Why is it that Coke can market all kinds of mutated varieties such as Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, Diet Vanilla Cherry Coke, etc., and consumers literally drink it up? But when Mercedes came out with a low end version of their car, the "real" Mercedes owners were horrified? To discover the answer requires identifying a company's "pivot point." The pivot point of your brand is that inherent promise you have made, (wittingly or unwittingly), with your customers. And while you can move your brand in any number of directions, that one pivot piont, that key element of trust, must remain steadfastly in place. Want proof? Ask yourself, hypothetically, which of the following would be more accepted in the marketplace...
• Rolex announcing that it was coming out with a very high end clothing line?
• Rolex announcing that is was going to sell a $10 version of its watches at Wal- Mart?
Rationally it would make more sense that Rolex would extend itself further in the watch category. But Rolex really isn't in the watch business, it's in the prestige business. That's the pivot point, or position, it owns in the customer's mind. To create a cheap, widely available watch would seem more like a betrayal than a brand extension. It's obvious once you really think about it, but how many times do companies believe they are in the business of the product they make?
Since I've positioned Tungsten Marketing as a source for brilliant branding, it would be more acceptable if I next offered brilliant public relations vs. a bottom-of-the- pile discount naming warehouse. If I were to do that, I would need to create a whole new brand or identity so as not to cloud my current positioning... one of providing clarity and brilliance.
A client of mine was at a loss on how to grow his tuxedo business. It was post 9-11 and the mood was anything but festive. When I asked him what business he was in, he was flabbergasted, "Tuxedos of course!". In fact he was the second generation of tuxedo sellers. But then I prodded him again. "Do men really want to wear heavy, tight-fitting, expensive tuxedos?" He thought for a moment and finally replied no. As he sat confused, I asked him again, "What business are you really in... what do that makes customers love you?" His eyes widened and he replied "We make men look good!"
He had discovered his "pivot point".
Making men look good brought with it all kinds of new possibilities. He could gather his customer's email addresses while they shopped for tuxedos, and then send them thoughtful reminders before loved ones birthdays and anniversaries, with recommendations on the perfect jewelry, flowers or chocolates. He could make a commission on these products all while making his male customers "look good". He could extend his product line to include business suits, since he would no longer be just a "tuxedo" shop, but a place where men could come to look good in the eyes of others. See how important that subtle distinction can be? Instead of being stuck in a dead end industry, the world was suddenly full of possibilities. That's powerful stuff.
So in looking at your business, what is your pivot point? What is it about your business that makes your core customers love it, use it, and spread the word about it? It's probably not the goods themselves but the way in which you deliver them. And that's what customers are truly buying. That's your pivot point. Find it and you can move your business in entirely new, and profitable, directions!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Need a Company Name? Get a Little Help from Your Friends!
Ok... I have to admit. I get several requests each month from folks who just can't afford a naming/branding service. And a lot of these are good, hardworking people with great ideas and very little cash. So what if we all chip in and make suggestions. Add a request in the comment box and let's have everyone take a crack at it. No guarantees, no trademark searches, domain name searches... just raw ideas. The "namee" will have to do their own due diligence. But this can be fun. So if you're looking for a name, just post here and let's see what we can drum up. If you ever hit it big with one of these names, donate a portion of your proceeds to ending world hunger or cell phone use while driving.
Like Nike says... "Just Do It!"
PD
Like Nike says... "Just Do It!"
PD
Friday, December 30, 2005
Tips for Creating Brilliant Business Names
Imagine if Yahoo! had been named TheInternetDirectoy. Or StarBucks was christened “Premier Coffees”. The names would be far more descriptive than their current ones. But they wouldn’t embody the essence or spirit of the companies they represent. Even if they offered the exact same goods and services, it’s unlikely Yahoo! or StarBucks would enjoy the same market share they now possess if given the more descriptive, and arguably accurate, names.
Now why is that?
