HOW TO CREATE A NAME FOR YOUR BRAND
Naming your business isn’t as easy as it might first appear. The journey of a good business begins with the right name. Once you have a name you like, you have to consider whether you will want to stick with it. You’d be surprised how many brands have struggled with that question. Every element of your brand should capture what you do and what you can do for the people who stay loyal to your company.
Names are crucial for brand recognition. More often than not, it’s the first element of your brand that your customers will be faced with, so it’s your first opportunity to create a lasting impression, and a foundation on which you’ll be able to build trust with your target demographic. The name you introduce your brand with should say it all.
It comes down to your audience. People like what they know, and once you’ve broken through that difficult barrier of establishing your product or service as a habit - something your customers don’t think twice about - you want your name to be the first thing on their lips. Generally speaking, consumers don’t spend a lot of time thinking about which businesses they engage with - most of the time, they have a small circle of brands they like, and they’ll default to those decisions based on previous purchases.
People don’t respond well to change, and countless brands have suffered the consequences over the years. In 1998, Kelloggs rebranded Coco Pops in the UK. It made sense, from a corporate perspective - in other countries, the chocolate breakfast cereal was named ‘Choco Krispies. However, the British public didn’t agree. When Kelloggs put it to a public vote, 92% didn’t like the change, and after only a few months, the old name was reinstated.
Mars has a habit of changing too. Although they tend to stick to their guns. In 1990, Marathon transformed into Snickers, aligning with the brand globally just in time for the Euro ‘96 and World Cup, reducing costs and ensuring nobody would be scratching their heads over the chocolate bar’s sponsorship of the games. Eight years later, Mars took on the weight of public opinion again. Opal Fruits had been introduced to the UK in 1960, and in 1998, Mars spent £10m rebranding them to align with the US name - Starburst––arguing that having a single brand made things easier and cheaper in the long run; introducing different marketing materials and packaging for different locations can get pricey, with globalism rising in the 90s and international borders blurred, the confectionary giant wanted consumers to be able to pick out familiar products on the shelf while travelling abroad.
What makes a memorable brand name?
Resonant and poignant: It should elicit a positive emotional response and invite potential customers to learn more about your product or service.
Memorable and catchy: It should roll off the tongue and can include; a play-on-words to aid its appeal is a good idea.
Recognisable and easy to pronounce: A good brand name should stand out through musicality or a metaphor. Make it easy for people to write and say your brand name. Simplicity is key.
There are several things to consider when settling on a brand name that you won’t want to change further along the line. It doesn’t need to state what you do explicitly, but it should represent your brand and acknowledge the desires and tastes of the demographic you’re trying to reach. It must align with your brand’s personality and tone of voice and be easy to remember. Make sure the name you settle on is easy to say, read and spell. Visuals also play a part. How do the letters of your brand name look? We love working with brand names with one or two syllables; look at the work we did for Tipl and Süss.
How to craft your brand name
Follow these steps to come up with a brand name that’s sure to turn heads and invite consumers to learn more:
Determine your brand’s values
Get to know your target market
Brainstorm potential brand names
Make sure your name is available online
Test it!
But how do I determine my brand values?
Start simple: Put pen to paper and write a list of 10-15 key words or phrases that describe your business and convey your brand’s essence. Think about what values and ideals will remain constant no matter how much your business evolves. Get away from your desk; take a walk, spend time with your family or work on something else and then come back to your desk with fresh eyes to narrow down that list by eliminating ones that don’t feel right anymore. Examples of your final key words could be:
Elegant
Fun
Playful
Which you can use as a guiding star throughout all your branding. If you need some help getting to grips with the naming of your brand, you can always reach out to us for advice. Over the years, we’ve had the pleasure to help many founders identify the right name for their business––even individuals who’ve come to us with a name in mind have found themselves changing their mind after our initial workshops designed to identify their values at the heart of what they do.
OUR APPROACH
Over the years we've developed a process that makes brand naming less subjective; we collaborate with Onomatopy to look at the following:
All the elements are important and all need to be "ticked", that's why naming can be more complex and time consuming than it seems. Just 2 examples of names our naming expert has created: Pigmento (UK based) and WizerFi (global name).
Further reading
An interview with George Theo; a copywriter who has worked in major international advertising agencies on hundreds of famous consumer brands.
How to build your brand with strategy.
