National Study Finds Your Pet's Name Reveals Your Presidential Candidate Preferences

MINNEAPOLIS--(Business Wire)--
Based on a random national sample of 1,059 consumers, Strategic
Name Development, Inc. discovered a significant correlation between
the way we name our pets and the 2008 presidential candidates we
prefer.

This new source of information has pinpointed some interesting
associations between owners' pet names and their preference for 2008
presidential candidates.

Highlights of the Study

-- Hillary Clinton may have more in common with John McCain than
with Barack Obama: supporters of both candidates are more
likely to give their pets derogatory nicknames.

-- McCain supporters frequently name their pets after past
presidents and other notable political figures, including
Jackson, Franklin, Garfield, Ike and, of course, McCain.

-- Clinton supporters have pets named Chelsea and Arianna. One
assumes this is intended as a compliment. (See Graph: % of
Pets Named After People)

-- Obama supporters are the most likely to use coined (or
created) names for their pets: Bam-Bam, Gordo, Jinxie, D'og,
Kitty Dawg and Puhduhduhduh.

-- Clinton supporters also favor "suggestive" names that describe
their pet's personality, including "cuddly" names like Dreamer
and Cupcake. (See Graph: % of Pets With Suggestive Names)

-- Those who name their pets Rebel and Patriot are most likely to
support John McCain.

Conclusion

People name their pets based on their own values.

"Tell me your pet's name and I'll tell you who you're going to
vote for," says Diane Prange, Chief Linguistics Officer of Strategic
Name Development.

The correlation between the names people give their pets and their
political preferences reveals the "personal brand" of each candidate.

John McCain has clearly established himself as a candidate in the
tradition of Andrew Jackson and Dwight Eisenhower, and also as the
strongest when it comes to defense and homeland security.

Barack Obama appeals to those who seek out originality and a new
approach to politics (just what he set out to do).

Despite her hard fighting in the Democratic primary, Hillary
Clinton continues to appeal to those who value a feminine perspective.

More insight on the relationship between pet names and
presidential candidates' preference is available at
http://www.namedevelopment.com/articles/pet-names-presidential-
candidate-study.html.

(Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into
your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one
exists.)

About Strategic Name Development

Strategic Name Development, Inc., a brand naming consultancy based
in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has expertise in global product naming,
company naming, tagline development, and brand architecture. They
utilize their global capabilities while combining linguistics,
creativity, and brand name research to build global brand names that
are instantly recognizable, memorable, trademarkable, and
strategically sound. Strategic Name Development augments this naming
expertise with their global proprietary Name DNA Validation(TM)
research methodology, which compares name candidates to each other and
against a proprietary normative database. For more information about
Strategic Name Development, visit www.namedevelopment.com.

Strategic Name Development
Katya Miller, 952-830-4100
Director of Communications

Copyright Business Wire 2008