We know the process of naming your brand is not to be taken lightly, because your brand may outlive you with hundreds of years, and so it is a process that should be accorded attention and expertise. If you have ever spent weeks or months finding a brand name with 100 names flying through your mind but can’t settle on one, then this is for you. We commit to working with you to come up with perfect names for your brands and products at all times. We break down this process into three segments before, during and after naming the brand as discussed below.

Before naming

  1. Must have a vision and mission

In a previous post where we discussed the difference between vision and mission, we agreed that vision describes the end result, while mission describes how to get to the end result. It is important that even before getting a brand name, one understands the core reason why they are in business, that is, what they intend to achieve and what they will or will not do in order to get there. It is countless times more important to spend time and money on figuring out the vision and mission of a brand than it is on figuring out its name. The vision and the mission are what keep the brand steady when the storms rise, and are the foundation of every sound brand, so it is absolutely important to start the branding process by understanding what the vision and the mission of the brand are.

  1. Define your brand personality

Brand personality is defined as a set of human characteristics that are associated with a business. It is important to decide how the brand will be known and what it will be known for before embarking on selecting a name. Some of the characteristics may include timeliness, innovation, integrity, and compassion among others. While naming one of our real estate client’s brand, the client explained that the personality traits they wished to create included resilience, courage, dependability, integrity and energy. The client also wished that his and his wife’s name would feature in the name. During the ensuing conversation, we not only managed to merge the names, but also produced a name of an animal with all the characteristics the client intended for their brand personality, hence the name MaRe Properties.

  1. Define the scope of your service

The scope of service helps you refine your brand name even further because you can always include the particular service(s) you offer in the brand name. For example, one of my good friends and the only periodontist I personally happen to know runs a successful brand named The Periodontist Dental Centre. This is a perfect example of how the scope of service can be included in a brand name. Many times, mentioning your service in your brand name makes it easier for clients to find you, especially new clients who search for service providers within your industry on digital platforms using keywords found in your brand name. This can further down the line be an additional competitive edge, especially when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO) in later marketing stages.

  1. Define your clientele

When naming your brand, one of the most important things to remember is that while the company is yours, it actually belongs to your clientele. Therefore, the name that you choose for your brand should have your clientele in mind. Try and think about what your clients would like to identify with, and curate your name around that thinking. Some names may be offensive to some cultures, genders, social-economic classes and religious groups among others, yet they could be acceptable in some. For example, if you are targeting a high-end market and you choose a slang phrase for your brand name, chances are, you may end up offending your market and subconsciously cultivating a negative perception about your brand. So you must  clearly understand who you are naming your brand for, that is, your clientele, in order to resonate with them.

During naming

  1. Hire an external consultant if you can

We cannot emphasize enough on the importance of seeking professional guidance from a third party who has no vested hideous interests in your success. We have often found that seeking guidance from external contributors helps to improve the quality of output in almost any activity because external parties can often see the biases that remain hidden internally. External consultants help to fast-track the process of naming your brand, because they have vast experience in what constitutes a good or bad brand name.

  1. Keep it simple

One of our biggest successes lies in keeping things simple. While in the past complicated brand names and visuals were the order of the day, the equation is quickly changing to simple naming and visuals. Many brands have even taken the path of naming brands and products after common English names, with one or two words or even syllables. You do not have to think out of this world to come up with an exciting brand name. Your brand name could be a word you use everyday, a combination of two words right before your eyes or even the first word you find when you open your dictionary. Just remember, the simpler the better. Simple in pronunciation, and even  in meaning.

  1. Use online naming tools to expand your list

With the advent of the internet, there are many online tools that can help edge closer to getting a perfect brand name. Such can be accessed all over the internet by searching using keywords such as ‘brand naming websites.’ This also provides an additional layer of brainstorming that can help come up with the perfect name for your brand.

8. Check the availability of the shortlisted names

One of the most frustrating experiences while naming a brand is to find that you cannot find the perfect digital representation, particularly when you find that there is another brand using similar naming. The challenge with this is that if your digital presence based on your brand name is not unique, you may suffer from direct or indirect competition and lose clients to your competitors in the confusion. Before settling on a brand name, it is important to conduct due diligence by checking the availability of domain names associated with the preferred names, and even whether there are other companies using such names on their socials. It is important to conduct a search with your local government as well, to check whether the name is actually available because you could find that there is a brand with a similar naming but which has no digital presence at the time of your online search.

After naming

  1. Test your name

In the final steps, it is important to conduct a research on the impact of your name using survey tools such as google forms and survey monkey or even other ad hoc forms such as calling a few friends and family to seek feedback. This can help you determine whether the name actually communicates what you wanted it to, and even get objective and thorough feedback that sometimes may be against your expectations, but beneficial to your coming up with a perfect brand name.

  1. Refine if you must

No matter how much attached you can be to a brand name, remember as we mentioned earlier, your brand belongs to your market, and if there is need to change your brand name or a segment of it, in order to resonate with your market, you better do it now before you invest time and money in creating your brand. The worst mistake you could make would be to spend time and money on a brand name and then have to change it later, and spend yet another round of time and money while still causing confusion.

We hope you have come out of this guide better prepared to begin the process of coming up with exciting brand and product names. In case you need professional assistance, our branding experts are a phone call away, and always ready to delight you by helping create a brand that will succeed. See what our clients say about us.

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