One of our clients was telling a story recently about how he came up with his company name.
He hadn’t much thought about it, but needed a bank loan to get the business started – so used his initials, and his trade – and the company name was born.
20 years later, the business continues to go from strength to strength and the brand name hasn’t changed.
So that got me thinking, how important is a company or brand name?
After all, there are plenty of successful brands out there that don’t have ‘creative’ brand names.
John Lewis
Dyson
Disney
McDonald’s
Colgate
All brands named after their founders – the names in themselves say nothing about these businesses. In isolation, the names are meaningless.
The same could be said for Apple or Amazon.
What’s important is that we associate these brands with specific qualities. It’s the positioning behind the name that gives the brand its real identity – not the name, not the logo.
So when you’re coming up with a name for a new brand or business, don’t over-think it. Instead, really focus on your positioning – what qualities do you want you prospective customers to associate with your brand?
What do you want them to think?
Why should they buy from you, not someone else?
Get that right, and the name doesn’t matter.
