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Perhaps it goes without saying, but brand naming is important. A name is the public’s introduction to your brand; it’s the first word in its story. Although a name can’t do everything,it is your company’s first and fastest chance to communicate one or two vital messages about your products and purpose.
With all this on the line, naming can too often be a frustrating process for clients. This is particularly true in those unfortunate cases in which multiple rounds of name generation produce few viable options. When this happens, and time and costs are piling up, naming can seem like an arcane, if not impossible, task.
We’ve found that the best way to avoid this scenario is to ensure alignment between the agency and the client from the outset. When everyone isn’t speaking the same language or considering the same metrics, it can take a few rounds of reactions and feedback before things start to click. When the client is empowered to articulate what they want and need, results can be achieved much more quickly.
One way to do this is with a naming territories workshop. We use a tool that breaks down something esoteric (naming) into smaller parts with which it’s easy to engage. After working with our clients to determine the core message they want their name to communicate, we talk them through the heuristic pictured below.
The grid plots two common dimensions on which brand strategists sort names:
- The approach spectrum describes what a name evokes: Should it describe what the business does, like Bank of America, or can it be an abstract concept or feeling, like Apple? Somewhere in between?
- The construct spectrum describes how the name is actually composed: Is it a real word or something invented? How “weird” can the name get?