Executive Summary
The discussion of this paper entails an analysis of a brand name. The purpose of the study is to determine what constitutes a good brand name. The various elements which constitute a good brand name are identified and discussed. These include relevance, memorable, legal aspect, quality, evoking interest, logo, symbol, and a slogan. The study asserts that a good brand name should communicate the firm’s branding strategy. This means that the brand name should perpetuate the heritage developed about naming. Relevancy of the brand name means that the brand name of a given product should be associated with the target customers. On the other hand, a good brand name should be memorable.
This means that it should be easy to pronounce and spell. This will make it possible for consumers to consider the product in their purchasing process. A good brand name should also communicate the quality that it delivers to its customers. The legal aspect of the brand name makes it possible for a firm to obtain a legal remedy in the event of the brand name being counterfeited by competitors. A brand name should evoke interest in the consumers.
In the process of developing a brand name, consumers should ensure that the name is well researched and analyzed. This will contribute towards the brand name succeeding upon its implementation.
Introduction
In the 21st century, the business environment has become very challenging. This is associated with several factors which include increment in the rate of economic liberalization, globalization, and increased technological innovation. The result is that the intensity of competition amongst firms within a given industry has been increased. Considering the high level of competition, firms need to consider developing their competitive edge. The result is that firms will be able to survive in the long run as going concern entities. Attaining a competitive advantage is a challenging task because firms intend to attain a significant market share relative to their competitors.
There are several ways through which firms can develop their competitive advantage. One of these includes ensuring effectiveness in their marketing process. This can be attained through the formulation and implementation of good marketing strategies. In formulating these strategies, the firm’s management team should consider incorporating brand management. Brand management entails the development and implementation of various marketing programs to develop and manage the firm’s brand equity. Through strategic brand management, firms can develop strong brands in their operation.
The brand is defined as the term, name, symbol, sign, or design about a given product or service. The brand is aimed at differentiating a firm’s products from those of its competitors. The brand of a given company is developed through the association of both the firm and its customers. This means that it is important for firms to consider what the customers demand from the firm in its brand management. The ultimate result is that the firm can develop a long-term relationship with its customers. Upon developing its brand, it is paramount for firms to protect their brands.
Purpose of the study
Due to the dynamic nature of the business environment, it is paramount for firms to consider developing their competitiveness. As a result, firms will be able to position themselves within their respective industry. One of how this can be achieved is by brand naming. The purpose of this study is to evaluate what constitutes a good brand name.
Brand name
Considering the rate at which the world-changing, consumers are experiencing a challenge in their consumption behavior. This arises from the fact that a wide range of products is being manufactured, produced, and distributed daily across the globe. As a result, consumers do not have sufficient time to search for information related to their product demands. This makes consumers depend on brand names in distinguishing competing products (Mtshali para. 2).
About marketing, firms need to consider developing a good brand name for their products. The brand name is of utmost importance in the operation of a firm. The brand name gives a firm a face. For example, a large number of firms have managed to develop sufficient brand names. Some of these firms include Apple, Intel, McDonald’s, and Amazon.com. A brand name gives the customers a reference point when talking about the firm.
This is because it connects the firm with its customers through the emotional bonding power developed. In behavioral science, it is universally acknowledged that there is the ease of remembrance in emotional associations. In addition, well-developed brands persuade consumers in their decision-making process. This is because the consumers are aware of the particular products that they will purchase in their consumption process. According to Park (1), a strong brand is characterized by ease of being registered as a trademark. Therefore, firms need to develop brand names that are easy to register.
Through branding, a firm can position itself within the market. According to Park (3), the effectiveness with which a firm position itself within the market plays a significant role in creating a defense from its competitors. On the other hand, the lack of a good brand name limits the firm’s profitability. This arises from the fact that the firm’s product may not appeal to the consumers. On the other hand, a good brand name contributes towards a large number of customers associating themselves with the product. The ultimate effect is that customer loyalty is developed.
Elements of a good brand name
A good brand name is characterized by several elements which are discussed below.
Brand name communicates brand strategy
A good brand name should have the capacity of communicating the firm’s brand strategy. This means that the public can understand the firm’s branding strategy. According to Msthali (para. 5), a good brand name enhances the company’s corporate nomenclature about its products and services. As a result, a firm can strengthen its naming culture. If the brand name does not build the firm’s naming culture, there is a high probability of the firm not being able to add value to the naming culture. Msthali (para. 6) asserts that a good brand name generates a fit with its current brand positioning strategy, the firm’s heritage, and history, and it’s brand future (Park 4).
This means that a good brand name should enhance the firm’s brand identity.
