Darpan Munjal on the Vital Importance of Brand Naming
Coming up with a name for your brand is a complicated process. While it’s tempting to go with whatever clever name pops into your head first, it’s important to slow down and carefully think your name through.
Brand naming is a nuanced art that combines creativity and marketing savvy. A name is more than just a moniker for your brand; it’s your brand’s identity, worth, and connection to its audience distilled into a word or phrase.
If it’s daunting to think that your brand name could make or break your business, fear not. The following info, gathered after serving over 25,000 customers at Squadhelp, will address not only why your brand name matters, but how you can make sure your name highlights your brand’s unique edge.
Names Outline a Brand’s Essence
If you have a strong vision for your brand, you should be able to list off your brand’s key values and objectives.
1) What makes your brand tick?
2)Why should people care about your brand?
3)Why is the statement your brand is making important?
To start, write a short list containing your brand’s most important ideals and objectives. Afterwards, come up with a list of existing brand names that fit your brand’s values. This can help you narrow down the qualities that make these names iconic.
Is your brand disruptive and cutting-edge like Uber? Is it inviting and down to earth like Nature Valley? Or is it edgy and subversive like Urban Decay?
Listing off successful brand names that align with your brand goals can help you see what kinds of names audiences are responding to.
If you’re seeking inspiration, Squadhelp’s collection of brand name ideas is a useful resource.
Speak Directly to Your Audience
Brand naming can be incredibly fickle, and names that work perfectly for some brands may be disastrous for others. For example, while Fear of God works wonderfully as a high-concept, ultramodern streetwear brand for millennials, it would sound bizarre and unsettling as a supplier of suits and other formal wear for baby boomers. The most successful brands target specific audiences and appeal strongly to that audience’s taste, lifestyle, and moral values.
Take, for example, the trendy investing startup Acorns. Acorns is a micro-investing app that invests its users’ spare change into low-risk, pre-built portfolios. The “Acorns” name came from the app’s central theme of small investments yielding big results, which founder Jeff Cruttenden compared to a planted acorn growing into a towering tree. The name also sounds unintimidating, perfect for the brand’s main concept of low-risk, passive micro-investments.
By evoking flippancy and informality, Acorns appeals perfectly to tech-savvy millennial audiences who would otherwise be turned off by a traditional investment name like, for example, Goldman Sachs or Barclay. Acorns works as the brand name by completely abandoning the stuffy naming conventions of other financial services and presenting itself as an outlier, reflecting both the product and its users. As you can see, effective names combine self-awareness with a clear understanding of the brand’s target audience.
First Impressions and Spreading the Word
Your name will almost certainly be a potential customer’s first impression of your brand. Today’s markets are more saturated than ever, so your brand name needs to stick out among a sea of competitors and invite further customer engagement by immediately communicating your brand’s unique identity.
Your brand name should inspire conversation, intrigue, and “Eureka moments” within your audience. For example, Amazon is multi-faceted name that provokes discussion and thought. Not only does the company cleverly implement “A-Z” as part of their branding, but the Amazon River contains the world’s largest collection of plants and animals, reflecting the website’s massive variety of available merchandise.
If your brand really speaks to your audience, they’ll want to let other people know about it. To encourage referrals, your brand name needs to be as functional as possible. The most functional names are the ones that are easy to say, spell, and hear.
To be considered functional, your brand name needs to be able to pass these simple tests:
1) Read to Speak – When someone sees your name, are they able to easily read it aloud and pronounce it correctly?
2) Hear to Spell – If someone heard your name being spoken aloud, would they be able to easily spell it when they type it into their phone?
3) Speak to Hear – Would your brand name be understood even when spoken in a crowded bar? Would whoever heard it be able to repeat it back to you in that situation?
Ultimately, your brand name shouldn’t take work to transfer from one person to another. Difficulties in communication leads to lower brand engagement and a hole in your bottom line.
The Takeaways
Your brand name directly affects your brand’s audience perception, and in turn, the level of referrals, buzz, and other forms of engagement. The most enduring names appeal to their brand’s key values along with the specific tastes and lifestyles of their audience. Don’t get overlooked — ensure your name stands out and communicates your brand’s unique identity.
If you’re looking for a brand naming service, Squadhelp combines the power of crowdsourcing with gamification and advanced technology to help you find the perfect name for your business. With brand consultants, agency-level validation services, and audience testing, you can rest assured that the name you’re choosing fits your brand’s unique personality.
