The Unfortunate Fallacy of Name Recognition
Have you ever come across one of those hidden gems? You know, that person, place, or thing that you had never heard of before that ended up being EXACTLY what you were looking for?
Someone, someplace, or something you maybe even didn't know you needed?
But you decided to be adventurous, and you were immensely rewarded for the risk.
These are beautiful moments, are they not?
We often have a distrust of "new" - any one, any place, any thing we have not yet been exposed to.
It speaks to the power of branding, for sure. But that's the rub.
We naturally assume that Name Recognition (strong branding) = Better (better quality, better experience, better tasting, etc...).
This is the Unfortunate Fallacy of which I speak.
I came across a podcast recently that reinforced my point. The host has a thing for introductions, but even so. His guest was PHENOMENAL.
The introduction highlighted levels of accomplishment that were utterly off the charts. The interview was fantastic. The message potentially transformational.
And when the host finally got to the guest's name, I realized I had never heard of him (I was on a run, so I didn't see the podcast details ahead of time).
I expected to hear a name as recognizable as a US President, or a well-known actor, or some A-list celebrity - a world-changer.
Nope. Just "a guy" that has done - and is doing - incredible things. And it really didn't matter whether or not I knew his name.
Forgive me for the incomplete thought in this thread. I don't have a deep, significant point necessarily.
Just lamenting the fact that truly amazing people, places, products, and services can easily and intentionally be set aside, dismissed, or ignored simply because their name doesn't ring Pavlov's bell...
I lift my mug to the adventurous among us. Cuz there's often gold in them thar hills if we're willing to get out of our comfort zone and try something new - even if we've never heard of it.
Have a fantastic rest of your day, my friends!
