You must be familiar with William Shakespeare’s famous quotes like “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” or “What’s in a name?” And then he named most of his books on his character’s names. Ironical much? We think it was a well-planned strategy of reverse psychology. So clearly, Shakespeare knew about branding before the term even came into the picture.
Brand naming strategy is perhaps the most challenging yet crucial step in building a brand identity design. After all, the decision eventually determines the course of the business. Sure, Steve Jobs named his company Apple during one of his fruitarian diets, but he mainly chose it because he thought it was fun and spirited. Of course, it set the stage for their now overly famous brand.
The same applies to other well-known names such as Google, Disney, Facebook and Starbucks. However, we all know that they were not overnight successes.
Coming back to brand naming, finding the perfect name for your brand is not something you can do with a small committee in a few brainstorming sessions. It requires a systematic approach and a lot of creativity! If you crack it, your brand’s name can either help in connecting with consumers on an emotional level & appeal to their sensibilities.
Brand naming strategy and process require a well-directed approach to choosing the right name and things you need to do to test the prospective labels.
Five Major Types of Brand Names
Experiential Names
These labels are all about the customer experience. Apple, for instance, builds upon what consumers feel when they buy and use Apple products.That is essentially how experiential names stand out in their industries. An experiential brand naming is more about setting expectations of what it is like when consumers choose their product.Organizations must first define what they stand for and how they want to be perceived to deduce an impactful label name.
Descriptive Names
This simple naming pattern entails using a label that describes the company’s products or services. This practice makes it easier for users to remember what the brand offers.For example, PayPal, which is an online payment app & Subway, a name emanated from their primary product, submarine sandwiches. Backing these names with the proper marketing and advertising strategies can do wonders for the brand.
Acronyms
Brand names under this classification are abbreviations of descriptive names. For instance, BMW stands for Bavarian Motor Works, KFC for Kentucky Fried Chicken, and IBM for International Business Machines,Acronyms are easier to speak and remember and work best for large corporations that have already established a name for themselves.As a suggestion, this practice should be avoided for start-up companies as a random mix of letters may lead to confusion or indifference.
Neologisms
Companies that use made-up words to describe their brand exude a sense of individuality. However, choosing the right mix of words can be a little tricky since not all fabricated words can make the desired impact.Also, these brands require more marketing effort during the initial phase to get recognized. Google, Twitter, and Kodak are examples of the most iconic brands ever to concoct a name that would represent what their respective companies stand for.
Founders’ Names
This naming practise is pretty straightforward. Use the name of the person who started the company. Disney, is one of the most famous examples of this brand naming strategy, which is named after the man who started it. Another excellent example of brand naming IKEA, which is a neologism, an acronym and involves the founder’s name and his hometown — Ingvar Kamprad, Elmta ryd, Agunnaryd.
Also Read – How to Hire UI UX Designer for your company
The Process Of Brand Naming
Now that you know the various types of brand names, let’s go through the tedious process of putting a label to you company:
Mapping the Competitive Landscape
To begin your brand naming process, start by mapping your brand’s competitive landscape. Create a list of all the competitors in your niche, both direct and indirect.
Then, divide these companies into the five categories mentioned above. Now, identify the trends based on:
- What are the most favoured naming conventions?
- Do these brands fall into one category? Or are they combinations?
- What archetype do their names embody?
- Which names stood out? And why?
With this process, you will get to know what you are up against, and it also makes it easier to set some guidelines for the naming process.
Moulding Your Brand Naming Guidelines
In order to ensure that the brand name reflects what the company represents, you should take a moment to contemplate what you want your brand symbolizes and how you can use it in favour of your business. You can think about the kind of user experience you want to offer your customers.
- Ask yourself: What do you wish to promise them long-term?
- How can you stand out amidst such fierce competition?
- What standards should the brand meet?
- What should you avoid?
Once you have these answers, you can build a set of guidelines your brand should adhere to. Then, start brainstorming for names.
Brainstorming Brand Naming Strategy
Think of as many ideas as possible to get those creative juices flowing. If you feel stumped along the way, ask yourself thes another set of questions:
- Which products do you sell, or what services do you offer?
- How can your products or services help your consumers?
- What’s unique about your products or services?
- What is your brand’s mission?
Don’t limit yourself to what is evident. Feel free to ponder on the endless possibilities.
Creating a Short List Of Names
Reducing the number to say, 10 from 20 names that you’ve compiled for the brand. This helps you figure out which ones hold more depth and take an opinion from someone too. Ask them to pick their top five favourites. Go through the list with a fresh perspective again, and listen to your gut. Discard the names that aren’t good enough for you; even if that means trimming the entire list. But always select your top 5 favourites to acquire your desired domain name.
Acquiring a Domain Name
Part of the brand naming process is finalizing a domain name. Finding a .com domain can be pretty challenging, even if you have unique word pairings.However, if you are using neologisms, this step can be easy. Don’t lose hope if you don’t find your desired name.There’s always an option to purchase some registered names that aren’t being used on marketplaces.
Testing Your Brand Name
The most crucial aspect of the brand naming strategy is that once you have shortlisted your names, you can check the balance and readability by the Helvetica test.
Print the brand names on your list in significant capital letters in Helvetica Neue Bold, and ask a few people to evaluate them.
Questions to ask them:
- What comes to your mind when you read each name?
- Which one is your favourite? And why?
After asking for their opinions, go back to those people after a few days and ask them to recall the names they reviewed.
Remember the names that stood out and consider how easily they could remember them. The more people you can get to critique the list, the better your brand naming test becomes.
In Conclusion
Testing brand names are as important as discovering your options. Hence, set a reasonable time frame for this process so you can further explore your prospects.A good brand name is the key to success in any industry, so invest your time, and trust the process.
