7 effective ways to name your brand
When I ask fellow entrepreneurs what they struggle most with in setting up their brand, most of them tell me that the hardest part is naming their brand.
Naming your brand is one of the first branding and business decisions that feels final and permanent. Once you’ve set your brand name, things start to get serious. You’ll create your logo, purchase your domain and may even print collateral or packaging.
It’s one of the biggest choices you will make at the beginning of your business journey. And it’s also one of the biggest opportunities you have to set the direction for establishing and building your brand.
Along with your logo, your brand name is the face of your business and will help form a first impression of your brand when people first interact with it.
Naming your brand is a key opportunity to reinforce the message you want to send to potential customers. An effective brand name should do three things well:
Set the tone and personality of your brand
Help to differentiate your brand
Reflect your overall brand positioning
7 effective ways to name your brand + examples:
There are seven effective ways to name your brand and I share examples of each in the 6 minute video below:
Which type of brand name is right for you?
1 — Descriptive brand name
Descriptive brand names clearly indicate what the business or brand does.
Examples: Netflix / PayPal / Whole Foods Market
Pro: Creates an instant understanding for what you do in your customer's mind.
Con: Difficult to diversify offering in the future if your descriptive brand name is too specific.
2 — Evocative brand name
Evocative brand names suggest associations with the brand but don’t describe the offer specifically.
Examples: Honest Company / Innocent / Lush
Pro: Creates strong associations with personality, purpose and values which can all help differentiate your brand and attract a particular customer group that relates.
Con: An evocative name might lack context for new customers when your brand is just starting out.
For example, the name ‘Innocent’ works for a billion dollar brand due to high visibility and familiarity. When starting out, a strapline for context could help e.g. ‘Innocent - little tasty drinks’
3 — Abstract brand name
Abstract brand names break the rules of the sector and aim to stand out. They usually make no direct reference to the business sector or product.
Examples: Spanx / Google / Bumble
Pro: They stand out. The novelty factor can work particularly well if you’re a small start-up entering an industry with more traditional and established brands.
Con: If the name is not effectively linked to a cohesive brand personality, identity and communications plan it will be difficult to build traction as it will sound confusing.
4 — Personification brand name
Personification can be used in brand naming to draw connections to myths, stories or namesakes.
Examples: Nike / Godiva / Pandora
Pro: By making connections to existing mythology and stories, a brand can create instant associations in the customer’s mind.
For example, Nike was the goddess of victory and Nike’s brand is based on heroism, power and strength.
Con: When named after mythology, a new brand could appear backward looking rather than modern and current.
5 — Geographic brand name
Geographic brand names link the business or brand to a particular landmark or region.
Examples: Fiji Water / Patagonia / Canada Goose
Pro: If provenance and heritage are an important part of what you offer, a geographic brand name will help to strengthen your messaging. This can make your brand more desirable, e.g. Fiji Water.
Con: Geographical names tend to work better for consumer brands.
If you’re selling business products or services globally, a geographical name could limit your market size.
6 — Founder brand name
Founder brand names are simply brands named after real people, i.e. the person or people who founded the company.
Examples: Ben & Jerry’s / Chanel / Marie Forleo
Pro: Can help to bring a human element and personality to your brand.
Con: If your business is not based on the founder’s expertise (e.g. creators, coaches, designers etc.) or the founder is not visibly leveraging their personal brand as part of your marketing strategy, a founder brand name may not gain traction.
7 — Initialism brand name
Initialism or acronymic brand names are longer brand names that have been shortened. Large global brands are often known more commonly by their acronyms than for their full names.
Examples: IBM / MAC / ASOS
Pro: Catchy acronyms can work well to shorten a descriptive brand name, particularly for online brands that have less branding real estate.
Con: Acronyms often lack personality and feel less emotive.
7 types of brand name
PRO TIPS — how to set your brand name up for success
Now you have some ideas to help you with name generation, make sure you set some time aside to get the most out of your new brand name.
1 — Never choose a brand name in isolation
Your brand name is a key part of your brand identity. Alongside your brand personality, tone, visual elements (logo, colours, fonts and imagery) and messaging, your brand name is there to help create a particular perception of your brand in the minds of potential customers. Don’t waste this powerful, strategic opportunity.
2 — Do a quick search before committing
Check your chosen name is not trademarked before creating your branding. You will also want to check which domains and social media handles are available.
If the exact domain or social media handle is not available, you can add verbs or descriptors that work for your brand e.g. on instagram Slack’s handle is @slackhq.
3— Check language and cultural sensitivities
If you plan on growing a global brand or even using foreign language for your brand name (like Uber), check your name meaning in other languages first. If you plan on choosing an acronym for a brand name, also check whether this may have any existing and unintentional meanings!
For example, Mercedes Benz decided to enter the Chinese market with a new brand name to make it a better fit for Chinese dialect. However, their new name ‘Bensi’ literally translated to ‘rush to die.’ Oops.
The most effective brand names help to bring your brand personality to life. If you are interested in uncovering your brand personality, take our free 45 second brand personality quiz.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katie has more than a decade of experience in brand marketing having worked with some of the world’s most iconic brands from the BBC to Burberry through to British Airways.
She is on a mission to make branding easier and more affordable for entrepreneurs so they can build brands that fuel business success.
