The Tribune

By D’Arcy Rahming

Fuahea Semi was an athlete from Tonga who wanted to attend the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics as an athlete. The problem was that he had no money. For those of you who think the Olympics happen every four years, let me tell you that to qualify as an Olympic athlete, in most sports you need tens of thousands of dollars a year. So Semi exploited a loophole in the Olympic Rules. He took the name of one of his sponsoring companies, Bruno Banani.

Now Bruno Banani is a German underwear company. I suppose that would be the equivalent of you changing your name to Fruit of the Loom Underpants. It would offend some, but it certainly would draw attention every time your name was called. It is a brilliant marketing strategy that worked. Bruno, or should I call him Mr Underpants, made it to the Olympics. The question we as marketers should ask is: Can this be applied to your product or service?

As readers of this column know, I often write about things I try. I am in the midst of putting together an international Judo tournament for May 10, a date that is fast approaching. The problem is most people do not know what Judo is. No matter how much I write about it, no matter how many matches we win, we are still not a widely-reported sport in the traditional media. So I needed to show the public that they already know Judo. And they do, because every Bahamian boy has at least played dashing.

Dashing is played by throwing a person to the ground without striking him. The problem arises when you are body slammed on a concrete playground. So this would explain why few people play this game past high school. Any adult would certainly have a trip to the hospital, if not the morgue, after a round or two. Yet because Judo is properly organised with safety rules, it has become an Olympic sport enjoyed by millions.

So I asked some talented artists, Oral Hudson and his son Tajaro, who is a Judo national champion, to put together a song with a catchy beat. In the song they explain that Judo is dashing. I put together some clips with Bahamians winning in international competitions. The song instantly went viral over Facebook and received some really great feedback, both nationally and internationally. Here is the youtube link if you are interested in seeing it: http://youtu.be/-WNJt_7u3dM

Renaming a product or services is easier than you think. You just need to tie it to an experience. Let’s say you are a dentist selling tooth cleaning. And you know that people are afraid of going to the dentist because of the pain factor. Then you name your product something like Pain Free Teeth Cleaning. So now it is your turn. Renaming a product or service many times gives you the edge you need.

• NB: D’Arcy Rahming holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. A lecturer at the College of the Bahamas, Mr Rahming has clients in general insurance, retail, the health and medical fields, sports federations and financial services. He is also treasurer of the Bahamas Olympic Committee. To contact him he can be reached at DArcyRahmingsr@gmail.com.