BlinkJar Media: What Does It Mean?
In Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, we were introduced to the character of Jar Jar Binks, a tall and rangy Gugan outcast from the planet of Naboo. Jar Jar Binks was a clumsy, well-meaning character that failed to endear himself to the public. To many, Jar Jar Binks was the biggest flop in the history of Star Wars. So, we want to set the record straight. Jar Jar Binks has nothing to do with the naming of BlinkJar. Phew, we feel better now.
Naming your business is the first step in creating your identity as an organization. The name of your business is used in conversations, presentations, proposals, social media posts, and online searches. On a deeper level, your company name is the heart and soul of your existence. In his book “Start With Why," Simon Sinek states that “Nobody cares what you do. They care why you do it." When a company can speak to the why of its organization by referencing their name, then they have made a wise choice for the name.
Why Did You Name Your Company BlinkJar?
Our company is named BlinkJar because Broussard Inc was already taken (bad joke). Our “why” can be explained in the meaning of BlinkJar. Many of our team members have a traditional advertising background. During our time in advertising sales, a major transformation was taking place in the landscape of marketing. Social media and search engine marketing were rising mediums providing consumers with new opportunities of communication and information gathering. Many of the discussions with local businesses were turning away from traditional advertising and towards these newer platforms. This media revolution created a significant opportunity for those who embraced and understood where marketing and advertising were headed.
The Meaning of Blink in BlinkJar
As the popularity of social media and search engines grows, so does the confusion of local business owners. The average consumer is exposed to over 5,000 messages per day, which means we are living in an over-communicated world. To add to the distraction, we are living in a multi-screened world. In a recent study, Google discovered that viewers watch television with another device in-hand 77% of the time. If this is not enough, technology is providing numerous methods for tuning out advertising. Consumers have more control over the media they consume, but they also have a fragmented attention span that is narrowing daily. With all of these factors at play, how do businesses reach their target market with their message?
In order to remain relevant, your company’s message must be more focused and concise. In the blink of an eye, if your message doesn’t break through the clutter, it will be ignored. A relevant and clear message is also applicable to the web marketing world as well. The web user will bounce off your site within the first 30 seconds if your website does not clearly explain the purpose of your company's existence. In digital marketing, this behavior is called passing the blink test.
Now you know how the “blink” in BlinkJar is derived.
The Meaning of Jar in BlinkJar
Many experts in the advertising industry reference the book “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind” as the bible on advertising and marketing strategy. Written by Al Ries and Jack Trout, this marketing masterpiece describes how people use ladders to rank products and brands in their mind. Each step of the ladder represents a brand name, and each ladder is a separate product category. The higher your company is on the ladder, the larger its share of mind. For most categories, the consumer only has room on the ladder for three or four companies before they run out of real estate (memory). If you are not a part of these three or four companies, then you better start creating a new ladder.
At BlinkJar, we took the ladder concept created by Al Reis and Jack Trout and simply replaced the ladders with jars. In order to grow share of mind, your company must dislodge a high-ranking company in the jar. When this proves to be too tall of a task, then your only other option is to create a new jar.
Head & Shoulders is the perfect case study for describing how a company created its own jar. The creators of Head & Shoulders understood that the “jar” for shampoo was already pretty full. Instead of being the seventh or eighth name consumers thought of when they heard the word shampoo, Head & Shoulders wanted to be the first brand consumers thought of when they heard the term dandruff shampoo. In order for this to happen, Head & Shoulders had to create a separate jar in the shampoo sector; one for dandruff shampoo. By creating their own jar, Head & Shoulders became the first name in the small jar of dandruff shampoo in contrast to the eighth or ninth brand name in the larger jar of generic shampoo names. This is the basis for the “jar” of BlinkJar.
We receive questions about our name regularly, and we love answering them. The answer defines why we exist, and it serves as a reminder of our roots. We hope this blog has done a good job of defining the meaning behind the name BlinkJar.
