Are you in the process of starting a new business or launching a new product? One crucial aspect of your branding strategy is creating a memorable and effective name for your company or product. This process, known as naming, can seem overwhelming at first, but with the right approach and guidance, it can lead to a strong and impactful brand identity. In this article, we will guide you through the steps of creating a successful naming strategy for your business or product. From defining the key characteristics of your offering to evaluating potential names, we will provide you with actionable tips to ensure you end up with a name that truly represents your brand and resonates with your target audience.
Keys to naming your company
Naming is the process through which a brand name is determined that appears to be creative, but involves an analytical process. It is one of the main assets of the brand because it works on positioning, values, and proposals by itself. The term naming is made up of a set of techniques used to create names for companies, services, products, or a project in general. That is why this process is so important, and that is why some keys to naming your company are presented here.
What is naming a company?
The meaning of the term naming is to name, in marketing, techniques are used to develop and create names. These names can be for events, projects, companies, brands, services, or products. The objective of this process is to establish a difference with others and achieve good positioning. For this, it is important that the name generates sensations in the public that make it difficult to forget and attribute certain characteristics. Naming is important for a company because it is the main aspect that identifies it, and it is also the most heard, seen, and read message by the brand. To decide on a name, it is necessary to keep certain factors in mind, such as:
- Think about the values you want to convey.
- How the target audience will perceive the name.
- The name must be able to differentiate itself from the competition.
What are the keys to naming your company?
The keys to consider when creating the name for your company are: Distinctive: The selected name should stand out among the competition. Sonorousness: To determine the sonority of the selected name, you should say it out loud to see how it sounds, if it is easy to say and if it is poetic. Remembering: It is important that the name can be easily remembered. Expression: The selected name should demonstrate what your brand is about and that it adapts to its personality. Appearance: Another important factor is to observe how the word looks printed, if it looks as good as it sounds.
Basic principles of effective naming.
For your company’s naming to be effective, it must comply with these basic principles: The name has to be consistent with the brand architecture of the company, have the ability to transmit and simplify a story. It also has to be unique, distinctive, and differentiated. The naming has to be timeless and adaptable to the extension or growth of the company. It also has to be suggestive and evocative, easy to remember, noticeable, and easily associated with the values of the brand. The name must produce credibility, currently and in future extensions, and must be easy to read and pronounce. Another very important principle that the name must comply with is that it must be registerable. To do this, it is necessary to investigate the legal feasibility of the name.
Naming Types
There are many criteria used to create and select a brand name, but there are a few main categories: Descriptive Names: This type of name indicates what the product, service, or company does, describes the business, and helps to position the brand. They are easy for consumers to identify because they associate the name with the benefits of the product or service. However, the use of descriptive names has a disadvantage as they can be restrictive. Acronyms: These names are an abbreviation of a descriptive name and are an evolution of these. Acronyms are easy to remember, quick to say, and sonorous, but their disadvantage is that they lack essence, do not derive from any word in a language, and do not convey any meaning, they are only a grouping of letters. Abstract Names: Names with invented words have no positive or negative meaning, and they have advantages and disadvantages. This is because they have been designed solely to represent a brand. For abstract names, it is up to the brand itself to make the association of values and meanings. It is important to create words that can acquire meaning in the long term. Inspirational Names: These names are constructed according to the feeling or experience that the brand generates. The use of these names helps in positioning and making the company stand out in its sector because it creates an expectation of why they should be chosen. The most difficult thing about selecting inspirational names is connecting their meaning with the reason for being of your company.
How to create your company’s naming?
The steps to develop the naming process are as follows:
Define the main characteristics of the product or service.
To do this, you should ask yourself what are the top five adjectives that define the product attributes or the company’s personality.
Establish the brand’s offering
To do this, it is necessary to determine what the brand offers. It should be a unique benefit that is meaningful to the target audience.
Analyze the competition
It is important to know the environment in which the brand will compete, so you need to know their names, which ones are good, and what the public’s reaction has been.
Establish the product or service category
To do this, you need to define the product with which the brand will compete and identify the main competitors. At this point, you should determine the sector in which the brand competes, who the primary and secondary competitors are, the buying cycles, and whether they make rational or emotional purchases.
Think of different names and filter them
To do this, you should consider the brand’s attributes and offerings, how the new name represents them, and whether the new name has negative associations or connotations.
Create a list of names by category
To do this, you should group all the names that are acronyms, inspiring, descriptive, abstract, among others.
Evaluate the name
It is recommended to evaluate the name according to the following aspects:
- The name is unique in the market.
- It is short
- It is appropriate for the product or the industrial sector.
- It is easy to pronounce and spell or difficult to remember.
- The target audience and your ideal customers can relate to the name.
After knowing all these elements, do you know how to choose the best name for your company or product? Will you have to change the name you currently have? What will be the best step to take from where you are? I invite you to subscribe to my page so that you are always one step ahead of the competition.
