What Makes a Good Brand or Product Name?

There is no such thing as a perfect name. Brand and product names are hugely impacted by the companies and brands that launch them. So a name that works for one brand in one industry may be a horrible fit for another brand in another category.

For example, people loved the iPod when launched by Apple in 2001. But many of those same people bashed the brand for naming their tablet iPad. iPod in and of itself isn’t necessarily a fantastic name, but wrapped in the totality of the Apple brand it works. Consider the same product name being launched by Dell, HP or Toshiba and suddenly the iPod, iPad and iPhone don’t sound as cool.

So what makes a good name?

It starts with better insights

I believe the path to smarter solutions begins with better insights. This applies to naming brands and products as well. It helps to know a little about the company, the products, the audiences who will use the product and the people who will purchase it (especially in the case of naming products for kids), the category, channel, product tier, etc.

When naming a fruit snack for Kellogg’s a few years back, the brief said the product would be a combination of chewy fruit flavor kids would love plus an outer coating of yogurt moms would like. We had to create a name that would appeal to moms and kids as young as three years old. Young kids can’t pronounce complex words or sounds, so our solution, Yogos, was simple enough for young kids to say while communicating a bigger story to moms.

Fit versus “like”

Like most naming agencies, we use a combination of filters to narrow broad lists of words and find viable names that fit. The key here is fit, versus names people “like”. Many people have a natural aversion for new things, including new product and brand names. So if you only pursue names people “like”, you can quickly find yourself painted into a corner with a name that sounds familiar, isn’t the least differentiating and may not even be available for trademark. But people will like it.

In the following, I’ll break down the seven filters we use to use to help understand whether the names you’re considering will fit the challenge:

1. Fit to organization

2. Fit to brand

3. Fit to the category

4. Fit to product

5. Fit to consumer

6. Visual fit

7. Fit to be owned

 

Filter for success

1) Fit to organization: Does the name match the character, positioning, aspirations and voice of the organization? When naming a company, we want to consider where the enterprise is headed, the industry they’re in and how we can help them stand out.

In naming a quick serve restaurant that wanted to stand out while still communicating the type of cuisine they served, we launched with the name Currito and followed with a tag line of “Burritos Without Borders” to help draw people in to a menu that include Bangkok, Mediterranean and Summer burritos.

2) Fit to brand: When naming a product within a brand we have to ask if the names we’re considering match the brand. Should they sound like a sister product to existing collections, or should they sound like a stand-alone?

For Apple, once Steve Jobs accepted the iPod construct, it made sense to continue with iPhone and iPad in the lineup. But not everything in the Apple family carries the i____ construct as evidenced by the Apple collections (Apple Watch, Apple TV) and the venerable Macintosh collections (MacBook, Mac Mini). Regardless, it’s hard to miss the connections back to the brand.

Try to find the consistency in the Dell portfolio that sports laptops including the Inspiron, XPS, Alienware and Chromebook. This starts to look suspiciously like an “I just want a cool name” brand architecture. Not horrible, but it’s harder to discern good versus bad names for Dell.

3) Fit to the category: Does the name sound like it naturally fits in the neighborhood? This can be good and bad. Sometimes the neighborhood needs a good shakeup. I like to ask my clients if they want to be a PC or an Apple in a PC world. It’s not so much that one approach is better than the other. But understanding how the brand wants to position themselves and/or their products can carry significant influence in which direction the names go.

At the time of its launch, the BlackBerry was revolutionary partly because the industry was bloated with PocketPCs and a fascination with numbers, including the Samsung 1710, Dell Axim x50 and Siemens SX56, to name just a few.

It’s difficult to find consumers who know and love their numbered products outside of a precious few industries. BMW gets away with it partly because they group their products by tier (300, 500, 700 series), Lexus tries hard, but Infiniti just doesn’t. Interestingly, Porsche stepped away from the numbers game a few years ago and began giving their models unique names. This approach wouldn’t have been a big deal in many categories, but in high-end automobiles it made a difference.

4) Fit to product: Good names match the products or services they promote. The auto industry uses evocative names to help consumers get into the head space of the automobile: Muscle cars get beefy names like Charger and Challenger; SUVs get outdoors with Yukon, Pathfinder and XTerra; while family vehicles evoke the journey with Odyssey, Quest and Voyager.

Many brand managers think this filter means they need a descriptive name. Descriptive names are good because they need very little support to help people understand what they are. But they can also blend in with everything around them and get lost in the mix. BlackBerry fit the product AND made a huge impact on the category.

