I tell this story a lot when I'm talking about Embrace and thought you'd like to hear it too...
It was July 2003 and Alex and I had just founded our new pet insurance company out of the pet insurance team that won the Wharton Business Plan Competition in April 2003. We sat around some coffee in the Au Bon Pain cafe at Wharton and we brainstormed all sorts of what we thought were clever and original names:
- Savannah Pet Insurance (hmmm, images of mint juleps and muggy nights on the front porch)
- Magenta Pet Insurance (female oriented - not quite pink but nearly)
- Casanova Pet Insurance (don't ask - the coffee must have been spiked)
- Merrylegs Pet Insurance (a Dicken's character's dog)
- Marigold Pet Insurance (a lovely flower and we all love flowers)
And then we set up a survey in Surveymonkey and passed it on to all the pet parents we knew and asked them to forward to their friends.
Well, as you might imagine, the results were not too stellar. I think the highest score was no more than 2.5 out of 5 - not very encouraging at all. But the message from the write-in comments was that we reflect the emotional bond between pet parent and pet. Alex and I looked at each other and Alex said, I dunno, how about Embrace? and I helpfully added "Angel", both of which we grimaced at - how touchy feely they were!
So we resurveyed with Embrace Pet Insurance and Angel Pet Insurance and wouldn't you know it, Embrace blew away the competition. I think the average was something in the high 4's - it was unanimous, Embrace Pet Insurance was our new name.
I have to admit, I was a bit dismayed and should I say a little bit embarrassed to tell people what the new name was for the first couple of days but I got back such a powerfully positive response, it didn't take long for me to love the name and realize how well it works.
From the dictionary:
embrace em·brace [ em bráyss ]
verb (past and past participle em·braced, present participle em·brac·ing, 3rd person present singular em·brac·es)
Definition:
- transitive and intransitive verb hug somebody: to hug somebody in your arms affectionately or passionately, or hug each other affectionately or passionately
- transitive verb make use of something: to welcome and take advantage of something eagerly or willingly embrace an opportunity
- transitive verb adopt something: to adopt or take up something, especially a belief or way of life embraced free-market economics
- transitive verb comprise something: to include something as part of a whole a new electoral district embracing both suburban and urban areas
- transitive verb surround something: to surround or enclose something ( literary ) ( often passive )
noun (plural em·brac·es)
Definition: warm hug: an affectionate or passionate hug [14th century. < Old French embracer "take into your arms" < Latin bracchium "arm"]
em·brace·able adjective
em·brace·ment noun
em·brac·er noun
It's perfect in all ways don't you think?
So the lesson we learned is to ask our customers their advice when it comes to big decisions. We've been steered right so far.
