The Blog on Branding

How to Create a Popular Brand Name

Creating a popular brand name is one of the keys to a successful business. What’s in a name, you ask? everything. Let me repeat that. EVERYTHING.

Your brand name will give the consumer the first perception of your company, so you need to come up with a catchy and creative name. So right now, your brand name is like the dirty kid in your neighborhood nobody wants to hang out with, let alone go near. You’re probably wondering, “How can I create a popular brand name?” That’s where I come in.

“A good brand name has to be creative.”

Using these tips, your brand name will go from “the dirty kid” to Richie Rich.

For more details:

• Creativity
• Simplicity
• Using the name to represent the brand

Be Creative

Google. What the hell is a Google? EXACTLY. It’s creative. It’s quick, simple, creative and everything you need your brand name be.

You think of Google and you immediately conjure up images of something…googling (seriously, what the hell is it?!). The name alone lent itself to becoming part of our daily vocabulary, and the product completely backed it up. Now, instead of people searching for something, they “Google” it. Get it?

Have your creativity shine through by coming up with a unique word or name. Some of the best and most creative names have come from search engines. Google, Yahoo!, Lycos….they are all very creative and original – and are easy to remember.

Browse a Thesaurus
Thesauruses are a good place to start, as they can give you a base from which to work and create a brand name that will catch people’s attention and make them remember.

• Start with a base word.
• Find various synonyms and other words like it – maybe find one word that will spark the creativity.

Say No to Numbers
Don’t use numbers unless it is absolutely necessary. People will have a tough time trying to decide whether or not they should type “1″ or “one”.

Numbers, as opposed to words, are also extremely hard to secure as a copyrighted brand name, and will be tough to secure for a website address, as well.

You can’t own the number 5, jerk.

But even if you opt for “five” instead of “5″, it will still have the same affect on the consumer, who will be dumbfounded and confused by your numerically-challenged name.

“Numbers are never a good idea.”

Be Simple

You may be thinking, “Hey, you said be creative! Creativity and simplicity are tough to do at the same time – like rubbing your stomach and patting your head!”

Actually, being creative and simple at the same time is pretty easy. Take the photo sharing website Flickr, for example. Flickr – looks really creative. They took the “E” out of the word “Flicker”. Simple.

Cut Down the Length of Words
You need to find a balance between simple and creative….”Mike’s Exterminators” is simple, but “Orkin” is creative. “Jet Repair Services, Inc.” is simple, but “JetBlasters” is creative AND simple AND awesome! (I totally made that up just now).

On a more realistic note, FedEx was derived from the Federal Express Corporation. And recently, InBev was derived from the merger of Interbrew and Ambev (American Beverage) until they acquired Anhueser-Busch, and now the name is Anhueser-Busch InBev (complicated, I know).

• Cutting the original names to half the words helps people remember the brand name and gives you that level of creativity.

Cut Down the Number of Words
Simplicity can be the key to having your brand name become widely recognized.

• Stick to using one word, even if it is two words combined into one, as it will be easy for customers to remember and recall when needing the services you offer – like JetBlasters (I need to copyright this).

The reason for using one word is to avoid overall confusion. Sure it may be two words, but making it into one word will avoid any unnecessary confusion on the customers part – like whether or not they should add a hyphen to your web address or not.

“Cut down on the words.”

Use the Name to Represent the Brand

You’re probably thinking, “Okay….simple…creative. Mike’s Bringers of Death to Bugs. I like it.” Wrong. While “Mike’s Bringers of Death to Bugs” may be creative AND simple, it doesn’t represent the brand well – because it has death in the name, and that creeps people out.

When people see names like “Mike’s Extermination”, they think of a fat guy with his butt-crack hanging out shooting poisonous gasses everywhere. To contrast, when people think “Orkin”, they think of professionalism and quality.

The brand name needs to be a representation of what you want your company to be. Nike, for instance, means “victory” in Greek. It can be something as simple as that.

• See where your company is going and work from there
• Create a name that will cover all aspects of the business.

What does your company do? If you offer jet engine repair (Jet Blasters. I can’t stop; I’m sorry), then make sure your name deals with that and not, “Mike’s Photocopy and Jet Repair Shop”. Once again, people see the name Flickr, and it conjures up images of photography.

The company EcoSMART, which produces environmentally-friendly bug sprays, has a name that fits its entire message and what the brand is about. Ecologically Smart. EcoSMART – done. Sure, it doesn’t specifically talk about the product, but it is conveying an overall message about the brand.

Here are some examples of brand names that can be overhauled to give a new feel to the company:

1. Wabtec – They manufacture products for locomotives, passenger and industrial, as well as build new locomotives. That’s not what I think when I see Wabtec. It sounds more like it would deal with the web or IT stuff. I would change the brand name to RailTec. You still keep a sense of the technology, but you add in the railroad and locomotive aspect of it, and now people get a better sense of what your brand is about. Simple, creative, and representative.
2. Paper Products Company, Inc. – Independent paper distributor whose main rival is Scranton-based Dunder-Mifflin (sorry, had to). The easy way out would be to go with PaperPro or PaperCo or PaperProCo, but I want to take it in a different direction. I would suggest Paeper Distribution, Inc. Paeper is just a unique way of spelling paper. Sorta how Google came from a misspelling.
3. One Communications – Oh….the old numbers game. One Communications is a telecommunications company. The problem with this is that it’s “One Communications”. The use of a number is tough no matter which way you play it, as pointed out above. Luckily, they tacked on “communications” at the end so that people can remember to add that when searching for them. Unfortunately, there’s still a number. So let’s get to changing this, shall we? The one thing that One Communications prides themselves on is being in local markets, rather than just a single, ominous force in a far away land like those other mean communications companies. So the brand name change is simple….LoCom (Local Communications…LoCom).

Creating a popular and usable brand name takes some trial and error, but once you find the right balance between creativity, simplicity and representation of the brand, you can use that brand name to be the face of your company.

And then the sky is the limit….(cheap reference to JetBlasters).

Chris Levkulich Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.