33 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

"It might taste the same. It might even taste better. But it won't be Rolling Rock," says a beer brand loyalist in an interview with the local newspaper, The Patriot-News, commenting on the sale of the Rolling Rock beer brand and the secret recipes of Pennsylvania's historic Latrobe Brewery to Anheuser-Busch, makers of Budweiser and Bud Light.

Rolling Rock's legendary "33" on the back of every bottle is, well, the stuff of legends.

Whether it refers to the year Prohibition was repealed or the number of steps it takes the brewmaster to walk from his office to the brewing floor, the "33" that appears on bottles of Rolling Rock beer has fueled beer lovers' imaginations for decades.

The official explanation is less mysterious: It signifies the number of words on the painted label. But the number has become part of pop culture. The lore and, in turn, the brewery at which the German-style pilsner is brewed have become part of Pennsylvania history, several beer aficionados said Saturday.

News of the brewery's sale on Friday made several of them fear that Pennsylvania is losing a piece of that history.

Not only beer aficionados, but also naming and branding experts, have a special connection with the infamous "33" on the back of every bottle of Rolling Rock. In the seminal treatise on naming and branding, Building the Perfect Beast: The Igor Naming Guide to Creating Product and Company Names, naming and branding experts refer to "33" as one of the essential ingredients in their recipe for great company or product names.

When considering potential names for your company, product or service, it is vital that the process be kept as objective as possible, and that subjective personal responses to names, such as "I like it" or I don't like it" or "I don't like it because it reminds me of an old girlfriend/boyfriend" are exactly that – subjective and personal, and have no bearing on whether or not a potential name will actually work in the marketplace as a powerful brand that supports all your positioning goals.

All well and good, but clients often ask us to be more specific, to explain objectively just what makes a name work. With that in mind, we created a straightforward way to dissect potential names into the following nine categories to make it easier to understand why name work or don't work, and to more easily weigh the pros and cons of one name versus another:

Appearance – Simply how the name looks as a visual signifier, in a logo, an ad, on a billboard, etc. The name will always be seen in context, but it will be seen, so looks are important.

Distinctive – How differentiated is a given name from its competition. Being distinctive is only one element that goes into making a name memorable, but it is a required element, since if a name is not distinct from a sea of similar names it will not be memorable. It’s important, when judging distinctiveness, to always consider the name in the context of the product it will serve, and among the competition it will spar with for the consumer’s attention.

Depth – Layer upon layer of meaning and association. Names with great depth never reveal all they have to offer all at once, but keep surprising you with new ideas.

Energy – How vital and full of life is the name? Does it have buzz? Can it carry an ad campaign on its shoulders? Is it a force to be reckoned with? These are all aspects of a name’s energy level.

Humanity – A measure of a name’s warmth, its "humanness," as opposed to names that are cold, clinical, unemotional. Another – though not foolproof – way to think about this category is to imagine each of the names as a nickname for one of your children.

Positioning – How relevant the name is to the positioning of the product or company being named, the service offered, or to the industry served. Further, how many relevant messages does the name map to?

Sound – Again, while always existing in a context of some sort or another, the name WILL be heard, in radio or television commercials, being presented at a trade show, or simply being discussed in a cocktail party conversation. Sound is twofold – not only how a name sounds, but how easily it is spoken by those who matter most: the potential customer. Word of mouth is a big part of the marketing of a company, product or service with a great name, but if people aren’t comfortable saying the name, the word won’t get out.

"33" – The force of brand magic, and the word-of-mouth buzz that a name is likely to generate. Refers to the mysterious "33" printed on the back of Rolling Rock beer bottles for decades that everybody talks about because nobody is really sure what it means. "33" is that certain something that makes people lean forward and want to learn more about a brand, and to want to share the brand with others. The "33" angle is different for each name.

Trademark – As in the ugly, meat hook reality of trademark availability. Scoring is easy here, as there are only three options, and nothing is subjective: 10 = likely available for trademark; 5 = may be available for trademark; and 0 = not likely available for trademark. All of the names on this list have been prescreened by a trademarked attorney and have been deemed "likely" for trademark registration.

These are the categories we scrupulously consider every name we present to clients, and we've done it so much that it has become second nature to us. But for those just stepping into these confusing brand waters, it often helps to rate names in each of these categories and compare the rankings.

Just a taste of the heady naming and branding advice served daily by our friends at Igor, the naming and branding agency that sponsors Wordlab -- full disclosure -- and who once bought this independently-minded blogger a beer.