Relevancy
According to Sen (431), firms are critical in the process of developing marketing strategies. As a result, a firm needs to consider the characteristics of its target market. The ultimate result is that the firm can attain efficiency in creating brand knowledge. Brand knowledge is defined as the ability of consumers to recognize and recall a particular brand as it has been defined by the consumers’ perception of the brand. Sen asserts that information acquired by the consumers about a particular brand is organized around the respective brand name. As a result, in developing a brand name, a firm’s management team needs to evaluate the relevance of the product to its target market.
To attain brand relevance, firms’ management teams should ensure that message communicated in the brand name is interactive. In addition, for the brand name to be relevant, it should communicate a message with a high value to its target market. This can be attained by ensuring that the brand name results in the consumers placing a high personal value on the product. This means that a good brand name should be meaningful (Msthali para. 3).
For a brand name to be relevant, it must have an inherent meaning to the target customers. This will make it easy for the customers to retain the name in their memories. In addition, brand name relevance means that the name should communicate the benefits that the customers demand. This means that customers will be able to associate themselves with the product.
Memorable
A good brand name should be easily memorized by the target customers. This can be attained by using a simple name that consumers can easily remember upon seeing it for the first time. To achieve this, a good brand name should be different from those of competing products to draw the customers’ attention (Park 3). The Memorable element can be achieved by ensuring that the brand name is short, easy to pronounce, and spell.
As a result, it becomes easy for firms to market their products in different geographical and cultural regions. If customers find it difficult to remember the brand name of a given product, there is a high probability of them shifting to consume those of its competitors. Difficulty in pronouncing the brand name will culminate in the target customers not asking for the product. In addition, ease of pronunciation contributes towards the consumers conducting marketing through word of mouth. As a result, a good brand name should enable the firm to be effective in conducting market awareness.
Quality
A good brand name should communicate quality to the customers. In their consumption pattern, consumers are increasingly becoming quality conscious. As a result, firms need to develop brand names that communicate the high quality of the products. According to Msthali, a brand name should communicate the promise that the firm intends to deliver to the target customers in terms of quality (para.5). As a result, a good brand name is a testament to what the firm delivers to the customers. By communicating the quality of the product, the firm can determine whether the consumers will pay for the products of high quality. A good brand name should have two main types of qualities. The brand name should be linguistically appealing to the customers. In addition, a good brand name should be strategically sound. This means that the market should incline to what the brand name says.
Legal aspect
A good brand name should incorporate the legal aspect through ease of being registered by the relevant government department. Through registration, firms’ brand names are protected for exclusive use by the firms by gaining registered rights. This makes a good brand name a valuable asset to the firm which is linked to the firm’s profitability. Therefore, it is paramount for the firm to ensure that its brand name is registered and protected by the law.
These rights give the owner of a given brand name capacity to seek distinctive legal remedy in case of infringement by a given party. Brand name distinctiveness refers to the ease with which consumers can identify and associate a brand name with a given product (Not Just Patents 2). To attain distinctiveness, the brand name adopted should not be descriptive. According to Park (3), the descriptive brand name is difficult to be protected by law.
Due to the increase in competition, firms are faced with an increased threat of counterfeiting and infringement. As a result, firms should be proactive in ensuring that their brand name is not utilized by other individuals without authorization (Park 4). To ensure that the brand name is distinctive, the firm’s management team should ensure that a trademark supports the brand name. If the firm does not protect its brand name, there is a risk of the customers losing confidence in the firm’s product. This results from the fact that the counterfeiters will distribute products of inferior quality using the firm’s brand name.
The resultant effect is that the firm’s profitability will be hurt. By incorporating the legal aspect; a firm can maintain the selling power of its products brand name that it has developed over the years. In addition, the product quality is guaranteed. However, there is no legal remedy for unregistered brand names. In addition, considering the legal aspect of a brand contributes towards an increment in the firm’s level of profitability. This is because consumers purchasing decision is influenced by the trademarks (Park 6).
Evokes interest
Emotions play a significant role in the consumer decision-making process. This is evident in that emotions can instigate the consumer to make a purchase decision. A good brand name should evoke interest in the consumer. This can be attained through the incorporation of humor and rhymes (Msthali para. 4)
Logo, slogan, and symbol
A good brand name should be supported by the firm’s logo, slogan, and brand name. The use of a logo and symbol makes it possible for the consumers to identify the logo with a given product. On the other hand, a well-developed slogan has a psychological effect on the consumers. This means that there is a high probability of the product being purchased by appealing to the customers.
