What about you?
Let’s say you’ve got an amazing business idea that you can’t wait to share. You may have worked endless hours developing your product, service or personal brand. You’ve probably sacrificed your personal life researching ways to get your offering to market. However, all this time and energy will be wasted if your product, service or company isn’t branded right.
What’s in a Name? The Power of Branding
Coming up with a fabulous product or service is about so much more than just the product or service itself. To make your offering a hit, you need to create a successful brand. Branding effectively, whether it is a new product, service or other offering, involves a lot more than simply developing an attractive logo or some clever reels and shorts. To build a successful brand, you need to start with the perfect brand name.
Shakespeare famously asked, “What’s in a name?” We can confidently reply … a whole lot, even in a simple name. While Shakespeare knew a lot about romance, he couldn’t have imagined what might be the right brand strategy in today’s noise-filled, AI world. A strong brand name is more important today than ever before. But why is that so? Why does a good brand name still matter?
There are many reasons your brand name matters in a world of AI-filled content, deep fakes, photoshopped images and more. Who and what can you trust? It often comes down to the legitimacy, authenticity and transparency of your brand.
So first of all, you need a new brand name that differentiates. A name that helps your company stand out from other brands. Brand names are how customers talk about you, become passionate about you and become your superfans. They are an integral part of your business success. Companies that overlook the importance of brand names in their business strategy put their companies and their future success at risk. Would Taylor Swift be as cool if her name was Mildred Smith? What about Apple Computer if its name was instead Compufast?
Unfortunately, choosing a brand name is a task that’s often overlooked. We’ve seen many companies pick a brand name in a hurry…like it’s that last piece of the puzzle needed to get their product launched. This type of thinking costs them customers, and often, the need to rebrand down the road. It could cost your company too!
Failing to create a brand name that appeals to your audience means spending a lot more dollars than should have been needed. It makes your brand-building harder. It is not just more expensive, but it also will take longer. The importance of branding your business effectively and choosing the best brand name can’t be overstated.
In this ultimate guide to brand names, we will continue to explain why picking a great brand name is crucial for all new businesses. We want to explore the power of a brand name and how it can play a key role in the future growth of your company.
Let’s dive into all things branding? Let’s delve deeper into the many reasons why coming up with the best brand name is so important from the start:
Helps Your Product Appeal to Your Target Audience
You could develop the world’s very best product. Maybe that’s exactly what you have done. Unfortunately, unless your brand engages, differentiates and can be remembered, it’s unlikely to make much of an impact. Today, unless a company recognizes the importance of developing not just a product but a brand, it’s unlikely to be successful. Of course, you’re not going to make this mistake. That’s why you’re here and reading this blog post.
As consumers, we’re all bombarded with a huge number of marketing messages each day. Some of them resonate with us and others pass by relatively unnoticed. So, what’s the difference between the two? Well, the ones we notice are those that appeal to us as the target audience. Plain vanilla company names don’t do this. Generic, me-too names like most AI name generators come up with don’t do this either. The brand names that catch your eye are those crafted specifically for you. They have been developed to reach a specific target audience of potential customers.
This may mean you can use your business name as your brand name if you developed your business name for your target. Using your company name as a brand name is fine if it helps your business remain relevant to your target audience in a compelling and engaging way. Ask yourself, will your company name appeal to your target audience when compared to your competitors’ marketing campaigns? Will this brand name remain relevant as your business grows? Will your preferred customers want to be associated with this brand name?
Having a strong understanding of your target market and what appeals to them is essential. When designing your brand, especially your brand name, your potential customers should be front and center in your mind. Using your company name, if it is the right name, as your brand name helps you focus all of your branding effort. It will add power and value to your branding. This focus will increase its appeal to your customers. To market a product successfully, you need to think less about a name that suits your personal biases or desires, and more about brand names that will resonate with your prospective customers.
Differentiates Your Business from Its Competitors
We already mentioned differentiation, but it is the core principle of branding and what branding today typically has failed miserably at. Every business is challenged so much more than even a couple of years ago because of the sea of sameness created by AI.
Understanding how to set yourself apart has never been so critical. This is especially important for a new brand. To compete against other companies successfully, you need to create a strong brand. Choosing a brand name that helps your business stand out from the competition is mandatory!
Today, many companies will likely offer consumers the same or very similar products or services to what you provide. But with the right brand name, you can create a memorable impression of your company and command attention in the industry. And memorability is the key to differentiation. If they can’t remember your name, nothing else matters.
So, while your offering may be identical to your competitors, your branding decisions can really set your product or service apart.
Plays a Key Role in Your Brand Strategy
Marketing your business successfully requires strong branding. Developing a brand strategy is essential to market your products effectively and the first in successful branding. However, your branding efforts are unlikely to be effective if you don’t have a great brand name that fits your strategy.
All of the elements involved in your branding start with your brand name. The feelings and attitudes evoked by your brand name need to reflect and support your branding strategy.
Contributes to a Strong Brand Identity
A strong brand is more than just one thing. To be a good brand, you need a powerful brand identity. This is created by a range of different factors rather than a single element. When these factors combine effectively, a strong brand identity is formed.