In short, great brand names leverage our emotions. They resonate with the experiential right side of the brain vs. the logical left lobe. And emotions carry more motivational “charge” than logic. People buy emotionally and then justify rationally. And because great brand names create mental “pictures” they equate to a proverbial thousand descriptive words. They are the zipped files, the condensed soup, the computer macros, that all expand and unfold in our minds every time they are seen or heard.
Creating emotionally charged names requires knowledge, expertise and a knack for wording. The first place to find positively charged names is in the words themselves. Words have equity and that equity can be transferred into a company or product name. For example, a company that wanted their customers to see their products and services as fresh, new and exciting borrowed the emotional charge associated with the word “virgin”. That’s how we have Virgin Airlines and Virgin Records. A computer company demonstrated its fresh, friendly approach to the industry with the consumable name Apple. A campy clothing company exuded adventure with its name Banana Republic. An online job board wanted to impress employers and job seekers with its massive listings… hence Monster. And need I mention Amazon? Borrowing on the attributes intrinsic to a word or phrase is a natural way to instantly instill emotion in a brand name.
But with more and more dictionary words being used, hoarded and trademarked, what’s a company to do? Another way is to simply put familiar positive words into unique combinations. Witness our previous example of StarBucks. What’s brighter than a star or has more mass appeal than money? Does it say coffee? No, but it sounds more appealing than “The Coffee Corral”. And more importantly, company names rarely exist in a vacuum. They are on a sign above the store, or on a proposal or on a business card being handed over by a salesperson. There is contextual support that helps fill in the blank so the name doesn’t have to do all the literal, descriptive explaining. That’s where a lot of companies err. They make the name explain their category rather than evoke their benefits.
Yet another way of accomplishing this task is by creating a word that sounds “ish”. When I say “ish” I mean it sounds like it matches the company or product- even if it doesn’t make sense. An example you ask? But of course. My favorite is Viagra. It has the “V” of vigor and vitality, plus the “iagra” of Niagra. While not an existing word, it plays on existing, familiar parts and patterns of speech that create a natural flow to the name. Hence the name Viagra is, in my book, “ish”. It fits the product and the category. Cialis doesn’t. Which means Cialis will have to buy the emotional bond with lots of emotion-rich (and expensive) advertising. It can be done, but it will cost. A whole lot.
Borrowing existing word equity, creating unique combinations and inventing “ish” words. Just three of the ways to develop a great brand name. Try each of these techniques and if you can't come up with a name, ask a really good Scrabble player!
Now why is that?
In short, great brand names leverage our emotions. They resonate with the experiential right side of the brain vs. the logical left lobe. And emotions carry more motivational “charge” than logic. People buy emotionally and then justify rationally. And because great brand names create mental “pictures” they equate to a proverbial thousand descriptive words. They are the zipped files, the condensed soup, the computer macros, that all expand and unfold in our minds every time they are seen or heard.
Creating emotionally charged names requires knowledge, expertise and a knack for wording. The first place to find positively charged names is in the words themselves. Words have equity and that equity can be transferred into a company or product name. For example, a company that wanted their customers to see their products and services as fresh, new and exciting borrowed the emotional charge associated with the word “virgin”. That’s how we have Virgin Airlines and Virgin Records. A computer company demonstrated its fresh, friendly approach to the industry with the consumable name Apple. A campy clothing company exuded adventure with its name Banana Republic. An online job board wanted to impress employers and job seekers with its massive listings… hence Monster. And need I mention Amazon? Borrowing on the attributes intrinsic to a word or phrase is a natural way to instantly instill emotion in a brand name.
But with more and more dictionary words being used, hoarded and trademarked, what’s a company to do? Another way is to simply put familiar positive words into unique combinations. Witness our previous example of StarBucks. What’s brighter than a star or has more mass appeal than money? Does it say coffee? No, but it sounds more appealing than “The Coffee Corral”. And more importantly, company names rarely exist in a vacuum. They are on a sign above the store, or on a proposal or on a business card being handed over by a salesperson. There is contextual support that helps fill in the blank so the name doesn’t have to do all the literal, descriptive explaining. That’s where a lot of companies err. They make the name explain their category rather than evoke their benefits.
