Philpot* | Philpot seems more serious |
VA-11 | Connolly* | Fimian | Other one sounds like Simian; sounds close minded |
VA-2 | Nye* | Rigell | Just sounds nice |
VA-5 | Perriello* | Hurt | Please don’t hurt me |
VA-9 | Griffith | Boucher* | The hero of the movie “Water Boy” |
VT-L | Beaudry* | Welch | Sounds like a good old boy |
WA-2 | Koster* | Larsen | Want someone who understands economics and what things cost |
WA-3 | Heck* | Herrera | Give them heck |
WA-8 | DelBene | Reichert* | Sounds “righter”, but in correct sense, not right-wing sense |
WA-9 | Muri* | Smith | Just different |
WI-3 | Kind | Kapanke* | Wasn’t Edward Kennedy involved |
WI-7 | Duffy | Lassa* | Lasso, lassie |
WI-8 | Kagen | Ribble* | Like ripple; cute |
WV-1 | Olivero* | McKinley | Olives |
WV-3 | Rahall | Maynard* | Just like this sound; sorta funny, sorta rock, sorta respectable |
WY-L | Wendt* | Lummis | Lummis sounds like a dreaded high school principal |
US Senate
Alaska | Miller* | McAdams | Beer! |
Arizona | McCain | Glassman | Draw: too well-known a race–naming panel couldn’t get past the politics |
Arkansas | Boozman* | Lincoln | Booze is better than beer! |
California | Boxer | Fiorina | Draw: too well-known a race–naming panel couldn’t get past the politics |
Colorado | Buck* | Bennet | Call of the Wild hero dog |
Connecticut | Blumenthal | McMahon* | Johnny Carson’s side kick |
Delaware | Coons | O’Donnell | Draw: too well-known a race–naming panel couldn’t get past the politics |
Florida | Rubio | Meek | Draw: too well-known a race–naming panel couldn’t get past the politics |
Georgia | Isakson | Thurmond* | The K in Isakson is not right to me |
Illinois | Giannoulias | Kirk | Draw: too well-known a race–naming panel couldn’t get past the politics |
Indiana | Coats* | Ellsworth | Coats are warm; “worth” is too high-fallutin |
Iowa | Grassley * | Conlin | Green grass grew all around |
Kentucky | Paul* | Conway | Peter, Paul and Mary |
Louisiana | Vitter* | Melancon | A tough critter |
Maryland | Mikulski | Wargotz* | Sounds like a video game character–The Wargotz against the Zerg |
Missouri | Blunt | Carnahan* | If you are too blunt, you are rude |
Nevada | Angle | Reid | Draw: too well-known a race–naming panel couldn’t get past the politics |
New Hampshire | Ayotte | Hodes* | Could be a Hobbit name |
New York | Gillibrand | DioGuardi | Draw: too well-known a race–naming panel couldn’t get past the politics |
New York2 | Schumer | Townsend | Draw: too well-known a race–naming panel couldn’t get past the politics |
North Carolina | Burr* | Marshall | A historic name; also Raymond Burr |
Ohio | Portman | Fisher* | Fish are good |
Oregon | Wyden* | Huffman | Will take the wide view of things |
Pennsylvania | Toomey* | Sestak | Could be from Toontown |
Washington | Murray | Rossi* | With Martini |
West Virginia | Manchin* | Raese | That “ae” thing throws me |
Wisconsin | Johnson* | Feingold | It just has that swing |