Branding requires the following elements to effectively compete against established big brands. Even if you are fortunate enough not to face stiff competition initially, you’ll need to build a powerful brand identity to keep future competitors at bay.
Brand Story
As already mentioned, the main point of branding is to differentiate your business from competitors and drive growth in your target market. One essential element of branding is your brand’s story. Your brand story lends authenticity to your company. A brand story sets your business apart from all of those competitors. Your brand story should represent who you are, what you believe, your culture, and what is unique about you and your company. This story should reflect the driving force behind your business, why it came into being, and what it represents. Your brand story becomes the foundation of your company. It’s the reason you are doing this craziness in the first place!
Visual Identity
Creating a positive first impression for your business is essential if you’re to win new customers. This first impression is often created by your brand name but also the visual elements of your brand. After all, this is the aspect of your brand that gets seen on your YouTube channel or Instagram reel. The first step to creating a strong visual identity is often through your business logo, but could also be the look and feel of your TikTok page.
Every marketing professional now understands the importance of not just a logo, but all of the other visual elements. The color palette you choose, the graphics that dominate your video feed, the use of filters and other visual effects, and the choice of your brand name need to work in harmony. You need a strong brand name that evokes the same energy as your overall visual identity. This is essential when trying to appeal to your target audience and building your memorable, insanely great, most incredible and unique brand. Your brand. No one else’s!
Brand Values
To keep your audience engaged, your brand name needs to do more than just sound great and your visual identity needs to do more than just look great. Your branding needs to have substance, a reason for being. This is something you create through your brand’s values and reflect in your name choice.
Your company’s brand values can be the driving force behind what you do and how you do it. The way your business operates, how it treats its employees, its suppliers, and even the environment are all key components of your brand’s values. These all feed into your brand’s reputation and should be reflected in your brand name and in all you differentiate social media platforms.
Brand Names in Action
There’s no denying that most people like brands. The average person likes to feel a sense of connection with the products they buy. These consumers want to know what to expect from the products they purchase regularly. Choosing the same preferred brand brings consistency and the comfort of familiarity. But more than this, consumers want to be associated with brands that create meaning for them. Reputation is at play here; the brand and brand name needs to have a meaning that your audience can relate to. Plus, the appeal of being seen wearing, using, or engaging with a brand name needs to be strong enough to make your audience want to take action and buy your brand.
One brand that’s a shining example of effective branding is Coca-Cola. The combination of robust marketing techniques, a strong brand identity, and a catchy brand name has driven Coca-Cola to lasting dominance in the soft drinks market. The Coca-Cola brand name is recognizable throughout the world, giving it a global appeal. This soft drink has such valuable brand equity that even during challenging economic times, people are still willing to pay a premium to get ‘the real thing.’
Key Considerations When Choosing a Brand Name
So, we know that a brand name will form a crucial part of your service’s or product’s branding. But not all brand names are created equal. There’s so much to consider when you’re trying to pick the perfect brand name. And a mistake made during the naming process, like failing to secure trademark clearance or validating the name through market research with your target, could be disastrous for your products or services.
By the time you’re ready to name your brand, you’ve already done most of the hard work. Don’t let your blood, sweat and tears go to waste because of a bad brand name.
Here are some considerations to keep in mind when you’re creating your brand name:
- Does it fit your Brand Strategy?
- Is it true to your Brand Story and Brand Values?
- Will it work effectively in your brand communications?
- Does your brand name reflect your services and products in a positive, authentic way?
- Does it represent who you are?
- Are there other products in your industry that use the same or similar brand name?
- Does your brand name have a different meaning around the world? Could it sound like something offensive or confusing?
- Can your brand name be used as a domain name so that it can be easily found by your customers?
- What about SEO? How many hits pop up when you search on your brand name?
- Does your brand name work well on social media profiles and as social media handles?
- Will marketing your brand name be simple? Does it engage emotionally?
- Can potential customers write and pronounce your brand name easily?
The Importance of a Brand Name: Key Takeaways
Choosing a brand name is not simple or easy. There’s a host of elements at play when devising the best branding for your business. The right brand name requires a lot more effort than just picking your favorite idea from an AI name generator or an employee naming contest. Your brand is the embodiment of you: who you are, what you stand for, and of all your hard work. It deserves to be chosen carefully.
Here are some key takeaways to keep in mind:
- Start with your Brand Strategy, Brand Story and Brand Values first.
- Your brand name should appeal to your target audience and represent your brand in an authentic and engaging way.
- Perform trademark research and market research before picking your brand name.
- Your branding needs to differentiate your products from those of your competitors, and coupling a great brand name with a compelling visual identity will help accomplish this.
Getting professional help with your brand name will often save you a lot of angst, time and money down the road. While we may be biased, we feel working with a brand name consultant can be an invaluable resource. We leverage the latest technology as well as an incredible team of real human creatives. And we don’t charge an arm and a leg. We hope you decide to check us out. The perfect name for your brand can make a difference. In Steve Job’s words, we want you to be “insanely successful!”
“NameStormers’ team was a force to be reckoned with — they came up with creative names and took our brand strategies into full consideration. They simply came prepared with a thorough understanding of what we were looking for.” -Marketing Project Manager, Premium Paint Manufacturer