Why is a terrible name often a great brand name?
Naming a product or service is a strategic and strangely emotional challenge for any business. Here’s some sound advice.
When invited to talk about branding, and specifically naming, I’ve often played a quick game with the audience. I’ve asked if any of them would feel confident enough to bet £100k of their own money to correctly spell a brand name that we’ve all heard of. Sounds simple, right?
The brand? Häagen-Dazs.
To a Brit or American it’s a clumsy mix of vowels and consonants that gets mangled in the mouth. If I muddy the water further by suggesting that perhaps the umlaut might appear on the second or third ‘a’, and even the most confident will start to have doubts. Admittedly, this is a smart-ass way to get people to start to think about naming, and specifically about the challenges of finding the right name…or whether it even matters.
So what’s in a name? Everything…and often little more than nothing. A great name can be a powerful brand asset, but inevitably it’s what the name comes to stand for over time that’s more important than the word itself. We might throw up a quizzical eyebrow when we first encounter a company, but we soon accept even the most outlandish or counterintuitive name. Look at Facebook — cringingly clunky; Caffe Nero — named after a feckless, decadent Emperor who killed his own mother. Or tech giant Huawei, whose pronunciation remained a mystery until it hit the news for the wrong reasons.
So where to begin?
Firstly, start with an open mind.
Accept that unless you have very deep pockets and incredible luck you’re not going to be able to trademark a simple, everyday word or phrase. It just won’t happen. You’re going to have to approach the process creatively, and be prepared to end up somewhere unexpected.
An example. I worked with a company who wanted to register ‘Phoenix’ as a name for their financial business. Without commissioning a search it was clear that this—along with the reams of other supposedly ‘powerful’ words they were suggesting—was way too obvious not to have already been trademarked within a sector that is particularly fond of bold metaphors.
Tip: Consider broad themes such as ‘trust’ only as a starting point to be built on, but not relied upon. Push as wide as possible to create ideas within these themes.
Don’t be too descriptive —think emotionally, think metaphorically.
How many tech brands or apps have taken their core proposition and made it seem somehow more relevant by adding ‘ — ify’ or extrarr letters for effect? This approach to descriptive naming was initially interesting, however by the time you’ve noticed a trend, it’s probably too late to jump on the bandwagon. Like naming a rock band, if you’re following the convention of a scene, you’ll most likely sound dated when things move on.
Being too literal can age badly. Carphone Warehouse—it’s not a warehouse, and try explaining the relevance of a carphone to anyone under forty; Pizza Express — once the height of contemporary urban dining, now sounds decidedly down-market. A name can also affect your ability to grow. British Telecom became BT partly to bid for contracts in Europe and appear more universal.
Tip: Look outside your sector for inspiration. If you’re a parcel delivery company, ignore your competition and consider what you want people to feel about your service, how they respond when they discover something new… even how that parcel you’ve just received feels in your hand.
Live with it, learn to accept it, grow to love it
As consumers, we accept strange names almost without a second thought—if you don’t know the origin of Bluetooth, now’s the perfect time to look it up. When your idea of the ‘perfect’ name isn’t available, you need to be open to a counter-intuitive or entirely abstract solution. Having an awkward name can be beneficial if it’s ‘sticky’ enough — such as the aforementioned ice cream brand or Xerox—but you need to be able to accept that initially it could be a challenge to build recognition.
Tip: As a brand grows, its name will become trusted and imbued with meaning. If we like a brand’s personality and we trust the business, over time a name (if it’s not a complete turkey) will adopt a certain positive neutrality.
Lastly, hire a professional (I would say that wouldn’t I?)
Clients looking to name a service, product or business are often blinkered by a need to describe it too literally. They fear the very attributes that appeal to a customer — fun, intrigue, oddness. They demand brevity, when memorable names often have to roll around the mouth and brain for a good minute before we digest them—Tony’s Chocolonely, Drunk Elephant, Beltane&Pop. They try to force a portmanteau name to appear miraculously from initials or founder’s names. However, the biggest mistake they make is to try to think of a name without first defining the brand.
A great name responds to and builds upon a brand strategy. An example we created, Snog frozen yogurt, clearly demonstrates the points above. The name seamlessly fits with the ambition to create an irreverent, fun and British frozen yogurt brand. Other yogurt company names simply describe the product —Pinkberry, Red Mango, Yogurtland, Yogoberry— Snog encapsulates a uniquely British feeling and attitude.
The name also defines the personality of the brand we wanted to create: “You never forget your first Snog”, “I like Snogging better than ice cream”, “Snog with friends”. It’s an example of brand strategy, naming and brand voice coming together to perfectly align with the business ambition; to be the UK’s number one froyo brand.
Tip: Founders or project owners are often too close to be able to make an objective or abstract leap. A good creative agency will approach naming without preconceptions, and see it as a starting point for a personality, tone of voice or a wider conversation. They also won’t be afraid to tell you when a name sucks—difficult for a friend or a colleague.
