Branding, Brand Design and Development

Naming a Brand
The naming of your product, service or company is an important part of the branding process. Although it may seem like a simple task, the creation of an apt name for your company can often be fraught with difficulties.
Difficulties of choosing a name

• The name of a company is an imaginary concept; it has no meaning until it is applied to real life. It can take months or even years of advertising and brand promotion for a company’s name to become synonymous with its core values and ideas.
•  The psychology behind words and images is very complex and subjective. A single name could evoke many different emotive responses in different types of people.
•  Many markets are flooded by different names and logos. It can be very difficult for emerging companies to find a suitable name or logo that is not protected by copyright laws.

Criteria for choosing an effective name
Names should:

• Be easy to read and pronounce in all languages, if possible.
• Have no negative connotations.
• Be adaptable to different mediums and trends.
• Relate to the company’s product or service, if possible.
• Be charismatic
• Be easily incorporated into a visual style or design.

Different types of name

• Individual – A company that is named after the company’s founder such as, Marks and Spencer.
• Descriptive – A name that describes the distinct selling point of the company or brand such as, Pop Tarts.
• Associative –A name that alludes to what the product to do or be such as, Walkman.
• Abbreviated- A name that contracts two distinct words to form a brand or company such as, Adidas (Adi Dassler).
• Initialled- such as, KPMG or PWC.
• Stylized- A name that is chose because it looks and or sounds attractive such as, Nike.