“The sweetest word in the brand universe is your brand’s name.” This obvious quote is from Bill Schley & Carl Nichols, Jr. in their unheralded book “Why Johnny Can’t Brand.”
Your name is the first and most powerful part of your brand. A great name can help you stand out in a crowded market. It can position you as a leader, convey your culture, even explain what you do in a word or two.
Conversely, a weak name can neutralize or even negate the work you do to build a brand and market position. A weak name is easily forgotten and can limit your opportunities in other markets if you plan to expand.
Consumer product companies understand this, and tie their brand names directly to their brand strategies. Most B2B companies take a more haphazard approach. Those that don’t put any effort into branding simply choose a name, charge forward and end up being “branded” by the market. Or worse yet, they’re simply ignored.
It’s a big undertaking to change your brand name. When is it worth it? Consider changing your name if you’re redefining or repositioning your brand. Here are three reasons to do it:
- Change to distance yourself from a negative event.
- Clarify a confusing or non-descript brand.
- Better represent an upgraded product/service that’s outgrown the existing brand.
Quantify the Costs
Did I mention that changing a brand name is a big undertaking? As with any business decision, it’s important to weigh the costs and benefits. Break down the costs into hard materials and the time and effort to replace them. These can run anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of dollars, depending on your company size.
Corporate Identity/Product Packaging Items
- Letterhead
- Business cards
- All printed materials
- All promotional items, signage and banners
Sales Literature and Tools
- Website
- Company brochure
- Product / service data sheets
- All presentation materials
- Product demos
- Folders
- Templates
Interactive Tools
- Email newsletter
- Electronic branding on other websites
- Company blog
Evaluate the Benefits
It’s straightforward (though not easy) to estimate the cost to change your brand name. The benefits aren’t so easy to quantify. Many of them are intangible and subjective. While this is pretty easy for a branding expert to pinpoint, most SMBs don’t have branding experts facilitating this decision-making process and are left fending for themselves.
Start by considering the following:
- How many years have you been using the existing name?
- Would a change alienate or confuse any existing customers?
- How much goodwill is built into your existing name?
- If you were to change your name, would you lose any revenue as a result? Estimate the dollar loss (if any) over a period of one year.
Now review your brand strategy. Is your name in sync with your brand? Does it reflect your brand promise? Carefully evaluate your position in the marketplace and your last 3-5 years of sales revenue. How well does the market respond to your exisiting brand? Are your revenues growing at the same rate as your competitors? Do your marketing programs produce large quantities of new leads? Or is it a battle just to keep your existing customers?
If you’ve significantly changed your product or are trying to distance yourself from a negative brand, this decision is easy. The tough decision comes when you’re attempting to jumpstart a weak brand. Many times, a weak name and indistinguishable brand cause the above problems. A fresh name and well thought-out brand strategy might open new avenues for growth that far outweigh even substantial rebranding costs.
If you doubt it, check out how many celebrities have changed their names to become more marketable:
- Vincent Damon Furnier to Alice Cooper
- Eleanora Fagan to Billie Holiday
- Demetria Gene Guynes to Demi Moore
- Ilynea Lydia Mironoff to Helen Mirren
- Eilleen Regina Edwards to Shania Twain
- Marion Michael Morrison to John Wayne
You’ve decided to chase your dream and form your own company. Congratulations! What’s the first item to tackle? For most entrepreneurs, task #1 is to select a company name to form the entity and become official.
It’s fun doodling logos and bouncing name ideas off of friends and family, looking for that name with the catchy story behind it. But be careful! While your name and story ideas might sound great during your initial emotional high, a quick decision could end up creating more long-term harm than good.
Most entrepreneurs choose their company name before they consider their competitive positioning, brand strategy, businesses growth potential or legal protection issues. We understand the urge to “name first and plan later.” It’s very natural. You can’t build a company with the name “To Be Determined.”
The key point to remember is that your company name represents your brand and creates your first impression with the marketplace. Most new entrepreneurs haven’t given careful thought to their brand, and find that a hastily-selected name often doesn’t fit down the road. It’s expensive, complicated and confusing to change a name after establishing a business. We’ve had many clients whose name hurt their ability to grow, but didn’t have the financial ability to change it. That’s a spot you don’t want to be in.
Here are 4 steps to take before you name a business:
1. Have your name represent your brand. Since your company name will deliver your first brand impression with your market, make sure that your name evokes your brand strategy. What promise should your name represent to your customers? If your brand was a person, what human personality traits would it convey? Match this to your list of potential names.
2. Evaluate the competition. Your competition should influence your naming strategy. Don’t make yourself look just like the other guys. Who will remember you? Stand out! List your competitors’ names, and see how you fit within the list.
3. Decide on your name type. Thinking about using your name for the company (John Smith & Associates)? That might work for an accounting firm, but it’s limiting to build a brand around you. Considering a creative name like Google? They’re easy to protect, but expensive to brand. Think about your market and marketing budget to decide whether you can afford to support a creative name. If not, try for one that evokes your brand promise.
4. Check for conflicts. Will your name sound too much like a competitor’s name? Could it conflict with another company a different industry? It’s important to consider this: Nothing’s worse than receiving a dreaded “cease and desist” letter a few years down the road for infringing on another company’s intellectual property. This can be expensive (best case) or fatal (worst case). Visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office site for more information. Consider using an attorney as well.
Now that you’ve considered the serious aspects to name a business, go ahead with the fun stuff–the brainstorming!
If you’re in the process of naming your company or a new product or service, you’re going to invest a lot in that name. You’ll spend tangible dollars on brochures, signs, marketing collateral and stationery; there are also intangible costs like name recognition, brand equity & goodwill.
Before you finalize your name, make sure you can protect it. Even if you’re a small business, you don’t want to risk having to change your name if you’ve infringed on someone’s trademark. Copycats can also erode your brand and investment.
1. Determine the scope of your search. Looking ahead a few years, will you be competing on a local basis? Statewide? Regional? National? International? The more markets you enter, the more protection research you should complete.
2. Check URL availability. Using your web brower, type in the URL for your desired name and any variations you can think of. Also check each major ending (.com, .net, .org, biz). It’s a speedy way to find other companies with exact or similar names. List all of the companies you find and make a note of their industry and location – if they’re in a similar business, you have a conflict. Plus you’ll discover whether there’s a reasonable URL available.
3. Use the major search engines to find other companies with similar names. Again, you can find potential conflicts very quickly. Review the companies you find and note their locations and industries – once again, if they have your name and are in a similar business, you have a conflict.
4. Check your state’s Corporation Commission or Secretary of State for name availability. Many states won’t allow similar names for companies in similar industries. If you don’t plan to compete outside of your state and your state grants your name, you’re likely safe and can end your conflict search here.
5. Check the U.S. Patent and Trade Office website. You can search for similar trademarks and/or service marks. If you find a mark for your name and it’s in a similar industry, move to another name.
6. Have your attorney run a complete name search. It will outline every company using your selected name with both common law and federally-registered protection.
7. If you’re going international, check those markets as well. Did you know that Budweiser can’t use its name in parts of Europe because of Budweis beer? Check your name now before you invest in it domestically. Also, make sure your name doesn’t translate into something negative or offensive in other languages. That’s a quick way to build negative brand equity.
While this step can be time consuming and cost upwards of thousands of dollars (for legal work), it’s better to be safe than sorry with something this important.
We’ve written a few other related posts that may help: How to blend in and How to get feedback on a name.
Questions or suggestions on the naming process? Feel free to contact us or add a comment below.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=573efcf4-856b-4d8b-a59f-f8391c87d80b)
