How to Create a Brand Name. Techniques
For a successful company launch, you need a good name that is not just memorable but also evokes pleasant associations
For a successful company launch, you need a good name that is not just memorable but also evokes pleasant associations. It should be cool, creative and appropriate all at once. A brand name sets a company apart from its competitors, identifies it and forms a certain image. It cannot turn out faceless or similar to the rest, nor should it be thought up only after the company has been founded. Naming always receives a great deal of attention.
A well-chosen name makes for good advertising. It is a tool for promoting the organisation itself and its products and services on the market. It becomes part of the marketing strategy – and then less needs to be spent on the campaign itself. Naming pursues several important goals. These are highlighting the firm's competitive advantages and attracting the attention of the target audience.
Key requirements
There are plenty of cases where creativity in choosing a name did not just go over the top but looked inappropriate. So the first thing to do is take the rules into account. The first – is uniqueness. If a name resembles dozens or hundreds of others, its owner is unlikely to attract the attention of a potential customer. Neither top-quality services nor low prices will save the day here. The more original the name, the easier it is to remember and to pick out from the rest.
Euphony – is also an important point. There have been cases where violating this rule led to a company or trademark being refused registration. Sometimes a name is hard to remember, or even gives rise to undesirable associations. A good name should carry no negative connotations, and then it can be officially registered. Another requirement – is relevance to the field of activity.
What are the options
Choosing a name should not be neglected. Ideally, it should be created at the brand formation stage, before the elements of the corporate identity are developed. Later, the team of designers and marketers will also build on the name when creating the strategy. There are several tried-and-tested, effective techniques.
The owner's surname or first name
A popular option that works. The simplest one, if nothing interesting or original comes to mind. But here, too, there is an important nuance. The finished name must not duplicate names already on the market. This is a mandatory requirement. Violating it will lead to serious problems not only with the competitor itself but also with the law. Much also depends on the surname itself, how pleasant it sounds and how well it fits the type of business.
Repetition and consonance
In literature this technique is called alliteration. It is based on the repetition of identical or similar sounds. Devising a name this way is convenient for several reasons:
- the name will be easy to remember;
- consonant combinations are easy to pronounce, so they lodge in the memory without difficulty;
- it is not hard to come up with.
There are several successful examples. For instance, Kit Kat and M&M's. These brands achieved success not only thanks to their products but also because of their easily memorable names.
Abbreviations
If all the suitable words that come to mind are already taken by competitors, this solution can be the way out. For example, if you need to come up with a name for a travel agency, you can simply call it GIT, meaning Group and Individual Tours. Many successful companies have used this technique. A good example – is KFC, or Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Foreign words
They may be used either in transliteration or in their original, i.e. foreign, spelling. But first you need to make sure that the chosen name:
- matches the company's line of business;
- sounds good to the ear;
- is easy to remember;
- carries no negative connotations.
An example of this technique – is the name Greenfield for a tea company. It matches the business, sounds pleasant, is easy to pronounce and is remembered without difficulty.
Word combinations and invented names
The first method also looks good. Simply take parts of two words and join them together. The easiest way to do this is by combining the first names or surnames of the company's founders or executives. Any other words can be used too; the main thing is that they relate directly to the organisation's activities. This makes it easy to create a unique name. The main thing is that the resulting neologism does not turn out hard to pronounce or absurd.
If the executive's real surname is not suitable, you can invent any surname, including one that does not exist. It is important that it reflects the main advantage of the firm, its product or service. For example, a car wash could be called «Chistov» (from the Russian for "clean") – very simple, no complicated combinations. Pseudo-surname naming works for any field of activity.
Other techniques – are names from films, books, songs, myths and fairy tales. Geographical names are also used.
