Thanks for the comment. Sorry for the delay approving it – I was away for a couple of days.

I agree with some of what you say. For instance, Virgin have obviously put a great deal of thought into their Upper Class concept.

They’ve worked hard to ensure its ‘cheekiness’ flows through the whole thing; including the name, tone of voice (check out the ‘snooze pack’ on their website) and more.

However, I think what’s different about VIA and the Salad Station are that the they’re both fairly lazy attempts to give a new identity to an old product.

VIA is instant coffee in a sachet, with a name that gives you little clue as to what it is. The Salad Station is a salad bar, though I admit my point about clarity isn’t so valid with this one as the name at least gives you a fair idea of what you’re going to get.

I’m all for intelligent rebranding and for descriptive names that put a smile on your face. And I’ve seen exactly how using the right language and a distinctive tone of voice can lodge your brand in people’s minds, giving it a real advantage over its competitors.

I just don’t think Starbucks VIA or the Pizza Hut Salad Station do any of those things very well.

As a copywriter, surely you don’t think people are stupid for buying something becasue it’s been given a sexy new name (and identity)? That’s our job.

Imagine if Virgin stuck with Business class like everyone else, rather than Upper Class? It would lose it’s cheekiness, it’s voice. Language is all part of the expereince. And only the most earnest of Plain English sticklers would think that this reduces clarity.

I’m not a Starbucks fan by any stretch. Neither do I think it’s a good idea to hoodwink your custoemrs with fancy langauge. But nobody is being fooled here – it’s a complicit process. It’s what their custoemrs expect. And the less new words companies want, the less work we copywriters get.

Customers tend to make their purchasing decisions by comparing product A with product B, or competitor A with competitor B.

Starbucks have priced their product higher than their competitors, so don’t want their customers to make direct comparisons with the competition – this is why they have slightly different sizes and different names.

I would guess Starbucks ‘Ready Brew’ is way more expensive than instant coffee, so Starbucks are trying to avoid direct comparisons by dreaming up a new ‘type’ of coffee.