When it comes to creating a name for your company or a new product you are creating, there are a few things you need to think about.
First let us give you a definition of
Brand Positioning via Wikipedia:
Positioning is something (perception) that happens in the minds of the target market.
It is the aggregate perception the market has of a particular company,
product or service in relation to their perceptions of the competitors
in the same category.
It will happen whether or not a company's
management is proactive, reactive or passive about the on-going process
of evolving a position. But a company can positively influence the
perceptions through enlightened strategic actions.
By reviewing this definition the key is you should really know you customer or perspective customers thoughts on this type of company or product.
How are you going to set yourself apart
from the competition.
Some of you may remember Avis (car rental) developed a brand positioning campaign revolving around the fact that they were not the number 1 car rental company. So what did they do? They created this campaign Avis we're "No.2, We Try Harder", the point was to say something so shocking (it
was by the standards of the day) that it cleared space in your brain
and made you forget all about who was #1.
This is what you need to do when developing your company or product name. As mentioned above whether you like it or not, in naming you company/product you are positioning your brand in the marketplace. Some people are able to pull this off and others fail miserably.
This can be a big part of the success of your company and a lot of times should be left to a professional, only because this is the foundation of all future marketing and brand development.
Other things to know before you settle on any brand positioning for your company or product name is in this day it is extremely important to also have a domain name tied to your company or product. People will most certainly do a search on this company or product and a lot of time just type in the URL "yourproductname.com".
Getting the .com domain name for your brand position is very important. The problem you need to avoid is spending a lot of time developing a brand position and then not being able to find a domain name that is available that works for this name. Do not add hyphens or drop letters trying to trick the domain into working because you will not be able to trick the audience or much of the audience into participating with this type of shenanigans.
By the way, another tip to think about is if you find a domain that works for your brand position, buy it right then. Domain names are being snagged up all the time and we would not want you to lose a solid domain if you decide to sleep on it am make sure this name is right. Worst case you can dump the domain name if you decide differently. However we have personally ran across this and lost what was going to be a solid brand by not taking action when we found a certain domain name in two days it was gone and we needed to start the whole naming process over again from scratch. Do not let this happen to you.
Here are a few tips we have mentioned before, but might be good to pass on again when it comes to brand positioning or naming your company or product:
- Distinctiveness: Does it stand out from the crowd?
- Brevity: Is it short enough to be remembered and easily used?
- Appropriateness: Does it say something about what the company does?
- Easy to spell and pronounce: Will people be able to spell the name after hearing it spoken? Can they pronounce it after seeing it written?
- Likability:
Will people enjoy using it it? Names that are intellectually
stimulating or provide a good "mouth feel," have a head start over
those that don't.
- Extendability: Does it have legs? Does
it suggest a visual interpretation or lend itself to a number of
creative executions? Great names provide endless opportunities for
brandplay (wordplay).
- Protectability: Can it be trademarked? Is it available for web use?
We hope this helps and would love to hear stories about your naming or brand positioning development. We wish you the best of luck, but would like to hear both good and bad stories to share and educate others on.
