The Rudimentary stages of naming a brand
The purpose of having a brand is to symbolise a product, person, service or business and to effectively connect with the right audience. Regardless of the kind of business or even its state, whether it is emerging or has been operational for a long time, branding plays a huge role in influencing the attitude of a customer towards a business. Therefore, it becomes imperative that a business’ brand be carefully crafted so as to last the test of time and have an impact on the market.
Against this background, there are four basic stages that are necessary to be followed to get a brand name for a business that will stand in a competitive and digitally dynamic market.
Planning
In creating a brand name for a business, strategising is very important. You can start by asking and answering critical questions about the business – its products and services as well as the company.
Such questions could include:
What makes the product stand out in the market filled with competitors?
What exactly does this brand represent?
What does the brand name imply?
What is the story behind the business, its product, service or business at large…?
Once all these questions have been answered, the next thing should be a research about the competitors to prevent copyright issues in the market and also to have a good grasp about the current trends in the market.
This also boosts understanding of the market terrain as well as the brand names of the competitors and the brand name that will really sell your products properly.
The research should reveal the strength and weakness of competitors’ brand names, how they engage their customers, what the brand name means and also if they had had to re-brand to meet current market realities. For instance, Nike - a leading sports brand, actually got its name ‘Nike’ from the ancient Greek mythology which means goddess of victory. The meaning of the brand name reflects the core values, marketing policies, and ethics.
Consumers
The big question here is – Do the consumers matter when choosing a brand name? The answer is simply yes. Before a brand break through a market, consumers have to connect to the brand. However, their connection depends on their preferences, age, location as well as their backgrounds. Some brand names are quite universal, they gain acceptance across different kinds of audience, while some brand names only ring a bell in the mind of a particular set of consumers. Against this backdrop, it is important that the target consumers of a product or service be known or understood before a brand name is chosen for effective penetration of the market. That’s not all, current market trends should be taken into consideration with regards to how it may affect the brand name. For example voice Apps and Artificial Intelligence that can alter how a brand name is being pronounced.
Brainstorm for ideas
The next stage is all about generating ideas. This involves making notes, drawing, discussing as well gathering a lot of ideas for a brand name, as much as possible. After which, the ideas would be categories into the following:
Abstract - This involves names that have no background, meaning, they are just cooked up but they connect well to the products as well as values of the brand. E.g Skype, Google, Rolex.
Descriptive - This includes names that explain exactly what the company does. Eg PlayStation, Snap chat.
Abbreviated or blended – The brand names under this category gives meaning to a brand. They remain quite connected indirectly to product or service over a long time. A good example is Microsoft, it is a blended brand name that is always connected to a product.
Suggestive – This includes names that could ring a bell in the heart of a consumer in a positive manner e.g Open Table O2, Sky.
Lastly, Conclude then Certify
At this stage, there are still a lot of names with different meaning and connotations. At this stage, questions of this sort will help to streamline your options
If I am to build a website with this brand name, is it available?
What does the brand name mean in another language? Is it anything negative?
Is there anyone using the same brand name in any social media outlet?
Does the name connect with the products or services?
Immediately you are through with the process, go through the final list again, this time with the mindset of a consumer. Then decipher what a consumer could think about the brand name, how it sounds, what it means to them as well as its general acceptability.
Choosing a brand name can take place anywhere within any time duration ranging from few minutes to weeks. Regardless of how long it takes, it is important to choose a brand name that is potent now, relevant even for the future and connects the consumers to the products or services in a remarkable way at all times.
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If you are thinking the time has come for a re-brand or relaunch of your business. We would be more than happy to discuss with you how we can meet your needs to support your business growth and stability. Contact Handle Branding for further information.