Yet another way of accomplishing this task is by creating a word that sounds “ish”. When I say “ish” I mean it sounds like it matches the company or product- even if it doesn’t make sense. An example you ask? But of course. My favorite is Viagra. It has the “V” of vigor and vitality, plus the “iagra” of Niagra. While not an existing word, it plays on existing, familiar parts and patterns of speech that create a natural flow to the name. Hence the name Viagra is, in my book, “ish”. It fits the product and the category. Cialis doesn’t. Which means Cialis will have to buy the emotional bond with lots of emotion-rich (and expensive) advertising. It can be done, but it will cost. A whole lot.
Borrowing existing word equity, creating unique combinations and inventing “ish” words. Just three of the ways to develop a great brand name. Try each of these techniques and if you can't come up with a name, ask a really good Scrabble player!
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Eight Mistakes to Avoid When Naming a New Business
Since naming is my game, I thought I'd share a few thoughts, ideas, ruminations about the naming and branding business. Here is an article I wrote about common mistakes made when naming a new business, which was featured in AOL.com's Small Business earlier this year. Since January is a time when many companies start thinking about naming or re-naming their businesses and products, this might prove helpful for those pondering the naming game.
Eight Business Naming Blunders to Avoid
Naming a business is a lot like laying the cornerstone of a building. Once it's in place, the entire foundation and structure is aligned to that original stone. If it's off, even just a bit, the rest of the building is off, and the misalignment becomes amplified. So if you have that gnawing sense that choosing a name for your new business is vitally important, you're right. With 18 years experience in the naming and branding business, I've witnessed the good, the bad and the really bad. To help you get off to a good start, read on to discover the top 8 mistakes I've found people make when it comes to choosing a name for their business:
Mistake #1: Getting the "committee" involved in your decision. We live in a democratic society, and it seems like the right thing to do--to involve everyone (your friends, family, employees and clients) in an important decision. This approach, however, presents a few problems. The first and most obvious fact is that you'll end up choosing only one name, so you risk alienating the very people you're trying to involve. Second, you often end up with a consensus decision, which results in a very safe, very vanilla name. A better method is to involve only the key decision-makers--the fewer the better--and select only the people you feel have the company's best interests at heart. The need for personal recognition can skew results, so you'll be best served by those who can park their egos at the door. Also make sure you have some right-brain types in the mix. Get too many left brains on board, and your name will most likely end up too literal and descriptive.
Mistake #2: Employing the "train wreck" method of creating a name. When forced to come up with a catchy name, many aspiring entrepreneurs simply take part of an adjective and weld it onto a noun, essentially colliding the two words head on to create a new word. The results are names that have a certain twisted rationale to them, but look and sound awful. Someone starting a high-end, service franchise becomes QualiServe. Someone starting a classy day spa becomes TranquiSpa. It's a bit like mixing chocolate syrup with ketchup--there's nothing wrong with either ingredient, but they just don't go together. Other common truncations include Ameri, Tech, Corp and Tron. The problem with this approach is that it's simply forced--and it sounds that way.
Mistake #3: Using words so plain they'll never stand out in a crowd. The first company in a category can get away with this one. Hence you have General Motors, General Electric and so on. But once you have competition, it requires differentiation. Imagine if Yahoo! had come out as GeneralInternetDirectory.com? The name would be much more descriptive but hardly memorable. And with the onslaught of new media and advertising channels, it's more important than ever to carve out your niche by displaying your uniqueness. Nothing does that better than a well conceived name.
