What’s in a brand name?

Five Rules for Naming Your Brand

If you are just creating or re-inventing your company identity, you’re probably thinking about your brand, company or product name. It can be a daunting decision, and everyone, including your cat, will have an opinion. Here are five rules to help you be successful.

1. Choose a name that conveys a sense of benefit and value to your customers. My colleague Michael Thompson named his company Market Accelerators. Wow! Lots of energy and you know they’re really going to help you succeed quickly! It’s always tempting, and satisfying to the ego, to name your company after yourself, e.g. The Dan Berne Group. The problem is that no one, besides you, knows what it means. Is Tom Jones and Associatesa civil engineering firm or a medical practice? If you do have your name as the primary title of the business, then try to use a tag line to convey what it is you offer. In the Portland area, Lili Pang and Chris Hansen teamed up to form PANGHANSEN. But just below their combined name, they’ve added “creative group.” So there you get the sense that they are a design firm.

2. Convey a sense of stability. Customers and retailers like to know that they are dealing with someone who’s not totally new. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard famously named their first product, an audio oscillator built in their Palo Alto garage, the Model 200A (versus the 100). Even though it was the very first one, they wanted to create the impression that the product, and their brand new company, had been around for awhile. It worked! Walt Disney purchased the product and the birth of Silicon Valley began.

3. Try to avoid acronyms. Yes, historically high-tech comapnies have used them, but in today’s market, how will an acronym help you stand out? Use complete nouns and verbs to give a better sense of the value and to pack an emotional punch. Again, try to communicate your benefit and value, and what makes you different from the competition.

4. Put energy and emotion into your name and logo. Your customers and sellers want to know how you are going to benefitt them. What is the emotional message you want to convey to your customers and retailers? What do you stand for?  Are you professional and serious or fun and irreverent? The shape, colors, size and placement of characters all convey a visual statement. Think Nike swoosh.

5. Protect your name legally. You have, of course, researched your name and are sure that it is not infringing on other names and trademarks. Talk with an experienced trademark and IP attorney. In the age of the internet, this is more important than ever.

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