Every customer who forgets your name is money that you can forget about. Domain names must be memorable because domain names stand alone without reminders. Customers do not see your product on a shelf to remind them. Customers do not see your store on a street to remind them. Customers type in domain names from memory.
Domain names must be memorable because there is no packaging or logo design to help customers remember your brand. Long and ifficult-to-spell names, OK offline, aren’t acceptable online. Every customer who forgets your name by just one letter is lost money.
Domain names must be memorable because you may be competing with hundreds of online stores. You are not competing with a handful of other products on a shelf or a handful of local stores. If forgotten, it’s not easy to refind a domain name.
Even offline, memorability is often overlooked or minimized. In my opinion, memorability is overlooked or minimized for two reasons:
1) Businessmen and businesswomen who devote a significant portion of their life to their business often forget that their business is just one out of a thousand businesses to customers and one out of a million businesses to potential customers. Consumers are bombarded with thousands of advertising messages every day. Even if a customer
notices your message, few customers will make an effort to remember your name. Sometimes customers may write down or bookmark your name, but many won’t.
2) Most books on branding are written for famous brands, which are household words. McDonald’s does not have a problem with people forgetting the name McDonald’s. McDonald’s problem is projecting a quality image. I am not faulting these books since by dollar volume famous brands – almost by definition – sell more than smaller non-famous brands. But for every famous brand (McDonald’s), there are hundreds of less famous brands (small local restaurants).
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