Imagine if our choices between the two main competitors
in the computer world were between Apple and….Melinda.
Bill Gates made a wise (and probably the most profitable)
move in listening to professional advice when he picked Microsoft
over Melinda, his first choice.
A good business name will create an emotional and cognitive
response in people. Some experienced marketers call it the
single most important marketing decision you’ll ever
make.
The Science of Naming
Successful business names usually indicate a larger metaphor
and are a client’s first “window” into
a company’s service. According to the San Francisco-based
Igor Naming and Branding Agency, there are four types of
names to consider when choosing your company name:
Functional/Description Names: These are purely descriptive
of what a company does.
·
Infoseek, British Airways, Digital Equipment, American
Express, About.com
Invented Names: These names are either made up or are in
a different language, and are often based upon the rhythm
of saying them.
· Kodak, Snapple, Oreo, Kleenex, Acquient
Experiental Names: Offer a direct connection to a part of
human experience.
· United Airlines, Explorer, Navigator, Time Magazine
Evocative Names: These evoke the persona of a company rather
than the goods or services it provides
· Apple, Yahoo, Virgin, Oracle
Functional names work when a company attributes
most of their brand to their name. Often these companies
are named after founding members. Martha Stewart and J.Lo
are good examples of brand “empires” built upon
a functional name. Usually though, functional, or descriptive,
names simply describe the services that a company provides.
Downsides occur when functional names are drawn
from a small sample of keywords, for this causes them to
become indistinguishable from each other. Branding companies,
for
example, can run
into problems if they have the word “brand” in
their name. A small sample of the competition shows that
there is already a: Brand Design, Brand Doctors, Brand Evolve,
Brand Evolution, Brand Forward, Brand Ladder, Brand Link,
Brand Maverick, Brand Meta, Brand People, etc., etc. Trying
to differentiate oneself in this market is like trying to
find the original amongst the clones!
Invented names are often a good choice
if a company wants to differentiate themselves from their
competitors. These
names have an inherent energy in them that make them forceful
and quite effective. Google is an excellent example of this.
This company name seems to be creating its own language,
with computer users now claiming to have “googled it” when
looking for something on the web.
Challenges with using invented names include getting people
to remember and associate meaning to them. Google may work,
but names like Acquient, Agilent, Alliant, Aquent, Aspirient,
Comergent and Consilient are difficult for people to associate
meaning to, and therefore care about.
Experiential names make sense to people
and require little explanation. Done successfully, they
can “map” a
person’s experience with the company and are often
a good starting point for developing companies. Yet over-usage
can make them less effective. Explorer and Navigator are
web portal names, also the names of SUVs.
Perhaps the most difficult names to choose are the evocative ones,
which makes them less common. Evocative names do
not directly describe
a company’s product
or service. Neither do they imply the type of experience
a person will have with the company. Rather, they position
themselves within their industry in a way that marks new
territory. These are the names that people will often remember
and talk about.
If an evocative name is effective, it is memorable and will
help to create a brand image that is bigger than the goods
and services a company offers. If successful, it can even
dominate an industry. Think Apple and Yahoo. Apple needed
to convey simplicity if it wanted to get people to use home
computers, and it worked. Virgin could have been discredited
as an airline
company because it seems to
be saying “We’ve never done this before.” Yet
it has enough positive qualities as a universal human connection
(it could be saying “We’ve all been here before”),
which makes it fun, different and exciting.
The best advice in choosing a name is to choose one that
your company can grow with. A good name should allow room
for expansion, while at the same time creating an enduring
reputation. By the reputation it implies, a good name can
evoke much more than the goods and services you provide.
It can be unforgettable.
Do you have a comment or feedback on
this article? Email
us and let us know what you think.
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