Create company name
Create names for companies (naming), organizations and products is one of the main services that the DesignarteTM provides in the context of their department's branding since the birth of the agency (2000). The process of creating name usually precedes the creation of the logo and is part of the integrated process of brand creation. The creation of a name effective, whether for a company, a product or service, it is of utmost importance since the name is the initial indicator of the brand, which is the basis for communication efforts and creating awareness. In the communication strategy of any company, the creation of the name (project naming), should be taken very seriously because the name must generate associations important (and positive) that serve to describe the brand.
The name is much more permanent that the majority of the elements of marketing (price, product, communication, distribution), and therefore the creation of the name, a strategic decision that should be well thought out.
Since its birth in 2000, the Designarte
TM gives extreme importance to the services and naming creation of names. Given the subjectivity and intangibility of the service naming, the Designarte
TM opts for this type of service by sharing with the client a large part of the survey produced in brainstorming, as well as some guidelines that should be taken into account in this reflection.
In the document that our agency design develops, you are presented with several suggestions of possible names that match with the positioning set. Our methodology has as its main objective, the design of a corporate identity based on an axis communications strong, consistent and “communicate” with the market positioning defined, distinguishing it thus from the competition.
For the production of a “good name”, must be met and some of the following characteristics: 1. Be different
2. Be short (preferably up to three syllables) and easy to remember (ex: Hello);
3. Be simple and easy to pronounce, if that is the case, also on the international level (ex: Nokia);
4. Suggest product/service (ex: Swatch, Telecel);
5. Suggest an attribute/benefit of the product and/or brand positioning (ex: Head&Shoulders for shampoo anti-dandruff; Diehard for car batteries; Compaq to computer “compact”);
6. Arouse emotions and feelings in consumers (ex: Obsession for perfume; Caress to soap);
7. Does not have connotations of undesirable (ex: wine label, BSE, suffers influence of the crisis of “mad cow” disease, BSE);
8. Available and defensible legally (ex: Glue would not be available nor would it be defensible, but Pepsi-Cola already has been).
There are several types of brands: Marks coined or arbitrary executions: It is the stronger type of brand. It can be a word that never existed before (Kodak) or a word existing, but their choice for a product name is arbitrary (Apple for computers).
Marks suggestive: It is a type attractive, by the associations that the brand suggests, as Comfort for a fabric softener for clothes.
Descriptive tags: Describe a physical characteristic or attribute of the product or service, such as Holliday Inn. Usually cause problems by not allowing a distinction unique to the product, and often face restrictions to legal registration.
Brands generic: It is the most weak. Brands generic come in two types: those that are generic in their design (as a Natural to natural products) and those that become generic through misuse, such as Gillette, now a synonym of razor blades.
DEVELOPMENT OF NEW BRANDS 1.Th Step – The definition of the strategy of the brand name The strategy of developing brand names is similar to the process of development of new products or the establishment of strategies for their positioning and advertising. It involves the survey of the information about the product and the market, the determination of the specific role to be fulfilled by the registered trademark, and the establishment of the objectives of the trademark par, which will be essential to guide the entire sequence of the development of a strong name, and appropriate.
Product – the information relates to the product concept, specifications, properties and ways of use; position in the market; satisfactions that will provide the user and the needs that it will meet; in its relation with the competing products; the distribution plans and media; point-of-sale; and the relationship of the product with the trademark company and registered trademarks of products similar to existing ones.
The market – qualitative data of the market, the role of the new product and the environment in which it will be released are clearly understood.
Trademark – involves the description of the countries, cultures and languages where registration of the trademark will be performed, to determine whether it is appropriate or not for the different markets; the message or messages that the mark as a nominal setting should be reported; the existence of competing brands; the restrictions on the size of the name; and the attributes and qualities of the phonetic and graphic that the brand should fill.
The objectives of the brand name – the product manager, the directors, the advertising agency and the packaging designer must establish common objectives to be met by the brand, which will act as unifying elements in the choice of a name.
2.Th Stage – determination of the themes of creation The themes are foci from which are generated all the suggestions of names for the product or service. In the case of an automobile, the names can be associated with issues such as performance, power, technology, sophistication, and style of life. Whatever the chosen theme, it will exert a great influence on the personality of the brand and on the communication plan to be developed for the product.
3.Th Step – The creation of brand names From the topics chosen, the next phase is to create words, analogies and ideas, a task usually entrusted to teams of designers, whose participants will be selected for their creativity, skill, and mastery of the language and ability to work in a group. The creation of names for the computer can also be employed, based on databases and dictionaries, as existing programs to the creation of names by the permutation of vowels, consonants and syllables to generate millions of names, but mostly completely useless.
4.Th Step – The selection of brand name In this step you must place a careful process of selection. First, are deleted, the words that present difficulties of pronunciation in all languages, readability or storage, and those that do not allow the legal registration, are similar with the marks of the competitors or have an excessive size. The relationship should then be subjected to a check and comparison with the words in all the languages involved in the project, to check if you do not have the meanings that are obscene, offensive, or negative.
The next step is to search for a possible granting of the registration the same or similar names as in the countries and markets where if you want to market the new brand. All names must be searchable by local solicitors and in a first country to be designated, the remaining following to a search in the next country and so on. However, it is not uncommon defrontrar in the way with objections is apparent, that should be checked. Sometimes, the owners should be contacted and, in certain cases, it is necessary to negotiate commercial agreements or conduct undercover investigations to verify if a registered trademark is to be used, and in which classes of goods and services.
At this point, the relationship will probably be reduced to some few names that should be tested with consumers and ranked according to the preferences. Can be described in the product concept and then asked consumers to expessem, for each name in the review, approval (“Like” or “dislike”), or that they spell out associations more deep, strong type vs. weak, masculine vs. feminine, expensive versus cheap. For the case of a product not yet available in the market, it is important to take into account the weights of Murphy (1990:90) as to the subjectivity of the techniques currently in use:
“The test potential names for products or services not yet existing is exceptionally difficult. In the situation to search, there is a real danger that consumers assign higher scores to names qu sound more familiar, rejecting those that are more innovative. (Has been discussed that if Steve Jobs had employed conventional techniques of test names, the Apple Computers would have been called IRC Corporation, Compumax, or some other similar name, little excitente. Also if Revlon had researched the brand Charlie, he could be rejected, this great name in favor of a name such as Fleurs de Paris or Arc de Triomphe.)”.
At the time of the final decision, the marketing professional must base your judgment on your familiarity with the market, on the information coming from tests with consumers, the assistance of professionals of trademarks and patents and also in your own intuition.
See our
Portfolio of Branding, where you can find numerous examples of names and logos that are created by our agency.