5) Fit to consumer: Is the name something the target audiences would want to say out loud in a conversation with their friends? Some names look good on paper, but you have to say them out loud and use them in a sentence with words normal people use. These filters should change depending on the audience.

I mentioned the Yogos example earlier, where names had to be simple enough for young children to say. By contrast, when creating liquor names, we use a bar call filter. Because the audiences need to be able to confidently yell out the drink name in a crowded bar. Calling out for a Red Stag for a cherry-infused bourbon is a lot better than screaming ChaCha Cherrylicious. The second option just doesn’t fit the audience, or the bar.

6) Visual fit: Almost every designer on the planet will say shorter names are better for the simple reason that the name can be bigger on packaging. That’s not to say there isn’t a place for longer names, but you need to consider that many consumers, especially Americans, tend to abbreviate long names: Federal Express became FedEx; International House of Pancakes became IHop; Government Employees Insurance Company became GEICO. The list is long. Your name should probably be short.

7) Fit to be owned: Beyond just being available for trademark, can the name be owned in the marketplace? This one gets tricky because uniqueness is tough to sell in some organizations. But uniqueness needs to be managed.

Companies like P&G, Unilever and Colgate tend to spend most of their marketing capital on the master brand name and much less on sub-brands and versions. Tide, Cascade, Dawn and Bounty are evocative, unique names that stand out in the marketplace. Tide Plus Coldwater Clean is purposefully descriptive so consumers can shop quickly and easily at shelf. The brand just doesn’t have to work as hard to get the versioning information out there.

This also helps fight against a portfolio of random “cool” names that don’t hold together. As seen in the Dell example, collections of unique names can lead to confusion for consumers. So, while we always want names to stand apart in the market, we also recommend having a nomenclature strategy that can help manage the mayhem.

There are dozens of ways to filter and sort for good names. As a naming agency, we look for tools that can help us develop successful names for our clients on a regular basis and, just as importantly, weed out the options that won’t work. If you’re looking for naming help, let’s talk. If you’re going it alone, I hope these filters help you reach success.

Is It Time To Rename Your Company? Careful What You Wish For.

A few dozen times a year we get requests from companies looking for a change. Sometimes it’s to update an identity, which can lead to the question: should we consider changing the name, too? Other times it’s as simple as “we want something fresh and new.” Our questions start with why. Why do you want to change the company name? You might be surprised at how often the answer is a blank stare. For anyone wondering, that’s a bad answer for something as significant as changing the foundation of the company.

In another post I’ll cover what we think makes a good name. But before we get to that part of the discussion it makes sense to pause and consider why change in the first place. Here are some quick guides to help with the consideration.

Why should a company consider a name change?

1. The current name is tied to a single product or technology and/or the company is limited by the association. This happens all the time with small companies that started off with a brilliant product or technology and now want or need to expand. Think outside your product at launch and you may be able to avoid this one further down the line. But if you’ve painted yourself into a corner, you may have to bite the bullet and change the name to something with legs.

2. The current name has very little awareness and equity, even after years of marketing efforts to improve the situation. If people can’t remember a bad or boring name after substantial marketing and PR efforts, then it may be time to start fresh. We find this to be especially true in competitive categories where the company name is based on a founder no one knows or cares about, or when the company name essentially describes the category. For example, I personally like the name Smith. It has a familiar ring to it. But naming a company Smith Solutions isn’t going to help many people understand what my company does or remember me at the end of the day. That’s partly because there are somewhere around 2.8 million people named Smith in the U.S. alone. But if you’ve launched your company already and are just now coming to this conclusion, it’s probably best you consider a name change. The good news is that when you rename the company, you likely won’t repeat the same mistakes.

3. The current name has been fundamentally and irreparably damaged by a scandal, tragic event or crisis. Although the events that blew up around Enron and Arthur Andersen happened after the Andersen Consulting group changed their name to Accenture, the choice was timely. Not long after the change, the Andersen name was forever tarnished by the Enron scandal, but Accenture stood mostly clear of the damage and years later few people connect the two companies.

4. Sometimes you want a little separation in your portfolio. Phillip Morris is a legacy company known mostly for its tobacco enterprises. For many people, especially those outside the fan base of tobacco products, the Phillip Morris name became synonymous with all that is wrong with corporate America. Oh, and at the time of the rebrand, they owned an 84% stake in Kraft, a decidedly non-tobacco company. Renaming the company to Altria gave the enterprise separation in the corporate conversation from just tobacco when they needed it, yet allowed them to stay connected to Phillip Morris when that worked to their advantage.

