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What's in a name?

Posted at 11:03 AM on February 21, 2012 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Marketing and advertising

Is your public radio life much different since National Public Radio dropped ational ublic adio and just became NPR? Did you use less tape and fewer Post-Its when Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing went with 3M? Did Sears do better without Roebuck? Would we have an iPhone that actually works if AT&T were still American Telephone and Telegraph?

Or do marketers just make this stuff up?

Malt O Meal, the Northfield-based company that makes Malt O Meal, this month changed its name to MOM Brands. Thanks for the boost, wheaty, oatmealy hot cereal. But you don't say "2012" the way MOM does.

In this video, the company marketers sure promise a lot just by making their company a bunch of letters that stand for Malt O Meal.

Revolutionize the cereal aisle.
Choose a different way.
Change it up for the better.
Innovate.
Invent.
Insist that people deserve better.
Better quality cereal in better packaging.
A better selection and a better price.
Leaving a smaller footprint on the planet.

When you drive past the plant in Northfield, it does not smell like MOM.

Comments (5)

I went to college at St. Olaf in Northfield, and several times a week the smells of Malt-O-Meal would waft over our way...in a way, I miss it.

The college a cappella group ("The Limestones") is going to have a hard time with this. Their encore is called "Malt-O-Meal".

In a way, I'm bummed. Seems like MOM is throwing out years' worth of brand value by switching.

Posted by Tyler | February 21, 2012 11:15 AM

Motherhood has an even longer track record than Malt-O-Meal, and a generally good one. I think the new brand name is brilliant.

Posted by Bob Moffitt | February 21, 2012 1:11 PM

The acronym MOM also stands for Milk of Magnesia.

Posted by Cara | February 21, 2012 11:19 PM

Tyler, we're keeping the Malt-O-Meal brand name on our original Hot Wheat cereal and our cold cereal line. Only the company's name is changing. I hope The Limestones can continue to sing their encore number.

Posted by MOM Brands | February 22, 2012 9:27 AM

As a stay-at-home dad, I am painfully reminded every day about just how many products there are out there that are marketed to moms, yet you would think would appeal to all parents. Add one to the list.

Posted by Kevin | February 24, 2012 5:46 PM