Thursday, January 22, 2009

the swoosh poll

I have this project for school. And when I have projects like this one I get curious about :"what do people think about..." This particular project makes me wonder what do people think about "swoosh".
If you do live in US - I know what you think. (or at least what most of you think about it)
If you do not live in US - well, I wonder - have you heard about it? Where? Was it some unknown face speeding through the wintry landscape? The fast river at the bottom of the hill? Or?

I want to thank each of you that voted and posted comments .
I have this school project on Nike and I did remember that I had a similar project, thought that one involved only logos. And I started to ask my co-workers what do they think when they hear "connecting people". Most thought about a dating service. Now "connecting people" is a Nokia logo -one I could recall even after I lived in US for a few years.
"Swoosh" is the Nike logo most US residents should recognize. I wondered if anyone that does not live in US would make a correlation between "swoosh" and Nike. Of course this is not serious market research, more of a curiosity of mine. And nobody did relate the swoosh sound and the Nike brand. But not too many people did answer - I guess one gets better results by stalking her co-workers 'till one gets an answer.

12 comments:

to-morrow said...

I must admit I've never heard of this word. However, I tried to find a definition at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/swoosh
Now I'm trying to imagine the equivalent in Romanian :)

Ana said...

to-morrow-
te-am trecut la other (I do not know)...

n-are nici o importanta ce inseamna. daca vrei am sa explic proiectul la sfarsit...

Anonymous said...

Swooosh, something rushing past, or the swing of a golf club maybe, swoosh, just like that,

Ana said...

thanks Paul.
so I'd count your vote for other, see description...

Anonymous said...

Oh, I voted for a fast river. Maybe I should vote other too. I'll go see if I can vote twice. It's like the democratization of meaning,

Ana said...

no, you cannot vote twice.
a. because it does not really have anything to do with "what the meaning of the word is'
b. becaus if you do vote twice you spoil my result.

Anonymous said...

I voted 'other'. The pterodactyl removed my head swiftly from my shoulders with a barely audible swoosh.

Ana said...

Brad
many, many thanks :)

Anonymous said...

This is very interesting! I must be a strange American, because I had no idea what "swoosh" meant. As I read the post, I thought of a fast river, too (white water rapids).

I live in a rural area and don't know any people who buy name brands, and most of the people I know could care less. But my daughter who moved to New York City says that people spend tons of money there to buy some kind of stupid pocketbook that has a certain name on it. They call it a purse...we call it a pocketbook.

Anyway, we laugh about how silly they are. When I went there to visit, my daughter showed me one of the pocketbooks in a store. It cost five hundred dollars!!! I couldn't believe it.

I can't imagine spending so much money for a label or even caring what someone is wearing. But there are people who spend their lives running after those hollow things.

This is a great topic and post. I enjoy your blog so much! I can't wait to read the results of your project.

Anonymous said...

Yes, ma'am, sorry. I won't do it again.

Ana said...

Julie,

thank you for your long,long comment.It brings an interesting perspective to any marketing project.
People buy brand names for many different reasons.
One reason is that the brand name gives you an idea of product quality. Especially when you buy an expensive item that you do not know how to asses otherwise –like a big screen tv, washing machine, car or laptop. You know, for example that HP and Apple are the best brands out there and it migh be worth to pay an extra dollar for it. We are sometimes too poor to buy cheap things.
Another reason is fashion (or fad). Young kids, especially are under their peers’ pressure when it comes to fashion.
Another reason is one’s need to stress social status. In the major urban areas nobody knows whom you are and basically how you dress tells them a little about your social position. Especially when you are a business woman that becomes extremly important because wearing certain expensive brands tells them you are succesful not that I am a businesswoman, but I was just saying)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info., Annamari. I just bought a used washing machine, so it's hard for me to relate to the social status of businesswomen:) But it's an interesting post and much food for thought.