Archive for September, 2007

The Common Problems of Common Company Names

September 22, 2007

You might think weird business names might lose potential business, but it’s often just the opposite. Unique company names actually serve a pragmatic profit-producing purpose. Even though they may not be literal or descriptive, they are memorable! Case in point… the flooring company I’ve used on four separate occasions — but one which I could not recall by name. A call to the operator went something like this…

Forgetful me: “Yes, I need the number of the Floor Store…”

Dispassionate Operator: “I’m sorry, we’re not showing a ‘Floor Store’ in Asheville.”

F.M.: “Well maybe it was the Floor Stop…”

D.O.: “No sir, no ‘Floor Stop’ either…”

F.M.: (Feeling somewhat panicked at the thought that perhaps I am only allowed two guesses…” “Could you try One Stop or One Floor or Flooring Stop…”

D.O.: “Sorry sir, nothing on anything you mentioned or are about to mention…”

F.M.: “Can you look up the flooring category?” (the store was out of our area and not in our phone book)

D.O.: “Sir we are not the yellow pages…” (sound of clicking noise and silence)

At this point, I’m looking for check stubs and combing the junk drawer on the off-chance there might be a left behind business card. I am feeling at a loss for not being able to simply call a business I’ve dealt with on a number of occasions and spent the better part of our kid’s college fund with.

After typing various keyword entries on the last remaining hope… Google, I found the name. “Your Floor Stop.” Now if I, a previous customer, had that much difficulty recalling the name, imagine a potential customer hearing it in passing on the radio while three kids are fighting over a soccer ball.

In the vacuum-like atmosphere of the company meeting room, it’s natural to lean towards literal and descriptive names and phrases. But before you do that, look up your industry category on dmoz.org and see how just how much your new name would stand out in the crowd. It may sound like ten or fifteen other companies… i.e. The Floor Shop, My Floor Store, The Floor Place, Floors & More, etc. And as I experienced (and most likely your customers have as well) the operator is of little help in unearthing your name.

Add a little “Kaszazz” to your branding!

September 19, 2007

When our first Australian client came knocking this past spring they had a big branding problem. Their company name was “Crafty Kids,” a legacy name that began when they sold children’s arts and crafts projects to moms from a flea market booth. Flash forward nearly 15 years and they were now selling scrapbooking supplies, stamping products and embellishing items through a national network of consultants and distributors — and the vast majority of their audience was now women 30 to 60 — with no kid oriented craft products in their inventory. Talk about needing a name change!

After an extensive search and review, the finalists came down to Flair Creations and Pizzazz Creative. Discussions turned to a new product line the client had recently introduced called “Kasz” and ways in which that invented word might be incorporated into the name. Cheryl Devlin, a Crafty Kids consultant, made the suggestion of “Kaszazz.” Another top consultant, Sonya Edwards, stepped in to provide the tag line “Stamp, Scrap, Embellish.” The exact matching .com domain name was available and the Kaszazz name reinforced one of their star product lines — so the client pulled the trigger. Tungsten then provided several logo ideas/treatments and South Australian designer Kristy Baldock created the finished logo design. Talk about a team effort!

The unusual spelling may prove problematic initially, but since they have an established product with the same initial spelling, it will most likely gain traction quickly. Overall, the name is unusual, engaging, and playful. It’s interruptive in the sense that it’s uniqueness begs for more explanation. And with the right tag line, such as “Give your life some pizzazz!” it will only help to further enhance and support the new brand name. So things are looking up for our mates down under. Instead of being seen as selling cheap art projects to kids, they are now viewed as a company offering creative fun for everyone… and that definitely has more pizzazz!

Where do company names really come from?

September 12, 2007

I happened to trip across this naming trivia site today that contains great anecdotal stories about how companies came up with their names. Many of these older legacy names were the result of happenstance or serendipity. Unfortunately, with so many trademarks and so many domain names taken, the luxury of picking your favorite fruit for a name is most likely gone forever. (Although, as of this writing, the domain name PurpleKumquat.com was available) Fortunately there are still ample naming and branding strategies that work. And unlike StarBucks, you don’t have to resort to a Herman Melville novel to get a name (which almost resulted in the company name being Pequod)

(Somehow it’s just difficult to imagine ordering a Pequod caramel latte grande.)

Claricent helps clients gain insight.

September 11, 2007

Not all invented/coined words are created equal. Some have no linguistic basis and therefore no meaning (i.e. Xerox, Kodak, etc.) Every ounce of brand equity then has to be earned and instilled through years of hard work, money and gradual customer acquisition. Most entrepreneurs and start ups don’t have the luxury of time or money on their side.

So when creating new names from scratch, we tend to look for ones that contain a “morpheme” or word part that directly relates to one of the client’s main attributes. These words come preloaded with emotional equity that steers the listener down an intended path. In this case our client was in the information/knowledge management business. The key benefit they offered was their insights and perspectives in dealing with, and organizing, legacy information systems. What we wanted to capture was the sense of clarity, insight, brilliance and expertise they provided. The final result was Claricent… “See more. Know more. Do more.” The name flows well and evokes the right emotional tone. Invented names are just one of many different naming strategies, but if done well, they can still connect and communicate a message effectively.

Coghead and Coglets… the beginning of a naming hierarchy

September 2, 2007

When Coghead was just a name on a list, who would have foreseen the meteoric rise of the Coghead “dude” and the success of the recently released “Coglets” application? This is a good example of how the right type of business name can create excitement, generate traction and accelerate brand name penetration.

This is similar to what happened to McDonald’s over the years. In their case the iconic figure was Ronald McDonald, and the Mc “Add-Product-Name-Here” became their standard naming protocol. With this type of naming architecture, each sub brand points back to and reinforces the mother brand. In this way, your marketing dollars go farther since the company and product names are mutually reinforcing.

Not long after naming PODS, I walked into their first manufacturing plant to notice one of their big hydraulic trucks had been labeled “Podzilla.” I was thrilled to see this type of internal ownership taking place and to watch how the brand began to morph and produce “brand children.”

So when considering a company name, think about what type of sub brands or brand extensions could potentially develop. If you can’t think of any, you might consider a different name or a different naming strategy. Not all names lend themselves equally to sub branding. Sometimes highly invented/coined names can be a challenge when creating sub brands. (i.e. what would you call a sub brand for Accenture?) For Coghead, there will likely be other “Cog” products coming along. From the CogBlog to the Cog “dude,” the gears are already starting to engage — and that’s the way good branding works.