5. (In rare cases) the current name was launched but is now being forced to change due to trademark infringement issues. Every once in a great while we get calls from companies that launched under a name without doing due diligence with the trademark attorneys and now find themselves in the unenviable position of being forced to rename. We tend to have to work pretty quickly on these. In one case the FDA was coming after the company fast and hard, so keeping the old name was not an option. Generally, when the attorneys say it’s time to change the name, it’s time to change the name.

Why not make the change?

1. You’re just tired of the old name. Boredom is not a good business case for change. Ever. Take a nap, get a hug, go for a walk. You might just need some exercise or sunlight instead of a name change.

2. It’s expensive. Especially for large organizations, name changes are colossal undertakings. After the name comes a new identity. And while digital interfaces can be changed quickly and seamlessly, physical properties must be accounted for, from signage to fleets, to shipping containers and packaging, to uniforms, business cards and even lapel pens. It all has to change, all over the world. And that costs money and time. Lots of both. Make sure you have budgeted accordingly and understand the timing needed. Otherwise the change can do as much damage as whatever drove you there.

3. You haven’t fixed the flaws. If the company was fundamentally flawed before and those behaviors haven’t been corrected, people fired or jailed, or offending divisions sold off or closed, the new name will be tarnished even faster than the last one. While consumers generally want good things to happen to most companies, they desperately want to punish the bad ones. As the idiom goes, it’s like putting lipstick on a pig (no offense to pigs).

4. There isn’t clarity at the top of the organization. The CEO must be aligned to the change strategy, otherwise it’s a wasted effort. Speaking from the branding agency side of things, getting caught in the middle of a CEO and his/her senior leaders on whether the company’s name should change or not is not much fun.

5. You might not need wholesale change. What may be needed is a name evolution to update the company name in the marketplace. While this can be considered a name change, it’s not as disruptive to legacy users and supporters (think National Biscuit Company >> NABISCO; Government Employee Insurance Company >> GEICO; Federal Express >> FedEx; International House of Pancakes >> IHop). Yes, the change can still be expensive, but you won’t have to educate the world on what you’ve done and why. They’ll just kind of get it. A little strategic PR effort wouldn’t hurt, but you’re not changing from Andersen Consulting to Accenture.

Product Naming is Easy ... Until You Try to Name a Product.

When I was a kid growing up in Houston, Texas, one of the area pools had several diving boards plus a diving platform that towered above the water. In order to keep kids from randomly climbing up the ladders and causing a scene at the top, the standing rule was once you went up the ladder you had to go off the edge of the diving board or platform. So you needed to seriously consider the whole process, including the landing, before you started up.

The rule made sense to me. When you stand at the bottom of a diving platform looking up, the middle tower 25 feet (7.5 meters) above the water doesn’t seem all that high (this is supposing you don’t mind heights). However, somewhere around the middle of the ladder climb your brain starts to contemplate whether this is a good plan, whether you really want to carry through with this and whether you’ve got friends swimming nearby who can pull your battered body from the pool if things go badly.

Standing at the edge of the platform looking down is when you fully grasp that 25 feet in diving terms is closer to base jumping from the Empire State Building. Since walking back down the ladder is not an option, you take a deep breath, jump off and pray for the best.

I think product naming is the same experience for some people.

It looks easy from a distance. Seriously, how hard can it be to come up with a decent name? Like some of the kids at the pool in Houston, a handful of people take the plunge and make it into the water without drowning. The form might not be all that great, but as long as the goal was finishing the process, no one is worse for the experience.

But sometimes the stakes are higher, the exposure a little more severe, and just jumping off won’t cut it. That’s when the act of naming changes to the art of naming.

Why Have a Process for Naming?

The purpose of processes is generally the same regardless of category. They’re not there for the one-offs. They’re in place so you improve your chances of repeat success. A naming process rarely includes gathering people in a room to brainstorm for an hour and call it a day. Every naming agency on the planet has a process generally for the same reason—to increase their chances of coming up with good material that will make it into the market on a regular basis. If you insist on naming products, brands or companies on your own, at least do yourself a favor and do what the naming agencies do.

The Basic Naming Process

1. Briefing—This is where we all get on the same page. It’s led by the team/client with the business challenge. I recommend getting into the details here and not glossing over the little points. When done right, everyone can race off in different directions and yet still end up at the same finish line. Be sure to consider the success criteria for the work. It's always best to establish those here, so choosing the new name will be a bit easier later.

