The Black Elephant Story
When I started my own business in 2012, it was obvious to me that I wanted to separate my private and business life. That’s why I decided to set up a limited liability company. And a limited liability company needs a name. But which one?
Schmid Consulting GmbH? – No way! Meier, Müller, Schmid are the most common names in Switzerland and also in German-speaking countries. This is neither attractive nor does it have any meaning. Moreover, very few people can remember names well.
So I too, as many do, first fooled around with the first names of my children, my wife and myself. Nothing appealing came out of that either.
So I sat in my office and stared at the bookshelf. My eyes got stuck on a black and gold elephant that my mother had once brought me from Thailand. And my thoughts began to bubble. That was it!
An elephant. Genius. Because elephants, just like your customers, forget nothing. Especially nothing negative! They also tell (badly treated customers, employees, business partners) their negative experiences. Often for years.
Also, elephants are known to be able to mobilize great forces to harm their tormentors. But elephants can also be very trusting, they can be trained and their powers can be used in many ways.
Why did I choose “black elephant”? Well, customer delight also has to do with emotions. We know from neuro-science and neuro-marketing that people associate emotions with colors. Gold, silver, red, green, blue, black and white fit my theme. I also decided on black or white for ecological and economic reasons. Now I still had to decide between these two colors.
One of my marketing professors once said, “Always check if a term is double-meaning.” And that’s what I did. “White elephant” in English doesn’t just means “white elephant” but “worthless possession.” The Black Elephant creates added value! There was also a very large, extremely performing elephant called “Black diamond”.
And since I also wanted to work beyond national borders and language barriers, I decided to use “The Black Elephant”.
And since 9 out of 10 people who get to know me ask, at the latest when handing over their business card, how I came up with my company name, I almost always get a few extra minutes to tell this story (ever heard of stroytelling?).
The fact is that my name is Roger Schmid, most people have forgotten after a short time. But you will still recognize me as a “the black elephant” after months and years. And if you search for “the black elephant” in the usual search engines, you will definitely find me.
