Business Name Feedback (Female preferred!)

[ty91]

Hi everyone,
This is a particularly unique situation in which I've had the opportunity to start a new subscription business outside of Canada. The unique part is both my partner and I are male, and the service we are offering is specifically targeted at Females. We've had a few female friends approach us about the idea and the positive responses we've received have been overwhelming. The service is a 'time of the month' box, where you would receive all your essential products you need for your time of the month.

This is where I could use some help! I would love to hear some feedback (from females preferably) on our business name. If you have any suggestions yourself I would love to hear them, but I'm looking for feedback on the business name below:

Beaver Box

The rational behind it is simple:
1. Beaver - an alternative name for your female body part
2. We're based out of Canada and the beaver is one of our national animals. The double meaning could be beneficial to play off of.
3. These subscription box's would be shipped directly to customers homes. In some cases, living in an apartment building, parcels are received and held onto by the concierge. Although Beaver Box would be quite obvious to the customer, I think it's not obvious enough for a 3rd party (e.g. concierge) to conclude what is actually in the box. That way it still tries to keep your time of month private to only the user.

PLEASE, PLEASE don't hold back on your comments/feedback/criticism. My main concern is with point number 1. Men have certain slang words they use, that can be somewhat derogatory towards women. I want to make sure that 'beaver' is a friendly word for females, and not derogatory in any way.

Thank you.

[Harold Mansfield]

I'm a guy...but both "Beaver" and "Box" are derogatory anatomical slang terms that would never work in the U.S. You would get crucified in the media for even suggesting to name that particular product, those words.

Who knows, in Canada it may fly like geese. I just wanted to point out that you're focused on insuring that "Beaver" isn't taken wrong, but it was "Box" that jumped out at me.

I wouldn't even risk it. I would go in a completely opposite way with something that had absolutely no chance of offending someone, getting bad press, or costing you a sale because they didn't "get it".

A good rule of thumb is if you have to explain it to people, it's going to cause you problems.

[ty91]

Hi Harold. Thanks so much for the feedback! I 100% agree with you about the 'box' term. Until you mentioned it I never really put that into context. Box is a very common term within the subscription box market, and even in Canada it would be considered a derogatory term. The term box was supposed to refer to the actual package/parcel the items would arrive in (with no alternate meanings intended), but to the average consumer I can see how that can be associated.

My follow up question, is if you have the same thoughts if you take 'box' out of the equation completely - E.g. Beaver parcel, or Beaver delivery. We've been developing other names of course and this will be great if I can get some more feedback from you or others on the Beaver term. Of course and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Harold Mansfield]

I wouldn't use "Beaver" at all. It it were ANY other product, I'd say give it a shot. This one makes me nervous. It just seems like too much unnecessary risk when you could go with something that has more over all marketing appeal.

[ty91]

Taking a whole new approach. Thanks for the feedback Harold!
Cheers

[girlymcnerdy]

As a woman, this thread as given me HUGE amounts of amusement this morning. I have a pretty raunchy sense of humor (in fact...my business is based around that), so I'm not offended by "Beaver Box" at all. It gave me a good chuckle. I love the alliteration and the humor behind it.

That being said...I would have to agree with Harold on this one. Your Beaver Box would be ripped a new one (pun intended) here in the US. It's something a comedian could get away with saying on stage...but an article wouldn't be able to print without a lash back.

I think you are ABSOLUTELY on the right track. A woman needs a good laugh during that time of the month, for sure...so the hint of a lude reference is just. Beaver Box might just be too obvious of a reference. :D Good luck and post what you guys end up settling on! I'm curious!

PS...love that you tagged this conversation with "Beaver". lmao.

[Harold Mansfield]

Taking a whole new approach. Thanks for the feedback Harold!
Cheers
I really think that's best. And beleive me, I completely understand your side of it, but I think you're too inside your own head on it to fully see how it actually looks on the outside.

I'd either get with some female marketers, or just follow the tried and true method of naming it something that has to do with delicate flowers or spring time, or nature or modern women...or all the other ways the big names package and sell it.

[girlymcnerdy]

Oh! Side note...that time of the week has some pretty funny, none offensive names you might want to be inspired by.

In the US we call is "Shark Week". :) I've heard the UK gets pretty creative too.

[ty91]

I didn't realize I tagged beaver lol. girlymcnerdy definitely like the whole Shark Week approach! Going to take a few days and let the mind brew a little bit. Also, pretty sure we're going to set up a focus group to get some more female prospective on it. Thanks for the feedback!

