I bet you’ve never heard of it …

Question: What’s got a turnover of over £1billion, has more stores than Waitrose, and has an astonishing cult following.

Answer: Farmfoods, and it’s Britain’s second-largest frozen food outlet behind Iceland.

And I bet you’ve never heard of it.

I’ve driven past our local branch a dozen times, probably more, and always thought it was where smallholders went to buy feeds for their animals.

Hands up. I know this is a perfect example of the unimaginative straight-line thinking men are so good at.

So, it’s no wonder our better halves think we are so utterly useless.

But it did get me thinking, what’s in a name?

If you and I came up with a name that suggests we sell apples when we really sell pears, then we’re in a spot of bother.

Because, unlike the big boys, we haven’t got a bottomless pit of spondoolicks to spray around on brand awareness.

No. We have to be a lot smarter.

ChatGPT and its ilk might be a good starting point.

But don’t be surprised if ideas that seem astonishingly brilliant after a glass or two of château collapso don’t hold up when you’re staring into the mirror with a stinker of a hangover the following morning.

So, if your name, message, or first impression is even slightly off, people don’t just misunderstand you … you’re completely invisible to them.

And that’s a hard thing to fix after the fact.

If you’ve got a project, event, or campaign coming up and want to make sure everything lands exactly as it should — on the page and in people’s minds — we’re always happy to have a quick chat.

Until next week.

Alec