Getting Your Brand Name Right
How many times do you find yourself spelling out your name? Once a month or on a daily basis? You may find for the latter reason, you have nailed it with a great, unique name that no-one else has. However, the bottom line is, if you’re finding you’re spending too much time explaining why you chose it in the first place, as unique and memorable as it may be, you may need to go back to the drawing board. You’re not making the impact you deserve.
There are of course countless components to creating a successful brand. The most important of all, is delivering the very, very best product or service you can be. Your name is pretty up there on the important list though and it carries more weight than you may realise.
The average English-speaking adult has developed a vocabulary of up to 35,000 words and attached to each and every one of those words, is an association. A feeling. They have the power to evoke all kinds of emotion inside you that you may not even consciously realise. Put into the context of your brand name, that is just made up of words to which if you haven’t already joined the dots, puts YOU in the driving seat for creating a name that has brilliant, sparkly and positive associations to it.
So where do you start? You can have a lot of fun in the process with this one. Here are our five top tips for developing the best brand name:
Make it memorable
There are over 16 million active brands officially registered in the world. 16 million! It’s no bad thing to have a brand name that bears no resemblance to the work you’re actually doing as it’s fun to work with unique names but it is imperative to consider your positioning whilst thinking outside the box. Ask your friends how it makes them feel. Do they look confused? Or like you’ve just completely nailed it?!
Keep it simple
Do you have a friend with the kind of name that has meant they’ve spent their life with a simpler nickname? That’s all very well as they’re not a brand. The last thing you want is having an overly complicated name that people then abbreviate or simplify as you’ll essentially be putting two business names out into the world. From a communications perspective, that’s a real nightmare and one that you want to avoid at all costs! As savvy as Google is at predicting what you’re about to write too, the more complicated your name is won’t help the person typing or all the trillions of bots working away on the other side of your keys so do them a favour and keep it short and sweet.
Stand out from the crowd
Start thinking about your logo when conjuring up your brand name. Your logo is the graphic symbol that will work hard every day, representing your brand. You may well end up being the new Nike. If so, and your logo gets recognised enough throughout the world, like the big tick, you may even see a logo used without the name of the business that it is associated with. As a branding expert, I am always thinking about the typeface that you’re associating with your brand in your logo. Even the slightest tweaks to point size and typeface can completely change the way you’re perceived by others.
Spell it like you say it
Do you have to second guess how you’re about to spell it? Life will be that much easier if you don’t have to. Again, at this stage in the game you have the benefit of experimenting so ask friends and family what they think and to spell it without any help!
Check it’s available
We have come across a number of businesses now who have had the most brilliant, awe-inspiring ideas, chosen their brand name that perfectly hits the spot and then we ask if everything is signed, sealed, delivered on URLs, social handles, trademarks. Uh oh! Keep checking throughout the process if you can first get the URL and we recommend getting multiple so you own the .com, co.uk, .co etc. Then see if it’s in use on social channels. If you find one that works for what you’re trying to communicate and it’s available then go for it! Next up, full brand development.
Learn more about how we build brand identities here.
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