The Meaning Behind Brand Numbers

THE MEANINGS BEHIND BRAND NUMBERS Levi's The 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed records that might have shed light on the importance of 501. While we don't know why 501 was chosen as the lot number for copper-riveted waist overalls (or jeans as they're known today) it has endured as a symbol of the clothing brand's rich heritage. Levis KFC's 11 Herbs and Spices KFC's recipe of 11 herbs and spices is such a secret that there are no physical or digital copies of the original hand written document, company executives travel separately for security reasons and two separate companies produce the mix. The number 11 suggests an extra something that makes the chicken finger lickin' good. KFC Heinz 57 Varieties Henry Heinz was already manufacturing more than 60 products when he began using the slogan '57 Varieties' across all advertising. He considered it a lucky number, and today it's still used despite the company producing thousands of products. RE FOOD HEINZ PRODUC 57 VARIETIES 7-Eleven When 7-Eleven opened its first store in 1946 the name was a nod to its opening times. While the majority of 7-Eleven stores are now open 24 hours a day, the name and numbers are still associated withconvenience. ELEVEN 7 Up Was the lemon and lime flavoured soft drink named for its number of ingredients, its pH level or the atomic mass of lithium, an original ingredient? We don't know for sure, as the drink's inventor Charles Leiper Grigg never explained the meaning. The company has used numbers in marketing messages such as '6 Up was not enough. We went one louder.' Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 is one of the most iconic cars, but its name is a stroke of luck. The car was originally set to be the Porsche 901, but Peugeot forced the change, claiming that it had ownership of a three digit model number with a O in the middle as a naming convention. PORSCHE Fre Chanel No. 5 Coco Chanel chose the fifth fragrance that perfumier Emest Beaux produced for N°5 CHANEL her, and the official launch of the perfume was on the 5th of May, 1921. Marilyn Monroe famously said she slept in the nude - except for 'five drops of Chanel No. 5'. PARIS PARFUM Boeing 747 The world's most famous transport jet has its company's history as a military airplane manufacturer to thank for its name. After World War II, the engineering departments were divided into new product areas -300s and 400s for aircraft, 500s for turbine engines, 600s for rockets and missiles, and 700s for jet transport aircraft. Coke Zero Specifically targeted at men who considered diet drinks for girls, Coca-Cola Zero was marketed as having the taste of standard Coca-Cola with zero calories. In the UK the 'Just Add Zero' marketing campaign turned the idea of zero meaning nothing on its head, showing that things get faster, bigger and better when you add zero. BOEING 747-400 Coca-Cola zero. Jack Daniels Old No. / A fire destroyed records that could prove the theory that Old No. 7 came from the number applied to Jack Daniel's distillery for government registration. When the federal government redrew the district and Jack Daniels became No. 16, the brand had already been established. JACK DANIEL'S No7 GRAND Xbox 360 With Sony preparing to launch the PlayStation 3, Microsoft no doubt thought that naming its second console Xbox 2 would have made it look inferior. Supposedly 360 XBOX 36o Implies the gamer is at the centre of the Xbox experience. To continue confusing matters, Microsoft's third console was named the Xbox One. Nintendo 64 It's no secret that the Nintendo 64 was named after its 64 bit NINTENDO64 processor. As its competitors all had 32 bit processors, it made sense to highlight this advantage. The 4 could also have been a reference to its 4-player multiplayer capabilities, which was a first for a home console. Cadbury's 99 Flake The Italian monarchy had an elite guard of 99 soldiers, and so anything special was known as 9 - to appeal to ex-pat Italians that were at the centre of the UK ice cream industry. Cadbury named its flake a 99. Ftake, Baskin Robbins' 31 Flavours In 1953 Baskin-Robbins started a new marketing campaign – its '31 Flavors' could provide a new ice cream taste experience every day of the month. While there are over 50 flavours today, the number 31 is still integral to the brand, forming part of its logo. BR başkin robbiNS Зм 3M's original name was the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co., which was founded to harvest corundum at Crystal Bay mine. The five founders of the company continued working together when it was discovered the mine didn't contain much corundum, changing its name to 3M and releasing products such as scotch tape and post its. 3M Six Flags One of the world's largest amusement park corporations is named after the 'Six Flags over Texas' - the nations that have had sovereignty over the Lone Star State (Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, Confederate States of America and the United States of America). 3 (Hutchinson 3G) Six Flags The mobile network 3 which operates in a number of Asian and European countries - including the ÚK where it launched on 03/03/2003 - was named to emphasise its ability to connect to 3G networks ; a first in many of the countries where it launched. FiveThirtyEight.com In 2012, the founder of polling aggregation website and blog FiveThirtyEight.com Nate Silver correctly predicted the winner of all 50 states in the US presidential election - the MFiveThirtyEight number refers to the number Rolling Rock - 33 The reason there's a 33 on every label of Rolling Rock is disputed - there were 33 steps from the brewing floor to the brewmaster's office, the year prohibition was repealed (1933), a mistake at the printers, or a Masonic conspiracy? Whatever the reason, the company plays on the fascination with the number, often running promotional events around March 3rd (3/3). of electors in the United States electoral college. ROC WD-40 WD-40 stands for Water Displacement, 40th Formula. Invented in the 1950s to prevent the Atlas space rocket corroding, the chemists who designed the product were successful on their 40th attempt. The number is a reminder that no short cuts WD-40 were taken to ensure the formula worked perfectly. Sources nowiknow.com Lottoland heinz.com theguardian.com baskinrobbins.com nbcnews.com www.lottoland.co.uk 501