From eMoms at Home to Sparkplugging
by Martin Neumann ~ April 17th, 2008
Wendy Peirsall had a problem.
The problem was, in fact, that she had become too popular.
You might know Wendy as the founder of eMoms at Home.
Ever since launching the little blog called eMoms at Home, Wendy’s star has been growing at an amazing rate.
And leveraging that amazing growth she re-launched her blog into an “internet magazine” with a handful of new blogs or channels.
But there remained one small problem. The eMoms at Home name and brand simply outgrew what she was now doing. A change was in the making.
And so Sparkplugging was born. eMoms at Home is no more.
My first reaction to the new name was, well - Hmmm… And after a few days it’s still the same.
To be honest, I raised an eyebrow upon hearing about it. I know Wendy worked long and hard on finding a name, remembering that as well as finding a name she had to also make sure the domain was available.
Here’s why I have some reservations about the name:
Go out on the street and ask a hundred people what they associate the term “sparkplugging” with and I’ll bet you 99% will say cars.
To me that’s poor branding. It’s confusing branding. I see no association between “sparkplugging” and home business, or the home office. Yes, you can cleverly explain the meaning behind the name but if you have to do so in your header - as Wendy has done - then, I’m sorry to say, you’re behind the eight ball right from the start.
For my liking, the name does not come even close to what her site is all about. In fact, there was nothing wrong with eMoms at Home. It’s a niche in itself, and it was going strong.
With the new name, advertisers won’t have a clue. The lay person won’t have a clue. To me, it just doesn’t make sense.
The tagline is another one. “Thinking Big in the New Work-at-Home Generation.”
It’s simply too long, too clever and needs some fine tuning.
Although, I must say that it did spark in me an idea for a book proposal that’s been swimming around in my head for a while now that needed a working title (but that’s another post).
As for the new site, it’s still early days, so it’s hard to tell. But for my liking it’s a bit clunky and cluttered. But I’m sure Wendy and her team are fine tuning it on a daily basis.
I am drawn to the Lifestyle Channel she has put in place - as that is in my area of interest - so it’ll be good to see the sort of topics covered.
But back to Sparkplugging.
It is worth pondering why Wendy came to such a decision. Why the rush? Did she take on some advice from seasoned marketers and branding specialist? If you’re looking at this for the long term, why not take your time, seek advice and get it right.
I invite Wendy to an interview here to try and get some reasoning behind this new direction - as this is not personal - but something I’m standing back from and seeing with fresh eyes from a purely business perspective and someone that is heavily involved in the home business sector.
Sorry Wendy - but ‘Sparkplugging’, I just don’t get it.
~ ~ ~ ~
You can read the initial launch announcement and interview Darren Rowse recently conducted with Wendy over at ProBlogger…
April 17th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Would love to do that interview Martin - and will give you a much more thorough answer at that time (email me!). But until then, I can tell you that I didn’t give that definition to the word Sparkplugging, it’s been around since the early 1900’s, though not commonly used:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=spark%20plug
April 17th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
I have to agree.
The name you use must be something related to what you do.
Even though there are brands out there that have seen success without associating their business description to their brand e.g. Kodak, Nike, Bic, etc. etc. they have the marketing budget to build that brand.
April 17th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Wendy - thanks for commenting. I just want to reiterate that this is nothing personal. I just want to wrap my head around the whole process and reasoning.
Good on you for accepting the interview - I’ll email you a set of questions over the weekend.
But your comment exactly explains my feelings - it’s too clever by half. It’s a word “not commonly used” … from “the early 1900’s”. Forget the 1900’s, don’t tell me that the vast majority of everyday folks will not associate the name with cars.
Personally, I wouldn’t know how to start building this brand with such a name. The only plus is that you’ve got a decent community behind you, so you’ll probably need to utilize that fan base if you’re to match the name and your niche together anytime soon.
Look at the second comment here from Acey - you’ll notice that if you want a brand that has no association with the business then it has to be very unique and … short.
But we’ll leave that for the interview.
Acey - thanks for having your say. The marketing budget to push a unique name is another aspect of this - you’re spot on. And like your examples, most unique brand names tend to be short.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:16 am
[…] Since the announcement, I have been pondering the new name just as Martin Neumann over at HomeOfficeVoice has been doing. In fact, Martin put a post up this morning discussing, “From eMoms at Home to Sparkplugging.” […]
April 18th, 2008 at 1:47 am
Again, I can give you more info in your interview, but the feedback we have gotten from readers as a whole is that most people love it, are identifying with it, and embracing it. Interestingly, I think the handful of people that are kind of scratching their heads are mostly from Australia. Calling somebody a ‘Spark Plug’ is not uncommon in the U.S. - it’s someone who is a go-getter, someone who makes things happen, or is a self-starter. That describes self-employed people very well, in my opinion.
Additionally, with any change, not everyone will like it - that is a fact that nobody can prevent. You can’t please everyone.
Yet, judging by the amount of ads I have sold just since we launched (2 days!), advertisers are *loving* it, too. :)