What’s Behind The Name?

A child is born to a name, an identity carefully selected by his or her proud parents. Names like Daphne (Greek for victory) or David (beloved one) are carefully selected to represent parents’ hopes, dreams and aspirations for their child. As a proud entrepreneur orchestrating the birth of a new brand, wouldn’t you also select a brand name with just as much care and thought? Perhaps even more thought is needed since brand representation, target market association, cross cultural acceptance, trademark protection and a host of other factors need to be considered, not just locally but also in the global context.

The global application of a brand name needs to be considered from the very onset of a brand’s establishment in the local market. You may think, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” but it would be a little too late by then, don’t you think? Imagine having overcome the challenges of establishing your brand name locally and now you are ready to go global. What a shame it would be to discover that your brand name has been registered in another country or has a translation problem in other languages.

So then, what makes or breaks a brand name? What are some of the common mistakes and the areas in which we would need to consider?

First and foremost, keep brand names short and simple, preferably less than three syllables like Puma, Honda, Microsoft, Virgin or Apple. Even better if the brand name is coined with a catchy, friendly and memorable tone like Nike, IKEA and SONY.

In Malaysia, our multiracial community is an ideal test market for a brand name’s readability, fluency and pronunciation because of the various speech patterns. How many Malaysians actually pronounce Carrefour correctly? Or Peugeot, Mont Blanc, Ferrero Rocher, Schwarzkopf, Schwarzenbach?

Many international brands have come across the problem of brand names getting lost in translation as they venture into different foreign markets. For example, Gerber - a well known brand of baby food, is directly translated as 'vomitting' in German; Ford’s Fiera is ‘ugly old woman’ in Spanish and the list goes on (www.industryweek.com). A brand name should be adaptable in withstanding global applications.

There have been cases where brands expand to foreign countries, only to run into legal problems because the brand name is already registered. When Burger King entered the Australian market in 1971, they discovered that a local takeaway food shop owner had already registered his business with the Burger King brand name. Hence, Burger King had to establish a new brand name, Hungry Jacks, in Australia (www.reference.com/browse/
wiki/Burger_King). This is especially true in trademark protection of intellectual property.

If there are plans or potential for brand extensions, then the brand name should be fairly robust and associative like the iPod family (iPod shuffle, iPod mini, iPod nano, etc) coupled with iTunes. Creating a unique and associative naming style helps build a distinctive identity that is instantly recognisable.

Whether we are national leaders, sporting champions, celebrities or just the average person next door, the name bestowed upon us is our elementary identity in this world from cradle to grave. The same holds true for any brand name. Unless a proper rebranding strategy is in place, to change its identity anytime in its lifetime would lead to a major identity crisis, not to mention a major loss in brand value.

How is brand value connected to the brand name? According to trademark.com.hk, amongst the world’s top 10 most valuable brand names are Coca-Cola worth USD69.6 billion, Microsoft worth USD64 billion, IBM worth USD51.1 billion, NOKIA worth USD29.9 billion and McDonald’s worth USD26.3 billion. Even David Beckham’s name is estimated at USD334.5 million  (www.rediff.com/sports/2003/
jun/13beck1.htm). These insights certainly add more weight to a brand name and challenges entrepreneurs into deeper consideration when exploring brand names.

So, is your brand name strong enough to support the potential brand value to its fullest capacity? Whether it’s a person, product or service, therein lies the potential of a valuable brand that needs a strong identity – its brand name.

To create the value behind your brand name,
talk2us@peopalove.com or call
+604-2288 696.