What's In A Name: The BrandClarity Blog

Corporate America devotes much time and resources to product naming and company names.

The right brand name is big business, and can translate to increased revenues for companies that depend on conveying a clear message to consumers and business clients.

At it’s very best, a corporate or brand name creates its own buzz, with the name driving product demand.

The traditional methods are little more than organized brainstorming. A group of creative marketing managers and consultants sit in a meeting room with white boards, and scribble whatever comes into their heads. Then they vote on the top names that seem to make the most sense. A list of finalist names is submitted to company executives to choose the top one or two. The top one or two names are run through legal to identify any legal issues and see if anyone else is using it.

While this is the popular approach in corporate America, there are some basic problems with the traditional model of branding.

1. Will customers “get it”?
   
2. Does the name convey the same message to customers as it did to the company?
   
3. How does the name translate to other cultures?
   
4. How does the name translate to other languages and countries?

There’s got to be a better way. BrandClarity believes there are more effective ways to address these issues:

1. Will customers “Get it”? BrandClarity mixes the art of name selection with the science of market research. BrandClarity uses focus groups at multiple stages of verbal brand development to identify market insights into a brand name. BrandClarity’s MarketVise service polls potential customers to give feedback on brand names, assuring that a chosen name conveys the same meaning to consumers and clients as it does to company management.
   
   
2. Does the name convey the same message to customers as it did to the company? BrandClarity delivers legally viable, focus group researched, linguistically fitting names which match our client’s intended positioning. Our behavioral research enables clients to gain deep insight into consumer motivations.
   
   
3. How does the name translate to other cultures? BrandClarity’s market research extends to cultural name research, polling customers from specific cultural groups, to ascertain that the client’s intended verbal branding message is clear to consumers of different backgrounds.
   
   
4. How does the name translate to other languages and countries? Today’s brands aren’t just local to America – many of today’s brands speak to an international audience. BrandClarity has international teams with multiple language expertise, to conduct naming market research in many different international markets, in many different languages. For example, considering all the countries that use different dialects of Spanish, BrandClarity's expertise can assure a consistent brand message is delivered in America, Spain, Mexico, and Argentina. International and multi-language market research can help companies avoid naming disasters (Ex: branding their next automobile Nova, without realizing the name means “doesn’t go” in Spanish).

Since 1995 BrandClarity has specialized in shopper insights and strategic brand development. Our expertise is focused on specific core elements of building strong brands: target market research, verbal branding and visual branding. Today’s rapidly changing business environment requires that companies keep their finger firmly planted on the pulse of the market. As an international brand consulting firm, BrandClarity focuses on the principle that your target market controls your brand.