Taurus v/s Touareg

You'd think a zodiac sign would make for a more memorable brand name than something new, wouldn't you? Well, you're wrong. Research will prove that 'Touareg' is a better brand name than 'Taurus'. And I don't need research to tell you why. When it comes to brand names, the brakes in the name are important memory-helpers. Crisply translated what that means is that the 'G' in 'Touareg' is one of the important things that makes it a better brand name. The 'G' is a better stop sound. Try it. Say 'Touareg' and see how cleanly the name stops on the last letter. Now say 'Taurus' and then think about how much easier it is to slide off the end 'S' sound. When it comes to brand names, you need firm stop-start sounds in the name to make a greater impact. In this brand war, full marks to 'Touraeg'. Other strong stop sounds, to name a few, are 'D', 'P', 'K' and 'T'. Interestingly enough, the 'Touareg' also riffs off the existing memorability of the zodiac sign and adds value to this by throwing in a great stop sound in the end. (It also helps that the 'Tuareg' is the name of a desert tribe from West Africa.)

Agreed, the Ford Taurus and the VW Touareg are not the same category of car. But we've already seen how in competitive times like ours, names from other categories can cannibalise mindspace from one and other. All said and done, 'Touareg' has got many of the things that make for a great brand name. I repeat: A great back story, a smart feed off an existing association and a strong stop sound. Stop.