What's In A
Name?
Branding Your Company, Product, or Service
by MIKE O'DONNELL
One of the most important business decisions you will ever make is
what to name your company and its products and services. Studies
show that as much as 75% of all consumer purchases are made because
of a name, or more specifically, a brand. A successful brand can
fetch a 20% to 30% premium in the marketplace. It can make a company
more profitable and much easier to sell when the time comes. Entire
companies are acquired just because of a successful brand. In short,
the name of your company and/or its flagship product may turn out to
be your #1 asset.
Company or Personal Name vs. Product Name
One of the first decisions you may need to make is whether your
company name and product name should be one in the same. It depends
upon the nature of your business. The fourth company I started was
called Innovative Communication Systems, or ICS for short. Our
flagship product was called Ask Me 2000. People would call the
office and ask to speak to the President of Ask Me. We changed our
name to reflect what people knew us by best. There are many other
examples of this inevitable name game.
Before being acquired by Microsoft, Visio was started as Shapeware.
RealNetworks use to be called Progressive Networks. The products are
what people came to know best, so it was prudent for these companies
to rally around one brand rather than two or more. You will be lucky
if you can establish just one successful brand, so don’t waste money
trying to promote both your company name and product name. If the
nature of your business demands that you have different names for
your company and products or services, you should do the best you
can to connect them together.
Microsoft has done this extremely well. The company name is almost
always used in conjunction with every product name: Microsoft
Windows, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, etc.
Users might not know the difference between Word and WordPerfect,
but most know Microsoft.
Another spin on this is to associate your own name with the product
or service you are offering. This is particularly important if your
business is consulting or professional services. After all, the most
important brand you will ever own is your own name! People are
likely to engage someone they know by reputation. Examples of this
are "Andew Tobias’s Managing Your Money" and "The Tom Peters
Seminar." For more information on the concept of branding yourself,
visit the discussion on Fast Company.
General Guidelines
The main objective of a name is clarity and recognition. The average
person is bombarded with over 3,000 messages and brands every day.
You want to reduce buyer confusion and indifference through the use
of your name. You want to stand out. There are five primary
considerations when naming your business or product:
1. Can the customer relate to it? Does it evoke a positive mental
image?
2. Is it available? A name may be available in your state, or even
in the U.S., but is it available globally?
3. Is it protectable? What is the likelihood of getting the name
registered in all jurisdictions where you intend to do business now
and in the future?
4. Will it translate well? Does the name have any negative
connotations in other languages?
5. Is it extensible? Can the name be used in a series? An example of
this is the "Dummies" series of books: Excel for Dummies, Windows
for Dummies, Wines for Dummies, etc.
I try to avoid listing do’s and don’ts. Things change. Rules can be
broken. Instead, let me propose the following guidelines as "things
to think about and things to be careful about."
| Think About |
Be Careful About |
| übeing distinctive (evoke strong
images) |
üsounding like a competitor (micro,
tech) |
| übeing descriptive |
üusing your own name |
| übeing global |
üadapting a local or regional name
|
| übeing unique and creative
|
üsounding like every other business
(copycat) |
| übeing memorable (Yahoo)
|
üchoosing a name that promotes the
category |
| üregistering and protecting
|
üusing initials |
| übeing easy to say and spell
|
übeing cute, too creative
|
Trends In Naming
One of the biggest trends in naming a company or product is
transparent names, or contrived names. These are names that have no
dictionary meaning. They can take on whatever meaning or image the
company decides to create for them, since they are not associated
with any person, place or thing, in any language. A name like
OPTICON, for example, sounds good and can be made to look good with
the right creative flair. The advantages are:
- It is distinct; free and clear of
competition
- It is unlimited in language; free and
clear of translation problems
- It is proprietary; free and clear of
restriction
The downside is it is not descriptive. A
company would need to invest heavily in marketing and branding in
order to build a favorable, recognizable image for a name like this.
Step-by-Step Process For Naming
--> Understand the competition's names, images they evoke, and
messages they convey.
--> Brainstorm -- be creative.
--> Emphasize key strategic advantages; suitability to the audience;
positioning in the market.
--> Be sensitive to gender, race, religion, geographic biases (words
have different meaning to different people).
--> Investigate and debate the disadvantages of the name.
--> Test the use and applications; test longevity.
--> Check availability; search for conflicts, similarities.
--> Register and protect; Create a mark around the name (distinctive
look and feel with colors, graphics, typestyle).
--> Have the name independently evaluated, scored.
Tip: Trademark searches do not delineate between upper and lower
case, dashes, slashes or other characters. Web site domain names
don't either.
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif) Click here for copyright permissions!
Copyright 2006 StartUPbiz Corp.
All rights reserved. |