2. Immersion—We have clients every year ask if we can skip this stage. The short answer is yes, but generally I have found it extremely helpful to have the namers, writers, strategists and linguists all the way through to the attorneys well informed about the category, consumer, channels, products, brands, portfolio, etc. For a small client and project, this is pretty light. For a large company with global interests, it may take a little effort to get everyone up to speed. Without this step you run the risk of people generalizing solutions to a problem that may or may not exist.

3. Strategic Options—We have found it helpful to have some strategic aiming points before we send the team off to do great things. This helps ensure you don’t get a ton of name candidates in one, narrow area. For example: Dig-it, Digi-action, Digi-cell, Digi-D, Digi-Drive, Digi-life, Digi-Max and so on. Not horrible in an exploratory, but also not a great range to overcome biases. Some people focus purely on number, as if having 400, 600 or 1,000 names will guarantee success. I hate this kind of stuff. There is no magic number. Have fun with the strategy and use it to push boundaries. That’s where the great names come from.

4. Creative Development—This is where the names candidates get the biggest boost. Some people like to work in large teams, some with small teams, some just individuals holed away in a closet somewhere. I like to use a combination of approaches to generate a broad range of ideas and from different angles. I also use a number of namers and linguists around the world to bring fresh perspective and regional relevance to naming projects. Whether you send everyone down one path, use parallel paths, have a team or two consider wildly dissimilar approaches is your call.

5. Filtering—There’s a saying in songwriting that great songs aren’t written as much as they’re rewritten. The magic is in the rewrite. I think the same applies to naming. Just because you have some names people on the team “like” isn’t enough to make it great. You should take into consideration whether the name fits the company, the brand and product, etc. Does it fit the person who will use the product (or the person who might buy it for the user)? Can people pronounce the name? Does it sound right in context?

When we name for products aimed at kids, we make sure kids can say the name and would like to say the name. And don’t think that adding a Z to a name or cheating on spelling (Chipz or Krazy Kidz) will endear your product to kids anywhere. By contrast, if you’re naming liquor for hipsters, you should make sure the name sounds like something the audience can say out loud in a bar call. No one wants to shout out some awkward word in a crowded bar surrounded by their friends. And if you can't pass this basic test, you probably won't last long on shelf, either.

The point here is simple: names that seem right for some categories may be horrible misses in others. Health-oriented products probably shouldn’t sound like a cell phone, while a technology startup might not match with pharmaceutical names.

There are plenty of weighted scales, metrics and formulas to help quantify whether a name works or not. Find what works for you. But start with the basics and work outwards, not the other way around. You’ll make yourself and your team crazy if you make the solution about the complexity instead of the brilliant idea.

6. Trademark Clearance—My belief is that a name that isn’t cleared to use in the market is just an interesting word. It’s like holding a photo of someone else: no matter how much you like it, it’s still not you. This is one reason we check every name for trademark clearance before we share them with our clients. If we don’t, and people ask us to skip this step all the time, the people making the decisions seem to always fall in love with the name that can’t be used. So we just eliminated the chance for disappointment and now require all names get some form of clearance before the first presentation. No one ever regrets not having to sort through names they can't use.

7. Audience Exposure—Steve Jobs didn’t like focus groups and put a ton of great names into the market. You can, too. Since most of us fall an IQ point or two behind Steve, and don’t own the company, we’ve found it helpful to get an idea of what people think about the names we want to use. I prefer qualitative discussions first before quantitative because I like to understand what words people use to describe the name, product, brand, experience, etc. using their own words. Quant research means they have to choose between words I give them. It’s just not the same thing in my opinion, but you get to choose which way works for you.

My caution on any research is trying to combine too many things in one session. We get asked to design logos around wordmarks or product names so we can take the complete design with name options into one round of research. This is dangerous for the simple fact that people can and will kill good names because of the design or color and, conversely, choose weaker names because they like the look of the design.

8. Assess and Apply—If you make it all the way through the process with something that’s a fit for the challenge and can revolutionize the market, celebrate the success for what it is. If not, get back to work. Don’t get discouraged. Sometimes the best names come out of the third, fourth or fifth rounds of effort. Not always, but sometimes.

Like looking up at a diving platform, naming can look easy from a distance. But when you get into the details, it can seem like scary business. It doesn't have to be. That's when having a process, and maybe a good agency partner, can help you enjoy the journey from idea to product launch.