Taco Murphy

I had a dream last night that included domesticated miniature camels (bonzo size), Gary Coleman, a flying hot dog cart and my unborn son. While I was impressed that the camels could use the toilet and Gary Coleman was taller in person, I woke up most excited about my unborn son. No, I am not married and no, Tara is not pregnant (that I know of anyway), but in my dream there was a bun in the oven and I had just scored a major victory for branding freaks and taco lovers the world over.

I have talked about personal branding quite a bit in the past. I believe that it will be an area of growing importance in the future as the global economy becomes more competitive. A strong personal brand can make the difference between landing a job, winning a client or even finding a mate. Most of us start with a disadvantage… our own name. Do you know how many Ted Murphys there are in the world? It is much more difficult to build a brand around a name when other people have the same name. That is why corporations trademark and protect their name and celebrities adopt new names they can uniquely call their own.

In my dream, I convinced Tara to name our son Taco Murphy. Partially because I love tacos, but mostly because the domain name and trademark were available. Yes, the name Taco Murphy is a little crazy. I’m not sure that I would really name my kid Taco, but the concept is more important than the execution in my dream. When I do have a child, I want to make sure I can secure their domain name, trademark and, possibly, some social media profiles (though I am not sure they will all be relevant by the time they grow up). I want my kid to be able to “own” their own name from day one and use that name to propel their personal brand.

We are all products. We are all selling ourselves to one  another. A memorable brand name is a key component of any successful product development strategy. Why not apply the same principle to “human product” development?

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After an initially difficult childhood Taco Murphy grew to become the CEO of a vast Taco empire. His breakthrough was taco shells made out of bacon that somehow didn’t make your hands greasy. He named his children enchilada and chimichanga.

Yes. I bought the domain. Just in case.