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Product naming may be a key aspect of branding. The name you ultimately choose will reflect who you're , your company’s personality and vision. But more importantly, it must unforgettably embody the promise of your product’s main benefit to your potential customers. It can dovetail generically together with your competition, but ideally, it should stand out from the gang . Where to begin? Here are some basic guidelines.
If the field’s too crowded, be unique
MSN Search, Netscape Search, AOL Search, all of them stayed within the same category, so you'll play it safe and accompany Stupendous Search or Super-Duper Search. This works for a time, but as soon because the field gets too crowded, you’ll be lost within the mush of sameness with ever diminishing name recognition. If you’re in it for the end of the day , better to interrupt faraway from the gang with a reputation like Google, Yahoo, or maybe Dogpile (though I’m not a lover of going into the scat category just to be unique). Even Kinkos—the founder's nickname (he had kinky red hair in school)—is different enough to be memorable.
Avoid tongue twisters
There’s a touch part altogether folks that hates to be embarrassed. once we invite a product or mention it with friends, we would like to sound literate and not fumble over pronunciations. So be kind to your potential customers and avoid tongue twisters, or any name that’s unusually long or foreign sounding. If you can’t find a single-word name, don’t re-evaluate two or three syllables.
Alliteration can help with longer names
Okay, therefore the president of the corporate likes all the longer names on your list. you'll make them more memorable and/or easier to pronounce by using alliteration. Consider Circuit City (originally, the incredibly bland, monosyllabic, Wards). Or Downtown Disney, Or the foremost famous brand within the world, Coca Cola . All four syllables, yet they rattle down the tongue with surprising ease.
Avoid abbreviations
Abbreviations lack personality and communicate little or no in terms of benefit or brand character. Sure, IBM, MCI and ABC have big recognition and identity, but they also spent years and millions in virtually all media to market their image—using images of individuals and situations that were warm and fuzzy. Even billionaire Gates chose Microsoft over MS (which has some undesirable connotations).
Convey an implied benefit
If you don’t have tons of media dollars to spend on name recognition, go for a reputation that conveys a benefit or describes content. Snapple began with a reputation that combined two of its original flavors: Spice N Apple. Silk—the soy-based milk brand—combines soy and milk. Benefit-oriented names include EasyOff oven cleaner, Miracle-Grow fertilizer , and Hearthwarmer (a fireplace insert).
Lost in Translation…or worse!
Most folks have heard the story of Chevrolet introducing their "Nova" in Spanish-speaking countries. The car tanked because 'nova' means "doesn't go." Fiat found that they had to rename their "uno" in Finland, since "Uno" means garbage in Finnish. Canadian products require labeling in both English and French, which is why on some cookie boxes, English phrase "without preservatives" has been unintentionally translated into the French "sans preservatives," which suggests "without condoms." ‘Nuff said.
Shun fads
The time period of a faddish name is brief and sweet. It rises to the stratosphere of recognition then nosedives into obscurity faster than you'll say, “radical,” “tubular” or “outta sight.” Another problem with fads is they’re often limited to at least one demographic or clique. during a market as broad and diverse because the U.S., it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Protect your image
If you’re like most companies, you worked hard and spent some real money creating the image of your company. So it only is sensible to guard your investment with a product name that’s according to your existing brands and image. Rolls Royce had to tug the name of its newest addition to the Silver Cloud line, which they tentatively named the "Silver Mist," since in German, "mist" means manure. So repose on what you've got . an honest example: Google’s entry into online shopping with Froogle. Incidentally, if you’re wondering where “Google” came from, it’s a variation on the maths term googol, an enormous number with endless zeros.
Don’t forget legal
Once you’ve settled on a couple of ideal prospective names, hire an honest lawyer to form sure they’re not already getting used and not confusingly almost like someone else’s in your industry.
Hopefully, this brief overview will help guide you thru the subtleties of product naming. Remember, attempt to be unique and benefit oriented without being confusing or offensive. Avoid fads, abbreviations and tongue twisters. And, by all means, protect your image.