Whether you’re a new business that’s just starting out, or an existing business in need of a refresh or a change in direction, it comes down to one thing, “you’re a brand.” Your brand has a personality, a purpose, and a unique identity. One that establishes and distinguishes you from your competitors. And your brand name could make all the difference in the success of your business.
With that in mind, let us begin by emphasizing that this is a very serious process. It is not about randomly selecting a word by flipping through pages in a dictionary. Nor is it visiting an online name randomizer. Either of these approaches will most likely result in failure. To ensure you get the most out of our process, we divide your search for a name into phases.
Once we’re tasked with generating a name, we begin by learning as much as possible about your product, service or company. Given the depth of our search, this specific phase can include us asking upwards of 100 questions.
This phase is all about defining our target audience in extensive detail. We gather as many facts and details as possible. The result culminates in building several possible buyer personas or characterizations. These include demographic, geographic, psychographic, and behavioral segmentations, among other characteristics.
Phase three entails competitor research. The details we gather here matter as much as in any other phase. We closely examine our competitors’ activities in terms of their audience definitions and targeting, as well as, their forms of communication, which will include paid, earned, and social media. In addition, we’ll also examine a competitor’s customer reviews.
Once we’ve completed the first three phases, we create a brief for the team to serve as a direction, and then we began generating names. This might include as many as three to four hundred options for internal consideration, any debates, as well as culling the list. Once the list is trimmed to no more than ten percent of the original, we send it to the client's intellectual property attorney or one of our partner I.P. firms for USPTO use clearing.
Once the previous phase is complete and our list finalized, we internally run each name option through our proprietary scoring sheet with a small group of people who fit within the defined target audience. This process allows the client to see how each option ranks against the others.
The final test before presenting our options to the client, which might include an additional narrowing of the list, asks three very important questions:
1. Is it UNIQUE to the client, product, or service?
2. Is it OWNABLE by the client within its segment or vertical?
3. Is it RELEVANT to the industry category or audience?
We present the final option or options to the client. Choose one for use. And get to work.
The above should be considered the Cliff's Notes version, a small taste, or abbreviated description of what we do to create a great name for a great partner. Give us a ring (423 634-0123) and we'll be happy to do the same for you.
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