The Importance of a Name A name cannot make or break a product or company. It was not the name Edsel that doomed Ford’s ill-

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问题                     The Importance of a Name
    A name cannot make or break a product or company. It was not the name Edsel that doomed Ford’s ill-fated car brand; the letters IBM, and the words they stand for, were not the critical ingredient in IBM’s success. What matters is how well a company’s goods or services meet its customers’ needs.
    Having said that, however, we contend that a well-chosen name can give a company a decided marketing edge over comparable competitors, and that the branding effect of a strong corporate name can be especially important for service companies. Why? Because in services the company name is the brand name.
    Services do not lend themselves to individual branding the way tangible products do. Goods can be positioned and marketed with specific, appropriate brand names: Pampers, Alka Seltzer, Black flag.  Consumers may be loval to such brands without ever knowing that the goods came from Procter & Gamble, Miles Laboratories,  and American Home Products. Although a service vendor may have a variety of offerings—first class, business class, and coach: or checking accounts and loan services—consumers tend to perceive all of them as components of a single brand.  Think of such business as Avis, Federal Express, and Holiday Inns, each conjures up an overall brand image. For this reason,  selecting a name for a service organisation can be critical to a total marketing strategy,  especially for new companies in very competitive markets and for companies expanding their range of services or their geographic reach.
    Anyone can cite examples of successful companies with lackluster names;  performance, after all, is primary. So how important, really, is a service brand name? The answer is that strong branding can accelerate market awareness and acceptance of a high-quality service, while weak branding can accelerate failure for a poorly conceived or delivered service.
    It was widespread skepticism about the strategy that turned the name into a lightning rod for criticism. To be sure, one can find flaws with the name. When introduced, it was defined as acombination of "allegiance" and "aegis",  and the very fact that it needed to be explained—and its pronunciation make clear—signaled a problem. But this is hindsight. Had the strategy been sound and well executed, we obviously would not be citing Allegis as a flawed brand name.  Federal Express furnishes a contrasting example. We can now say that this is a strong and appropriate brand identity:  Express delineates the nature and speed of the service, and Federal suggests a far-flung, perhaps governmentally sanctioned enterprise, But without its superlative ability to track and deliver parcels, and without its courteous employees and its professional-looking uniforms, trucks,  envelopes, and advertising, the Federal Express brand would not be an example of excellence. The name was part of an overall operating strategy backed up by a sophisticated, cohesive branding programme.
    Are there any hard-and-fast rules for naming a service company? Beyond avoiding obvious negative connotations, there are no absolute. A strong service brand should immediately identify the service supplier and distinguish it from competitors. The customers could recognise the service benefit instantly from the brand name and understand, use and recall it with ease. A service company will obtain more advantages if its name is broad enough to cover not just the organisation’s current business but also foreseeable expansions.
Federal Express is a strong and appropriate brand name because

选项 A、it describes the nature and speed of the service and also suggests governmentally approved enterprises.
B、it makes the superlative ability to track and deliver parcels, courteous employees and professional-looking uniforms.
C、it is a lightning rod for criticism.
D、it is a combination that doesn’t need explanation.

答案A

解析 题目意为:“为什么Federal Express是一个好的品牌名称?”文中的信息关键句为第五段中的“…Express delineates the nature and speed of the service, and Federal suggests a far-flung, perhaps governmentally sanctioned enterprise.”即:Express显示出其服务的高效和快速,Federal暗示出其服务范围的广泛和政府对其的认可和肯定。这与A项的内容一致,描述了服务的质量与速度,以及政府的肯定。
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