Develop your naming strategy

Develop Your Naming Strategy

Your brand strategy influences your naming process. Start by determining which type of brand you are building and how your name needs to reflect that type. [Brand Strategy can help]

What type of brand is will your name represent?

BRAND TYPE

DESCRIPTION

Corporate

You’re branding your company, so the company name needs to support that brand.

You’re developing a unique brand identity for each of your products and services; the name needs to reflect that brand identity only for that specific product/service.

You’ll also need to consider the level of differentiation you want between product names – should they be somewhat similar, or complete opposites?

You’re developing a brand around a group of products/services. Same question posed in the product line – think about how the family names need to work together.

Product

Family

It’s helpful to understand the four basic types of names:

1. DESCRIPTIVE NAMES

Descriptive names describe what the company (or product/service) does, or they’re variations of the names of the company’s founder(s) or partners.

Examples: Automatic Data Processing; General Motors; Bob White Accounting.

Check off any pros or cons that are important to you:

PROS

CONS

Customers / prospects immediately know what you do

Generic -­‐-­‐ there are only so many words that can

Easy to say and spell

Conveys no brand, positioning, or benefits

Very traditional

May limit your ability to expand into other areas

May have more trademark issues (see

Naming  Develop Your Naming Strategy

be used to describe the business

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PROS

CONS “Trademark” section)

If you already have a name, does it fit in this category?

Based on the pros and cons listed above, is this category a good fit for your company?

Y

N

Y

N

2. CREATED NAMES

These made-­‐up names are meant to evoke certain emotions, meanings or ideas. They may be completely new words or variations of words based in other languages.

Examples: Agilent, Accenture

PROS

Easier to trademark because they’re new You’re more likely to get the URL

More unique and interesting than descriptive names Can convey or evoke brand associations

CONS

May be difficult to pronounce Market may not understand what it means May require more marketing expenditures to explain what it means

If you already have a name, does it fit in this category?

Based on the pros and cons listed above, is this category a good fit for your company?

Y

N

Y

N

3. EXPERIENTIAL NAMES

These names are more benefit-­‐oriented than descriptive names-­‐-­‐they tell a customer what to expect from an experience with the company. Experiential names typically include a verb or an adjective followed by a noun.

Examples: Outward Bound, Netscape, Microsoft

PROS

Easy to understand

More memorable and unique than descriptive names

CONS Frequently used in a variety of industries, so difficult to trademark & find URLs Could also be difficult to understand

If you already have a name, does it fit in this category?

Y

N

Based on the pros and cons listed above, is this category a good fit for your company?

Y

N

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4. EXPRESSIVE NAMES

Emotional and compelling, these names evoke the core of the brand itself. Expressive names are typically a word or words used out of traditional context – they aren’t meant to be taken literally.

Examples: Apple, Yahoo!, Target, Oracle, Caterpillar

PROS

CONS

Viewed as more risky

Highly memorable, differentiated

Requires an explanation of what the company does

Completely supports the company’s branding Not tied to a single type of product or service May be easier to trademark

If you already have a name, does it fit in this category?

Y

N

Y

N

Based on the pros and cons listed above, is this category a good fit for your company?

REVIEW YOUR COMPETITORS’ NAMES

Now do an analysis of all of your competitors’ names. It will help you to see what kind of name you’ll want to pursue.

Include all of the other companies that provide alternative solutions to solve your customers’ problems.

[Competitive Positioning can help]

How compelling is TYPE OF NAME (CHECK ONLY ONE) List your competitors below it? (0 = forgettable; 5 = Descriptive Created Experiential Expressive fantastic)

If you already have a name, what type is it?

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à à à Considered better “brand names” à à à

In the chart below, insert each competitor into the box that corresponds with its rating and name type. Put your existing name in the grid as well (if applicable).

The best brand names tend to fall within the upper right-­‐hand quadrant, but feel free to draw the conclusions that are best suited for your business.

à à à Considered better “brand names” à à à Rating Descriptive Created Experiential Expressive

5

4

3

2

1

0

Does it need to be really creative?

It depends. For example, if your brand is all about creativity, then your name should be creative as well. If you’re about innovation, then your name should be willing to take a risk. If risk is the last thing on your customers’ minds, then be conservative.

PROS OF A HIGHLY CREATIVE NAME

CONS

 Differentiate yourself from competitors  You may need to educate people about what it  Easier to protect means – and that can be expensive  Convey your creativity if that’s your business

Review your brand personality traits, the three things your brand should mean to your customers, and your brand promise. Do these traits point toward a really creative name, a descriptive name, or something in between?

PREFERRED NAME TYPE

Naming  Develop Your Naming Strategy

NOTES

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Creative

Descriptive

In between

A few further considerations:

CONSIDERATIONS

RESPONSE

Do you have a traditional product or service the people already understand? For example, most people expect a law firm to be named after its partners. A creative name may confuse the market.

Will the majority of your customers be acquired by phone or face-­‐to-­‐face sales?

Are you in a conservative industry?

Is the company/product/service’s reputation important?

Yes No

Yes No Yes No Yes No

Total YES Total NO

Which option did you choose more frequently?

Yes: consider using a descriptive name

No: consider using an inventive, experiential or expressive name

RESULTS: NAMING REQUIREMENTS

To differentiate your company from those of your competitors, you can focus on creating a name of a different type and better rating than your competitors.

Type(s) of names to pursue

Other comments

Now list all of the additional criteria you think the name needs to accomplish. This grid contains some basic criteria to get you started, although you may decide to delete or alter them.

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Once you’ve generated the list, rank the criteria in order of priority (High, Medium, Low.) No name is going to accomplish everything, so knowing what’s most important will help you when you start to pick your finalists. [Brand Strategy can help]

PRIORITY BRANDING CRITERIA COMMENTS (H, M, L) The name should supports our value

proposition ( ) The name should evoke our 3-­‐5 brand

personality traits:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

PRIORITY GENERAL CRITERIA COMMENTS (H, M, L) Memorable

Easy to spell

Easy to pronounce

Has a pleasing appearance

Has a pleasing sound

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