The Power of a Product Name: How "Cat Pot" Revived a Wooden Flowerpot

Choosing an excellent product name can have a tremendous impact on sales, even turning around the fate of a product. In Nakatsugawa City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, a company named Goshinboku deeply understands the importance of a product's name.

Goshinboku designed a wooden flowerpot made from locally sourced high-quality cypress wood, handcrafted by skilled artisans. Despite the quality and craftsmanship, the product's sales remained stagnant after its launch in 2020, with some months even recording zero sales.

However, everything changed at the end of September that same year when the company renamed the flowerpot to "Cat Pot" and promoted it through social media. This simple name change instantly revived the product, turning it into a bestseller.

The company encouraged customers to think of the product not just as a flowerpot for planting flowers, but as a cozy "pot" for cats to rest in. They heavily promoted how much cats loved to curl up inside the wooden box, which quickly went viral.

As a result, cat lovers across Japan scrambled to buy the "Cat Pot". Whereas previously the product barely sold half a unit per month, after the renaming it sold over 1,000 units in just three days.

A reporter even found a customer who bought the "Cat Pot" four years ago for their cat. The owner shared that since the cat started sleeping in the "Cat Pot", it has been able to fall asleep more easily and sleep more soundly than on a regular bed.

Priced at 7,700 yen, this wooden box turned flowerpot has become a must-have for cat enthusiasts, demonstrating the remarkable power of a well-chosen product name.

This story was recently featured on the Japanese TV morning news program ZIP!, highlighting how a simple renaming can lead to a dramatic turnaround in product success.