The single most wasteful thing you can do in marketing is try to change a mind. - Al Ries

You want to change something in a computer? Just type over or delete the existing material. You want to change something in a mind? Forget it.

Names don't matter, many managers believe; it's the product that matters. With the right product at the right price, goes the thinking, we can win the battle of the marketplace. Names do matter. Depending on the category, the name alone can represent the primary reason for the brand's success. A company might spend hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a new product and then give that new product a brand name that almost guarantees failure. Innovation alone is never enough. Along with innovation, a company needs marketing to assure the brand's eventual success and survival. The heart of a good marketing program is a great name.

Aflac, the company that brought us the duck. In the year 2000, the company had a name recognition of 12 percent. Today it’s 94 percent. And sales have gone up just as dramatically. Aflac sales in the American market went up 29 percent the first year after the duck arrived. And 28 percent the second year. And 18 percent the third year.