Here’s Why Your Brand Needs A Great Business Name

Strategising and building a business can take years before you actually start doing what you have plans to do. And selecting a brand or business name for your business is one such essential part of your business that might not take all those years of planning and strategy building, but it still requires a great amount of thinking before finalising.

A brand name is what gives a personality to your brand and it is one of the important elements on which many of your upcoming procedures are going to be based on. It is therefore extremely important for businesses to come up with the best possible name that truly communicates the nature of their business and that would do justice to whatever happens to your business as it grows in the coming years. This article talks about why the brand name matters and some tips to choose the best for your business.

What Is A Brand Name?

A brand name is nothing but an identity given to a business to differentiate it from the rest. It may refer to a set of terms, symbols, or a simple name that identifies your goods and services and also differentiate it from other sellers’ goods/services. A brand name is extremely essential for all forms of communication of your business. Communication is especially very important to the marketing strategy of your business and since brand name is an integral part of any given communication, it holds a lot of value when interacting with potential customers or others such as service providers, etc. in your industry.

People have a tendency to label everything. This is because they can then identify it better by being able to differentiate two or more things of similar nature. For instance, you have an active lifestyle and décor business. Now there are several others who are running a lifestyle and décor business within your local community market, as well as nationally and even internationally.

How does your consumer differentiate between them all? And how do you stand apart from all of your competitors? The answer is your business name! Choosing a good name for your business is vital also because consumers tend to give certain value and make associations about your business after they have learnt the name of your brand. They also create an image and give a position of preference based on it. Plus a good name of your business is likely to establish your presence in the industry.

For instance, introduce a new brand to consumers and ask them to make a purchase from it. According to surveys conducted by eMarketer, the most common replies include – “No, I haven’t heard of it” or “No, I don’t like this name.” So eventually a lot is at stake on your business’s name. Now, how are these potential customers, who have not heard of this new brand, learning more about it? They will obviously do it by searching about the brand. And how will they do it? By entering the name of course!

Why A Good Brand Name Matters

We have enumerated a few important reasons which communicate how important it is for your business to take up an ideal brand name and why good names matter in the business world:-

1. Recognition

Recognition for your business depends largely on how strongly your business is promoted in your market. And to do that you need a name. Because like we have already mentioned, people tend to recognise and differentiate two or more similar brands through labels – and that label is the name. If you have a substantial brand name, you have an upper hand at having more meaningful promotions and that can get you new customers easily.

Recognition, from a customer’s perspective is largely dependent on associations and familiarity. If your brand name can give your potentials a sense of familiarity, you are likely to have a more influential position in the market. According to an article published by Brinso, statistics have indicated that about 68% of market respondents tend to purchase new services or products from brands that they are familiar with as compared to the developed market where it is just 57% of the respondents.

2. Branding

Branding is yet another activity where the name of your business has a role to play. Branding is the process in which a firm creates a name and logo for their brand and chooses a colour scheme to implement for all visual needs and help them stand apart from other brands. Branding is an essential step for any business before they venture into the market with their marketing efforts.

And the market is full of competitors. Plus, as important as the product and services and the experience you create for your customers is, we come back to the same point – your potential customers will remember you by your name. If you are successful at convincing the customers with your marketing efforts, any and everything that your customers take from the interaction will be identified with the brand name. So make sure you give them a good one!

3. Reputation

Reputation depends on the quality of your branding. How strong and effective your branding efforts are will decide the reputation of your business. And since deciding upon a name is a part of branding, reputation depends on the brand name to an important degree. Reputation has an upper hand when compared to the recognition a brand gets. And your name has the potential to influence both. Let us understand this with an example.

You may not know this but the global toothpaste brand, Colgate was originally called the “Darkie” which translated to a man/woman with dark features and even featured such a man. Then it became “Darlie” which translated to “black person toothpaste” and was a clear racial stereotype and discrimination issue. However, the name changed to be called Colgate. Imagine if they would continue with the same name? Would Colgate still hold the position it has in the market? No. In fact, it might have even gone out of business! So you need to be extremely careful and considerate when choosing the name!

4. Communication

Irrespective of the type and nature of your business, any form of communication carried out in your business begins with the name of the firm. And communication is of great importance for attracting potential leads and customers to the business. People talk about your company and communicate essential information by taking the name of your company. Furthermore, your company vision is communicated through your brand name.

So a well thought-out name is absolutely necessary to communicate the right information and meaning to your potential customers. Again, if you decide to take your business to the internet, your business needs a domain name. This may or may not be the same. But your customers will not interact with the same brand with two names. So there will be utter confusion and communication errors. You will have to eventually choose the name that you can legally use according to your domain name. It is therefore very important for you to protect your brand name as well.

5. Sound Symbolism

The sound of your brand name is going to have a direct impact on the minds of your consumers. This phenomenon is scientifically referred to as the Sound Symbolism. The concept refers to when a non-arbitrary relation is established between the sound and the original and actual meaning of the name. Meaning here refers to the definition.

The Sound Symbolism is often used as a technique to communicate the information related to a product like its heights, speed, strength, weight, and more. It is therefore advisable to test the name you are planning to finalise for your brand and ask for feedback on it. Get to know the thoughts that come to people’s minds when they hear of it and how they feel about it. Aim for a name that establishes a positive non-arbitrary relation to have a positive approach to your brand.

Tips To Choose The Best Brand Name

We have written down a few tips for you to consider when choosing your brand name to help you make the best choice!

• Decide upon a name that is short and simple and easy to pronounce. Simple names are easier to recall.
• Choose a name that is easily recognisable and can be quickly memorized after being introduced to it just once.
• Go for a unique yet simple name that is meaningful and communicates your vision.
• According to research, customers tend to interact with brands with a shorter name so keep the character count to a minimum. If you are planning to go with multiple words, see if it can be abbreviated into a shorter term.
• Choose a name that is indicative of the concrete product or service values and their benefits.
• It should not portray or mean something indecent or wrong in other categories or languages.
• Make sure that it can be protected and can be legally registered.
• It should communicate the nature and category of your business and products and services.

The name of your brand holds a lot more power than you would have thought till now; and we hope our article helped you understand it. A lot of our readers expressed that they often name their business on a sudden impulsive idea that went through their mind. While that may be a good way to proceed and may even give successful results, sometimes a rush in the process can backfire. So when it comes to the name of your brand, give it all you can and choose wisely!

Team EMB

Our team of expert writers is committed to bringing insights on topics ranging in the fields of technology, marketing, and business. With a wide-reaching range of services on our platform, we help businesses achieve digital transformation end-to-end.