Mistake #4: Taking the atlas approach and using a map to name your company. In the zeal to start a new company, many businesses choose to use their city, state or region as part of their company name. While this may actually help in the beginning, it often becomes a hindrance as a company grows. One client came to me with complaints that he was serving more of the market than his name implied. He had aptly called his business St. Pete Plumbing since he hailed from St. Petersburg, Florida. But Yellow Page shoppers assumed that was also his entire service area. With a little creative tinkering, we changed the image of St. Pete from a city to St. Peter himself, complete with wings and a plumber's wrench. The new tagline? "We work miracles!"
Many other companies have struggled with the same issue. Minnesota Manufacturing and Mining was growing beyond their industry and their state. To avoid limiting their growth, they became 3M, a company now known for innovation. Kentucky Fried Chicken is now KFC, de-emphasizing the regional nature of the original name. Both of these companies made strategic moves to avoid stifling their growth. Learn from them, and you can avoid this potential bottleneck from the beginning.
Mistake #5: Turning your name into a cliché. Once past the literal, descriptive word choices, your thought process will most likely turn to metaphors. These can be great if they're not overly used to the point of being trite. For example, since many companies think of themselves as the top in their industry, the world is full of names like Summit, Apex, Pinnacle, Peak and so on. While there's nothing inherently wrong with these names, they're overworked. Instead, look for combinations of positive words and metaphors, and you'll be much better served. A good example is the data storage company Iron Mountain, a name that conveys strength and security without sounding commonplace.
Mistake #6: Making your business name so obscure, customers will never know what it means. It's great for a name to have a special meaning or significance--it's sets up a story that can be used to tell the company message. But if the reference is too obscure or too hard to spell and pronounce, you may never have the opportunity to speak to that customer because they'll simply pass you by as irrelevant.
So resist the urge to name your company after the mythical Greek god of fast service or the Latin phrase for "We're number one!" If a name has a natural, intuitive sound and a special meaning, it can work. If it's too complex and puzzling, it will remain a mystery to your customers. This is especially true if you're reaching out to a mass audience.
I pushed the envelope a little on this one myself, naming my branding firm Tungsten after the metal that Thomas Edison used to create light. But because my clients consist of knowledgeable professionals who appreciate a good metaphor and expect a branding firm to have a story behind its name, I knew it would work. It's also a way to differentiate my services--illuminated, bright, and brilliant. But while something different might work for a branding firm, it wouldn't work as well for more common businesses, like an ice cream parlor or an auto body shop.
Mistake #7: Taking the Campbell's soup approach to selecting a name. Driven by the need for a matching domain name, many companies have resorted to awkwardly constructed or purposefully misspelled names. The results are company names that sound more like prescription drugs than real life businesses. Mistake #2 sometimes gets combined with this one and results in a name like KwaliTronix. It's amazing how good some names begin to sound after searching for available domain names all night. But resist the urge. Avoid using a "K" in place of a "Q" or a "Ph" in place of an "F". This makes spelling the name--and locating you on the internet--all that much harder.
And it's not that coined or invented names can't work--they often do. Take, for example, Xerox or Kodak. But keep it mind that names like these have no intrinsic or linguistic meaning, so they rely heavily on advertising to convey their meaning--and that gets expensive. Many of the companies that successfully use this approach were either first in their category or have large marketing budgets. Verizon, for instance, spent millions on their rebranding effort. So did Accenture. So check your pocketbook before you check into these types of names.
Mistake #8: Choosing the wrong name and then refusing to change it. Many business owners know they have a problem with their name and just hope it will somehow magically resolve itself. The original company name of one of my clients, for instance, was "Portables", which reminded some people of port-a-potties or portable classrooms--neither was accurate nor something the business owner wanted to be associated with. This added to the confusion when sales reps tried to explain their new concept of moving and storage. After some careful tweaking, we came up with the name PODS, an acronym for Portable On Demand Storage. The rest is quickly becoming history as they expand both nationally and internationally.
