In May this year I gave a talk at the Great British Business Show held in London’s ExCel centre. The talk was called An Introduction To Brand Naming. It’s a short overview of the basics of naming, and highlights some of the issues you will need to consider when looking for a brand name. For those of you who missed it at the show, or if you wanted to see it again, here it is below. Or to…
Read more >I had a conversation at a recent pitch meeting that I think is worth expanding on and sharing. I was asked by a potential client what I felt were some of the most common things that can go wrong during a naming process, the effect that they can have and how to best guard against them. What was interesting was that he wanted to know what mistakes were made by the client themselves so that he could try to stop…
Read more >There are very different ideas about when you need to think about naming your new product. Some might have a name when the idea is but a twinkle in someone’s eye; others might have everything but the name to show to investors in a couple of weeks. Is there an ideal time to start considering names, and if so, when is it? It is important to allow enough time to obtain the right name. Naming is a surprisingly lengthy process:…
Read more >It is a rare pleasure that all of the Nomen branches get together at the same time but we were lucky enough to do just that recently at the group seminar. While there, we asked representatives of each branch what one tip they would give people to help with their naming process. This could be a specific attitude towards the naming or a behaviour to maintain to make your process smoother. Below are some of those thoughts: * Be Bold:…
Read more >One aspect of naming is one of the simplest, always seen, but, surprisingly, not often recognised. How often do we look at the shape of words, and at individual letters? One of my childhood games was to see how many words one could think of that could be formed by using sticks – using only the letters with straight sides, and no curves. A E F H I K L M N T V W X Y Z Words like…
Read more >It is vital that a new product captures the attention of the current generation and it is possible to do this instantaneously with the use of an effective brand name. Leading companies have observed the impact that an appropriately named product has on the market. With this in mind, they have decided to transform previous brand names with the era as they no longer suited the audience that they were aiming for. Various products can tell you about the generation…
Read more >In a world of rapid and frequent change, a brand name that evokes a track record of reliability and stability is a name that conveys a feeling of reassurance. It suggests a lineage of the shared experiences of generations of customers and that makes the purchase decision less of a shot in the dark. Lyle’s Golden Syrup, which bears the world’s oldest brand name, is a commodity by-product of sugar refining. It is literally what it says on the distinctive…
Read more >Would a rose smell as sweet if called by a different name? The Nomen UK creative team is an eclectic group of individuals with different talents, coming from all walks of life and of ages ranging from the young to the not-so-young. We have in common a passion: creating great brand names for whatever project comes our way. What’s in a word? Words are powerful tools and a knowledge and understanding of words is essential to our task. The word…
Read more >As consumers, it is not often we stop and think about the name of a product we are buying or the company we are buying from, especially in the case of familiar brands. On reflection, and particularly taking a name out of context, we might notice some strange choices. For example, have you noticed that Christian Dior’s perfume range called ‘Poison’ is not exactly an enticing name for a liquid product? And have you ever really thought about Richard Branson’s…
Read more >A brand can be considered as many things from several perspectives. A brand is a construction of customer sentiments. A brand is a value on a balance sheet. But a brand is not a legal entity unless it has trademark protection. If your name is not registered as a trademark, there may be a number of restrictions on how you can use it. For example, many people enjoy using a ‘gmail’ account. But, in certain European territories, you can only…
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