[SouthernVelvetCafe]

Almost as bad as "Have a Happy Period"
XD
Maybe call it The Anti-Kill-Everyone-Everyday box. Include chocolate.

[CCAdamson]

Call "Aunt Flo's Care Package" ship everything in a plain box and on the inside have everything nicely wrapped sort of like a picnic basket as if you Aunt was really sending a loving/caring care package.

[KristineS]

Gotta ask, women were really asking for a subscription service for these products? I guess I could see it if they were hard to get, but it's as simple as throwing whatever you need into your cart at the grocery or pharmacy and you're done. Why would I pay someone to send me a special box? It's not like that time of the month is a surprise or anything. If you're female and have hit puberty, you know it's coming and you generally know when. I'd recommend doing some more market research on this idea. Maybe I'm atypical, but I can't fathom why I would pay a service to send me something I can pick up at the grocery.

That said, Aunt Flo's Care Package made me laugh. You could do the package up in pretty paper and not only include supplies, but also some fun little treats like good chocolates and a calming blend of tee, or maybe a stress ball.

[ty91]

Hey CCAdamson I actually wrote the 'Aunt Flo' name as an option yesterday, but I love your branding/marketing behind it! You put a great spin on it with the 'receive a care package from your aunt flo'. That's quickly moved to the top of the list. Thanks for your suggestion!

[ty91]

Hi KristineS, I appreciate the feedback! Thank you for offering your honest opinion about the entire concept! We are hosting a focus group next week to come up with that answer for sure: whether people would pay for this service, and if so how much.

Love the idea of the treats & tea!

[Harold Mansfield]

Gotta ask, women were really asking for a subscription service for these products? I guess I could see it if they were hard to get, but it's as simple as throwing whatever you need into your cart at the grocery or pharmacy and you're done. Why would I pay someone to send me a special box? It's not like that time of the month is a surprise or anything. If you're female and have hit puberty, you know it's coming and you generally know when. I'd recommend doing some more market research on this idea. Maybe I'm atypical, but I can't fathom why I would pay a service to send me something I can pick up at the grocery.


I don't know. I could see it.
I buy my razors from Harry's. I could easily buy them at the market, but I like Harry's presentation, their razors, the price is decent, and they make their own cream and aftershave which I like. It just feels a little more personal and it's a nice product that different from the over priced crap and different cartridges that Gillette, Bic and all the others keep pushing.

So I can see it working if it was a great product(s), nice presentation, and had some personality to it. Tossing in some chocolate and other treats is a nice touch too.

[CCAdamson]

Glad you like the concept/name idea.

I was actually talking about your idea over the weekend and asked my wife and her cousin if they would use something like your suggesting and unfortunately they both said no. They said no for the same reasons KristineS mentioned, they can just get what they need at the store because it isn't a surprise.

More than once they mentioned that everyone is different and everyone wants different things. For example her cousin said that she loves chocolate but when she eats it at the time of the month her cramps get worse so she would have no use for chocolate. My wife mentioned that she likes to drink wine, well that is good but you can't ship that to her at least not in PA where we are. So I asked, what if it were like a store where you go in and pick like 5 items you want in your box, that was better received but brought up another problem, overstock. Meaning if the first month they want medicine to ease the cramp pain (Midol) they likely won't need another bottle next month so they wouldn't want it again. The general idea of a subscription service is the out of sight out of mind concept. You pick it and then never worry about it again. To prevent overstock in your consumer’s cabinet they may need to make multiple choices or log in monthly to make changes that sort of defeats the purpose.

Ok, there is a little market research for you. I hope it was helpful.

[SamSaba]

This is a really interesting thought... a little background history on myself: I am currently a transitioning service member with two deployments, once being to Afghanistan. I, myself, really enjoyed care packages, even if it had the smallest things on it, and one of the things I asked from friends and family members were good quality sanitary products. I do like the idea of the treats and tea, but like CCAdamson mentioned, not every female go through the same experiences during the time of the month, so I initially thought of different types of pre-built packages, a chocolate one (maybe have wine filled chocolate!), an herbal one with teas and/or aromatherapy items, one with a few medicines, or wipes, or just have the buyer customize their packages.

With my experiences, I feel like there would be other women with interest in this product, especially overseas in a male dominated environment like I was in. Though the target market could fluctuate with different world events happening, but maybe you could make an “on-the-go” kind of travel packet? For women with more busier lifestyles, or maybe look into other blue collar jobs that would deal with more traveling or a lot of field work. Though females in that line of jobs are rare, but the few that are there would greatly appreciate it. It’s just a matter of marketing and networking!