Mike Harper of Huntington Beach, California, bought a 30-year old janitorial and building maintenance company named Regency. We both agreed it sounded more like a downtown movie theatre than a progressive facilities management firm. After a thorough naming search, we developed the name Spruce Facilities Management. Spruce not only conveyed the environmentally friendly image of a spruce tree, something important to the client, it also meant "to clean up." The new tagline fell right in place: Spruce..."The Everclean Company."
It's only a matter of time before Southwest Airlines, Burlington Coat Factory and others who have successfully outgrown their original markets begin to question their positioning. Much like 3M and KFC, they may need to make a change to keep pace with their growth and image.
In the fever to start your new business or expand a current one, take time to think through some of these issues. By tapping into your creativity and avoiding these potential pitfalls, you'll be able to create a name that works for both the short and long term. Like the original cornerstone of a building, it will support upward expansion as your company reaches new heights.
Eight Business Naming Blunders to Avoid
Naming a business is a lot like laying the cornerstone of a building. Once it's in place, the entire foundation and structure is aligned to that original stone. If it's off, even just a bit, the rest of the building is off, and the misalignment becomes amplified. So if you have that gnawing sense that choosing a name for your new business is vitally important, you're right. With 18 years experience in the naming and branding business, I've witnessed the good, the bad and the really bad. To help you get off to a good start, read on to discover the top 8 mistakes I've found people make when it comes to choosing a name for their business:
Mistake #1: Getting the "committee" involved in your decision. We live in a democratic society, and it seems like the right thing to do--to involve everyone (your friends, family, employees and clients) in an important decision. This approach, however, presents a few problems. The first and most obvious fact is that you'll end up choosing only one name, so you risk alienating the very people you're trying to involve. Second, you often end up with a consensus decision, which results in a very safe, very vanilla name. A better method is to involve only the key decision-makers--the fewer the better--and select only the people you feel have the company's best interests at heart. The need for personal recognition can skew results, so you'll be best served by those who can park their egos at the door. Also make sure you have some right-brain types in the mix. Get too many left brains on board, and your name will most likely end up too literal and descriptive.
Mistake #2: Employing the "train wreck" method of creating a name. When forced to come up with a catchy name, many aspiring entrepreneurs simply take part of an adjective and weld it onto a noun, essentially colliding the two words head on to create a new word. The results are names that have a certain twisted rationale to them, but look and sound awful. Someone starting a high-end, service franchise becomes QualiServe. Someone starting a classy day spa becomes TranquiSpa. It's a bit like mixing chocolate syrup with ketchup--there's nothing wrong with either ingredient, but they just don't go together. Other common truncations include Ameri, Tech, Corp and Tron. The problem with this approach is that it's simply forced--and it sounds that way.
Mistake #3: Using words so plain they'll never stand out in a crowd. The first company in a category can get away with this one. Hence you have General Motors, General Electric and so on. But once you have competition, it requires differentiation. Imagine if Yahoo! had come out as GeneralInternetDirectory.com? The name would be much more descriptive but hardly memorable. And with the onslaught of new media and advertising channels, it's more important than ever to carve out your niche by displaying your uniqueness. Nothing does that better than a well conceived name.
Mistake #4: Taking the atlas approach and using a map to name your company. In the zeal to start a new company, many businesses choose to use their city, state or region as part of their company name. While this may actually help in the beginning, it often becomes a hindrance as a company grows. One client came to me with complaints that he was serving more of the market than his name implied. He had aptly called his business St. Pete Plumbing since he hailed from St. Petersburg, Florida. But Yellow Page shoppers assumed that was also his entire service area. With a little creative tinkering, we changed the image of St. Pete from a city to St. Peter himself, complete with wings and a plumber's wrench. The new tagline? "We work miracles!"
Many other companies have struggled with the same issue. Minnesota Manufacturing and Mining was growing beyond their industry and their state. To avoid limiting their growth, they became 3M, a company now known for innovation. Kentucky Fried Chicken is now KFC, de-emphasizing the regional nature of the original name. Both of these companies made strategic moves to avoid stifling their growth. Learn from them, and you can avoid this potential bottleneck from the beginning.
