BRANDIN EU Branding Handbook for SMEs | Page 22

III.2. THE CHOICE OF THE NAME Be different, Keep it short, Evoke meaning, Make it sound good, Be sure it’s ownable! Explore creating names with unusual words and sounds! Developing a name for a business, a product or a service, there are number of options to choose: • Use the founder or inventor’s name • Describe what you do • Describe an experience or image • Take a word out of context • Make up a word It’s important to decide what your name should mean and represent. Before you choose a brand name it’s important to develop your brand strategy before you start the naming process Tips: 1. Check and be sure, nobody uses your name or it isn’t comparable to any other existing name or infringe any other trade mark. building 2. Determine what type of brand you’re building. Will you company name be the main brand promoted to the marketplace? Will it represent your product or service? Or might you offer numerous products and services, all under their own names? This question will help you determine the importance of the marketability of your name. 3. Determine the types of name to use 4. Make sure that you can protect your name Do you want to expand your company on an international level? Check if the name is acceptable in foreign countries, check the meanings in different languages, in different regions 5. Test before your final selection www.marketingmo.com T The first thing a customer will notice about business is its name. A crucial element of any business is the creation of a brand name by which people could identify the service or product it provides. It’s very important to consider some factors when choosing business name. Company owners should think about target market, the product or service and the image they want to project. Is it better for the name to be functional or creative? When thinking of names, steer clear of those which are a mouthful when they answer the phone, that would look awkward on stationery, or are tricky to type as a web address. Before committing to a name, search on the www.ecegjegyzek.hu webpage (in Hungary) to check the name has not been registered or trademarked by another business, and that the website address is available. Features of a Good Brand Name A good brand name should have following characteristics: 1. It should be unique / distinctive . 2. It should be extendable. 3. It should be easy to pronounce, identified and memorized. 4. It should give an idea about product’s qualities and benefits. 5. It should be easily convertible into foreign languages. 6. It should be capable of legal protection and registration. 7. It should suggest product/service category. 8. It should indicate concrete qualities. 9. It should not portray bad/wrong meanings in other categories. “Brainstorming is the first step to choose a catchy and successful name” 20 21