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Naming products create great brands

Marketing and selling in tough economic conditions:



Prasanna Perera

Prasanna Perera - Marketing and Management Consultant, Chartered Marketer, CIM U.K.

Naming products and services is the first step towards building great brands. However, many business persons and marketers face problems in deciding on brand names, since they are not aware of the rules of creating great brand names.

This article will endeavour to shed some light for the benefit of the business and marketing fraternity.

1.Rule No 1 - Keep the name short - Preferably four to five letters. (Name must be short). The shorter the name, the easier to remember. Consumers today are bombarded with brands and their sales pitches and hence, will be hard pressed to remember names that are long.

Having a short name means the consumer will require less memory space, which makes the brand more customer friendly.

Take for example the best global brands. You will find these brand names are short in general. IBM, GE, Intel, HP, HSBC, AMEX, BMW, Nokia, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Nike, RBK, Adidas, to name a few. In the Sri Lankan context brand names such as Rin, Astra, Dove, NOLIMIT, Maliban, SLT, Samahan, GONUTS, FAB, Keells, Arpico and Kist.

2. Rule No 2 - The name must be easy to remember - A memorable name will involve your customers and this will make them remember your brand. Coming up with a memorable name can be a challenge.

For a name to be memorable, it must be easy to pronounce. So how can marketers go about creating memorable brand names? Firstly, the brand name must be simple. For e.g. Facebook, Blackberry, Red Bull, Kit Kat. Secondly the brand name must be different such as Yahoo, FCUK, Bossini, Mango. Thirdly, make it shocking. It must also be meaningful. For e.g. Rollerblade (Blades that roll!), FCUK (French Connection, UK), Crocs (Casual Rubber Footwear), Pooch (Fragrances).

In a Sri Lankan context brand names such as Dinemor, Mango Tree, Banana Leaf, Jack Tree, Cheers Pub are easy to remember and memorable.

3. Rule No 3 - The name must be easy to pronounce - In a Sri Lankan context "Clemente Jarques" comes into mind!! A name that is hard to pronounce can make your customers feel stupid. If you make them feel stupid, they won't buy from you. The following brand names are difficult to pronounce.

Lamborghini, Porsche, Tokyo Tasushin Kogyo (The first name of the Sony Corporation), Blaupunkt, Nakamichi.

On the other hand brand names such as Signal, Panadol, Daily, Milo, Fab, Rainco, NOLIMIT, ODEL and Browns are easy to pronounce.

4. Rule No 4 - The name must be unique - A unique name is also a form of differentiation. Finding an unique name is very hard but absolutely necessary. Without an unique brand name, it is going to be really hard to build a brand. It is worthwhile remembering that in the long run, a brand is nothing more than a name. Competitors can copy all your great ideas but they cannot copy your brand name.

The brand "Apple" is really unique, specially for a serious product category such as computers. Hence, Steve Jobs was able to differentiate Apple quite easily from the rest of the pack.

"Yahoo" broke the naming mould for search engines. Compare names such as Lycos, Infoseek, Alta Vista with Yahoo.

The uniqueness of Yahoo is clear. Another fantastic example is "Blackberry" a strange and therefore unique name for mobile phones.

Hotmail is another great unique name. (Includes letters h-t-m-l).

In Sri Lanka Big Bite Buriyani, ROOTS, Kalaya, Dilmah and Debug come into mind.

5. Rule No 5 - Avoid generic words - Generic words mean "common words" that are in everyday use. They can be found in the dictionary, but are also used in everyday conversation - and that is why they are common.

If McDonald's had called itself the Fast Food Company or Budget Hamburger Company, they would not have been successful, since they are not proper brand names. If Nike had called itself Athlete's Shoes, they would have had a hard time to anchor the brand in the mind.

6. Rule No 6 - The name must be language neutral - This is specially true if you are marketing the brand globally.

The car for Ugly Women - Toyota once marketed a model named "Fiera" in Puerto Rico. On the surface, it looks like a great name. It is short and creates images of passion and high performance. Fiera sounds like a fiery name, too and it did create some fiery situations in Puerto Rico, because the name translated to "ugly old woman" over there.

Manure, It is what makes for Curly Hair - Clairol decided to launch its own curling iron, the "Mist Stick."

The brand did not do well in Germany, because in German slang, the name Mist Stick sound like "Manure Stick."

Marketeers globalising their brands would do well to test their brands for language neutrality. A combination of local market and in-house expertise can be used.

Using a translation company would be a good bet, provided it is reputable with qualified translators.

A great name is easier to get into the mind

If a study of successful brands is carried out, you will find that more often than not, they are the ones that got into the mind first.

The easiest way to get into the mind first, is by getting into the market first. But for every first mover success, there is a string of first mover failures. Why? One of the main reasons is that they have lousy names.

A few naming mistakes to avoid

1. Don't think short term but long term. Naming and building brandsare long term, strategic activities.

2. Don't go for founders' names. The reason is that the name may notmake any sense in the category entered into.

3. Don't forget your customers. After all, your brand name should appeal to your customers and their needs.

4. Don't use technical jargon over simplicity. This is speciallytrue for high tech companies.

5. Don't think that putting a name to a product, automaticallycreates a brand. To build a brand, significant investmentis required. In this brief article, I have shared some thoughts on the critical aspect of naming products and services. All business persons would do well to remember that this is a serious exercise and no stone should be left unturned, to get the name right, the first time.

 

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