Mistake #5: Turning your name into a cliché. Once past the literal, descriptive word choices, your thought process will most likely turn to metaphors. These can be great if they're not overly used to the point of being trite. For example, since many companies think of themselves as the top in their industry, the world is full of names like Summit, Apex, Pinnacle, Peak and so on. While there's nothing inherently wrong with these names, they're overworked. Instead, look for combinations of positive words and metaphors, and you'll be much better served. A good example is the data storage company Iron Mountain, a name that conveys strength and security without sounding commonplace.
Mistake #6: Making your business name so obscure, customers will never know what it means. It's great for a name to have a special meaning or significance--it's sets up a story that can be used to tell the company message. But if the reference is too obscure or too hard to spell and pronounce, you may never have the opportunity to speak to that customer because they'll simply pass you by as irrelevant.
So resist the urge to name your company after the mythical Greek god of fast service or the Latin phrase for "We're number one!" If a name has a natural, intuitive sound and a special meaning, it can work. If it's too complex and puzzling, it will remain a mystery to your customers. This is especially true if you're reaching out to a mass audience.
I pushed the envelope a little on this one myself, naming my branding firm Tungsten after the metal that Thomas Edison used to create light. But because my clients consist of knowledgeable professionals who appreciate a good metaphor and expect a branding firm to have a story behind its name, I knew it would work. It's also a way to differentiate my services--illuminated, bright, and brilliant. But while something different might work for a branding firm, it wouldn't work as well for more common businesses, like an ice cream parlor or an auto body shop.
Mistake #7: Taking the Campbell's soup approach to selecting a name. Driven by the need for a matching domain name, many companies have resorted to awkwardly constructed or purposefully misspelled names. The results are company names that sound more like prescription drugs than real life businesses. Mistake #2 sometimes gets combined with this one and results in a name like KwaliTronix. It's amazing how good some names begin to sound after searching for available domain names all night. But resist the urge. Avoid using a "K" in place of a "Q" or a "Ph" in place of an "F". This makes spelling the name--and locating you on the internet--all that much harder.
And it's not that coined or invented names can't work--they often do. Take, for example, Xerox or Kodak. But keep it mind that names like these have no intrinsic or linguistic meaning, so they rely heavily on advertising to convey their meaning--and that gets expensive. Many of the companies that successfully use this approach were either first in their category or have large marketing budgets. Verizon, for instance, spent millions on their rebranding effort. So did Accenture. So check your pocketbook before you check into these types of names.
Mistake #8: Choosing the wrong name and then refusing to change it. Many business owners know they have a problem with their name and just hope it will somehow magically resolve itself. The original company name of one of my clients, for instance, was "Portables", which reminded some people of port-a-potties or portable classrooms--neither was accurate nor something the business owner wanted to be associated with. This added to the confusion when sales reps tried to explain their new concept of moving and storage. After some careful tweaking, we came up with the name PODS, an acronym for Portable On Demand Storage. The rest is quickly becoming history as they expand both nationally and internationally.
Mike Harper of Huntington Beach, California, bought a 30-year old janitorial and building maintenance company named Regency. We both agreed it sounded more like a downtown movie theatre than a progressive facilities management firm. After a thorough naming search, we developed the name Spruce Facilities Management. Spruce not only conveyed the environmentally friendly image of a spruce tree, something important to the client, it also meant "to clean up." The new tagline fell right in place: Spruce..."The Everclean Company."
It's only a matter of time before Southwest Airlines, Burlington Coat Factory and others who have successfully outgrown their original markets begin to question their positioning. Much like 3M and KFC, they may need to make a change to keep pace with their growth and image.
In the fever to start your new business or expand a current one, take time to think through some of these issues. By tapping into your creativity and avoiding these potential pitfalls, you'll be able to create a name that works for both the short and long term. Like the original cornerstone of a building, it will support upward expansion as your company reaches new heights.
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