Cases Study Amazon mer den amazon That near-mystical website that delivers everything from Swedish novels to yoga pants to diapers to your front door? Before he created Amazon in 1996, founder Jeff Bezos christened his company Cadabra. That was short for Abracadabra, or the word he felt best conjured the idea that a book would magically appear - Abracadabra! - on a customer's doorstep. After Bezos' lawyer thought "cadabra" sounded like "cadaver," Bezos reconsidered. His perfect name would begin with an A, thus appearing first in the alphabetical listing of a web search. As the largest river in the world - strong, swift and exotic - the Amazon proved to be his ultimate inspiration. Lesson learned: Founders can be wrong. In fact, Bezos has said himself that leaders who are right a lot are "people who often changed their minds." It's clear that's a Bezos wisdom that applies to naming a company. Nike Americans - and legions of sneaker-wearing folks across the globe are so familiar with the Nike brand that its etymology likely goes unquestioned. Even diehard fans of Air Jordans probably know far more about their slam-dunking namesake (Michael Jordan, in case you never turned on the television in the 1980s or '90s) than they do about the Greek goddess who inspired the eponymous brand. In Greek mythology, Nike is the goddess of victory. She is commonly depicted with outstretched wings, carrying a wreath or palm branch as a symbol of her triumph. The Ancient Greeks would probably not be surprised to find out that Nike beat out brands like Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren to become 2015's most valuable apparel brand. Nike didn't always have a victorious name nor the telltale swoosh. When the company was founded in 1964, it was called Blue Ribbon Sports - which was probably too long to neatly fit a swoosh underneath. The catalyst for the name change was Blue Ribbon's first full-time employee, Jeff Johnson, who convinced his team that successful brand names had two essential qualities. First, they were short. Second, they contained an "exotic" letter, such as an X, K or 2. Where did Mr. Johnson gain this latter piece of marketing wisdom? An airline magazine. Lesson learned: Keep it short - and a little exotic. Ref: https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/28/the-stories-behind-9-iconic-american-company-names.html 2. Discuss brand equity and brand knowledge. Apply your discussion to all the two brands above. (20 marks)