Dear SHE Trailblazers,
We are in the last mile of launching our industrial-scale production, which means that we are in the thick of designing a brand identity of our SHE pads here in Rwanda. While the team has finally decided on our brand (you'll have to wait for the official debut); here is some food for thought.
I and the entire SHE team have been engaging ourselves in determining a brand name for our menstrual pads.
We tested a variety of our brand name ideas amongst our target consumers - rural schoolgirls - and it was amazing to witness their responses to our name ideas. I'm curious to hear what you would call our pads that were produced with such unique innovation, and no, BananaPads are not an option!
After testing our brand name, I came to notice the importance of brand naming while walking down the street in Kigali. I noticed a shop called the "One Stop Shop Centre." I have never seen a shop like this here and was curious enough to enter, especially because it looked way to small to carry all the things one may need.
When I entered the shop, I walked up and down the aisles and saw that this shop had nothing more in stock that a regular corner shop: from bread to milk to juice and toiletries. I asked the owner why he called his store a "One Stop Shop Centre," since it does not have everything. He replied that it has "everything that you need', to which I replied, no it doesn't because I cannot buy a mattress from this shop!
My point is often times we just pick names, whether it's for a person or a product, with any consideration of how it will be interpreted by others and what type of impact it will have on the user or the person reading it.
I learned a few lessons, watch out for the names that pop up next.
Julian Ingabire
SHE Rwanda COO
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