The brand name of a company is often one of the most important and even ultimate communication words between the firm and its customers. It may also be a differentiating factor and help customers recognize a brand easily, amidst a variety of competitors. Some of the common kinds of brand name types popular and prevailing today are:
Functional Names– It may be a common denominator, and here the brand may be named after the surname of the owner or may describe what the company may be producing. A functional brand name may also add a prefix or suffix to functionality that a product/service may possess. Functional brand names include Bajaj, Godrej, and Dhara among others.
Experimental Names– These names establish a direct connection with something real or which makes a part of the human experience. While the experimental names are literal, they do carry certain imaginative touches as in the case of Microsoft and Netscape.
Evocative Names– These brand names may evoke the memories, tell stories, and also depict association. The evoking names may foster the positioning of a company as well. Certain evocative names include NIRMA and Tanishq.
Invented Names– Certain brand names will reflect on the main discovery behind the product.
For instance, the brand name Google was derived from Googol, which means a very large number. There are also leading innovators that can offer you brand names on sales propositions and at reasonable prices.
Principles For Brand Name Selection
To have the best impact and memorability the brand name should be easy to encode into for the customer, should be retained well, and should also be retrieved easily from the memory. The brand name should also and have the strategic positioning of the image of a business offering. The brand name should be legally protected as well.
A Brand name should have simplicity
Some of the relevant and favorable characteristics of a good brand name include ease of spell, read, understand, and say. Examples of customers simplifying the brand name themselves are common and may include examples like Coke for Coca-Cola and Chevy for Chevrolet. The basic psychological thought and principle behind the notion of the simple brand name are that simple names can be easily uttered, learn and recalled. The customer attention span is limited and therefore a simple brand name has a better probability to be remembered and recalled. With so many options available, the customer may not be motivated to think over a more complex brand name, when compared to the other simpler options.
A Brand name should carry distinctiveness
Distinctive brand names may offer benefits related to memory, legal entity, and brand positioning. Kodak, Xerox and Apple are certain distinctive brand names. A unique, unusual, and novel brand-name may grasp attention easily and may also generate curiosity. Such name may become part of long-term memory and initiate other cognitive processes as well. The use of “plosives” in creating brand names is common. Consonants including B, C, D, G, K, and P that have a popping and explosive sound are termed as plosives. The funny sound created by these consonants may appeal to the customers and the sound may provide for better recognition and recall as well.
A Brand name should carry meaningfulness
A brand name that has at least some meaning for the customer may be easily remembered and recall from memory. It is even better if the name reflects certain benefits of the offering.
There are also certain other characteristics that a brand name may possess, and which may benefit your company. Some Marketing Research has pointed out that the memory for brand names may be enhanced when they contain emotional and effective information and words. Also, brand names that can elicit a mental image or a visual referent in the minds of the customers provide a better recall advantage. Lastly, when the memory of the customer is measured by recognition and not by recall, the use of “morphemes” or unmeaningful words has also been found to provide for desired customer attraction and attention. Therefore, in some cases, non-meaningful unrecognizable words or words that are not used frequently in a language may provide an edge to the company.
Mistakes to avoid while branding
Some of the common mistakes associated with branding are:
●Making of cross promises that cannot be kept
●Ignoring the audience
●Mimicking and coffee competition
●Forgetting the tagline
●Creating a brand name you cannot legally product
●Being inconsistent across the different mediums and platforms
●Neglecting the perception of customers and common public
●Not emphasizing enough on your USPs and differentiating aspects
A company should understand that a brand name should not hot have the above-given deficits, to be successful and appealing to the customers.
Brainstorming of ideas
It is good to write down all the ideas and everything that enters your mind, during brainstorming. You may want to know more about your target customers and what they are looking for. Other aspects to be considered include your differentiating advantages and the adjectives that can appeal to your customers. The symbols and metaphors that might come to your mind while branding can also be used innovatively.
Finalizing the brand name
Go through your list and shortlist a few names, for instance, 5 or 10 names that seem to be more suitable. Now, you can appraise and evaluate these names instead of the criteria you are following. A brand name that you finalize should be easy to say (roll of the tongue), easy to spell, and legally valid. The name should have a positive connotation and appeal to your customers. Some names get to be better when something can be visualized with them. While the name can be descriptive, you can also add a tagline or a byline for description purposes.
Before the actual branding, you may also like to get feedback from your potential customers. The brand name should be used and tested in the target market segment so that you can know more about the initial reactions.
A brand name may carry huge significance. The icebreaker initiates the conversation, attracts customers, and may also indicate the attributes of an offering. It is good to follow a step-by-step approach for brand name creating to emerge successfully. A service like brand names for sale will heed to your specific business and requirements and will provide you a well-performing brand name.