The biggest challenge in starting a business or for any new business is creating and effectively marketing a new brand name. This is actually what determines if a business is going to be successful or not. Therefore, choosing a wrong brand name will only confuse consumers. What does this mean? Well, it simply means that your potential consumers will have no idea of what you are offering and what it does.
This simply means that choosing the correct name makes consumers to immediately identify with your value position. This is an important step, and with this in mind, let’s look at some basics.
The Worth Of Brand Name
Even though some business experts may claim that the worth of brand names is fading, the actual reality is that brand name is very important, especially when it comes advertising, marketing, and customer identity. This is because it is largely based on human nature.
According to psychological research, a man presented with a certain object or product will make judgment fast based on what he sees first. Ilya Pozin who is a writer agrees with this fact when he said that as human we evaluate information fast and make a judgment in a flash. According to a Harvard research, the pinpointed fast judgment can be made in as little as three seconds of being presented with a particular information or object. In reference, this is barely enough time to say ‘Hallo’, but the human brain has already made either a friendly or negative decision. This inborn habit automatically applies when it comes to the consumer market.
To clearly see the effects and examples of how this is true, then you should refer to another research at Pozin. The scholars observed 700 stocks, which traded between the years 1990 to 2004 and noticed that businesses with simple brand names gained 11% more compared to those with difficult to pronounce names.
This research says it all. Customers want to feel comfortable with brands they are buying from, investing in, and spending time. With this in mind, as the entrepreneur, it is important to spend efforts and time to develop your brand name. do not just use a couple of words and call it a day, the name of your brand plays a very important role in the success of your business long-term.
The Tips For Developing Your Brand Name
The truth is that coming up with a good name takes a lot of work; and with the correct strategy and approach, you can find a name that works for you. Below are a few practical tips you should consider:
- Availability
When talking about availability, we simply mean the availability of that name. In other words, when you come up with a name for your brand, the first thing to do is check whether that name is available. Remember, ignoring this process may not only prove expensive but an embarrassing mistake. The first step should be running the name through the Trademark Electronic system (TESS), which will provide information if the name is trademarked or there is a pending application for it. You can do this for free through the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s website.
After this, the next step is to check if there is a domain name available for your brand. In today’s web-driven market, it is a marketing nightmare to register a name for your brand only to notice later that someone has already used all possible domain names. This is the benefit of working with a company that offers an all-in-one package that includes domain, brand name, and logo.
Lastly, it is wise to check the name by running it or conducting keyword searches on Google. Look for any result that may need further evaluation.
- Don’t Get Cute
Over the last few years, there has been a branding trend where entrepreneurs come up with clever names that sound like real words, but it is actually a combination of two or more words. The truth is that it works in certain situations (examples being Snapchat, Facebook, and Spotify), but it does not work in other situations or in all companies. Getting cute may affect your ability to grow. For this reason, it is wise to choose a name for your brand that meets the following criteria:
- Easy to spell
The ability to easily spell a brand name is very important. It does not matter if the name is made up, consumers should be able to spell it with ease. For example, if someone mentions the name ‘Spotify’ and assuming that you did not see the work being written and it is your first time to hear that name, chances are that you will spell correctly. However, if you were asked to spell ‘Saucony’ (pronunciation SOCK-A-NEE), under the same condition as the above, chances are that you will not. This fact does also apply to consumers when it comes to searching for a product either online or by simply sharing the name between friends.
- Easy to pronounce
Just like spelling, the name should be easy to pronounce. For example, take the name ‘Guerlain’, many people pronounce it as ‘Grrr-lane’ when actually it is pronounced as ‘Gher-Lahn’. Just Imagine how awful it would be if you have a brand name that consumers cannot pronounce correctly. Surely, you do not want to go down this route.
- Simplicity
Thought it is difficult to find available names these days, one-word brand names are usually the best. They are easy to remember, relatable, and strong. By doing a bit of research, you will surely see that the most successful brands in the world have one word, examples include Apple, Amazon, Target, and so on.
Sometimes you have to invent on these words and they will be effective. Examples of invented brand names are Starbucks, Google, Twitter, and many others. When one word is not an option, then two words is an option. However, you should avoid words that include three or more words. This is because long names complicate everything from packaging to domain selection.
- Logo
Logos should always come second after selecting a cool brand name. However, it is before everything, you should have an idea of what you want. Your logo and brand name should become identical to each other and can be easily identified independently.
Choosing the decision of whether to use a specific font or script to create a textual logo such as Coca-Cola or Facebook or simply choosing an abstract logo like Target and Apple, generally depends on what you want. However, the bottom line is that they are a deciding factor when choosing one.
- Future Growth
The final thing to consider is future growth. Just because you are specialized in a particular product now, you do not want to limit yourself to selling that product alone. Wrong brand names can seriously affect your ability to grow your business.
For example, assuming that you have started a business that sells cat food; using a brand name like ‘Cat Food Incorporated’ does not give you much room to expand to sell other products in future such as dog foods. However, if you use a brand name like ‘Healthy Pets Incorporated’, does give you room to expand in future with other product lines.