Suggested operation plan to implement the project
Developing a good brand name is a complex process due to the large number of brand names that already exist in the market. In addition, a significant amount of expense is incurred in conducting market research, hiring experts, and testing before the final decision is made. Brand names should be tested and in both the domestic and international market before their implementation. This will help in determining the probability of success. Several steps should be undertaken in developing a strong brand name. These are analyzed below.
Conducting an analysis
Before implementing the brand name, the firm’s management team should analyze the product and its market position. The analysis should entail a definition of what the brand means to the firm’s values, goals, and target market.
A set of ideas should be generated on the best brand name to adopt. The ideas should be generated from the firm’s marketing staff, software packages, and design agencies.
Various linguistic tactics should be considered. Some of these include joining words, symbolism, composition, tacking, mimicking, cementation and idiophones. A set of potential brand names should be generated with no suggestion being ruled out.
A comprehensive evaluation of the potential ideas short-listed should be conducted. The analysis should be based on a well-developed criterion. Some of the elements that should be considered include uniqueness, originality, ease of registration, relevancy, viable long-term, and the ability to be used in all the media. The firm’s management team should evaluate whether the brand name suggestion distinguishes the firm’s products from those of its competitors (Park 4).
The various potential brand name ideas generated should be filtered out for the ‘X’ factor. This will enable the firm to determine the ease with which the brand name can be used across regions characterized by different cultures. An evaluation of the brand name meaning in different regions should be conducted. This will enable the firm to determine the appropriateness of the brand name in different countries (Park 6).
An objectivity test should be undertaken by conducting market research. The market research should be conducted within the firm’s budget and time frame. In addition, the objective opinion should fit with the firm’s market.
The potential brand names should be evaluated to determine whether they are registrable. For a brand name to be registrable, many countries have developed a criterion that must be met. The selected brand name should not be a surname, offensive, deceptive, against morality, name of a place, or suggest royal patronage. According to Park, a brand name that consists of made-up words is relatively easy to register. As a result, it is not easy to counterfeit them since they do not pass any meaning to the consumer about the product. To address this shortcoming in developing a brand name, a brief product description should be included alongside the brand name (5).
After narrowing down the potential brand names, the firm’s management team should conduct a clearance check about the brand name. Park asserts that the search should be aimed at ensuring that there is no other company using the same brand name (5).
Conclusion
The brand name is one of the elements that can contribute to the success of a firm. This is because consumers can make their purchasing decision more easily. Consumers mainly rely on the brand name in making a purchase decision. As a result, the firm can increase its level of profitability. The development of a brand name also contributes towards the firm attaining a high competitive advantage in the market. This arises from the fact that the firm’s products are differentiated from those of its competitors. For a firm to attain a relatively high competition about its brand name, it is paramount for the firm to develop a good brand name.
A good brand name is should be composed of several elements. For instance, a good brand name should communicate the firm’s branding strategy. As a result, it will be possible for the firm to maintain its naming culture. This means that a good brand name should result in a fit with the firm’s branding strategy. A good brand name should be relevant to its target customers. This means that the target customers should be able to develop a link with the brand name. The resultant effect is that firms attain a high level of customer loyalty.
A good brand name should be memorable amongst its target customers. Ease of remembrance can be attained by ensuring that the brand name is easily spelled and pronounced. In addition, ease of pronunciation will enable the customers to conduct marketing of the product through word of mouth. This means that a good brand name can enhance its degree of market awareness.
Brand name should also communicate the quality of the product. The effect is that customers will be able to know the value they will attain upon consumption of the product. Considering the intensity of competition, firms are faced with a threat of counterfeit products. The creation of a good brand name can contribute towards the firm attaining efficiency in protecting its product. To attain this, the legal aspect should be integrated into the brand name. This will make it possible for a firm to seek legal remedy upon the occurrence of such cases.
A good brand name should evoke interest in the customers. This can be attained through the incorporation of humor in the brand name. The ultimate effect is that a purchase desire is created amongst the consumers. A good brand name should also be enforced with imagery such as a slogan, logo, or symbol.
In developing a brand name, a comprehensive operational plan should be developed before its implementation. Brand name should be created by considering several steps. Ideas related to the brand name should be generated from diverse sources. At this stage, no idea should be refuted. The suggestions should be evaluated to determine their relevancy, uniqueness, and effectiveness. After the evaluation, a list of potential brand names should be developed.
The next step involves filtering the suggestions. This makes it possible for the firm to narrow down to a set of the potential brand name. As a result, the firm can determine the viability of the brand name. Finally, a clearance check should be conducted to rule out the possibility of another company using a similar brand name. From the above analysis, it is evident that a good brand name enhances a firm’s brand identity and hence its equity.
Work Cited
Mtshali, Linda. “What defines a good brand name?” New York: Bowman Gillfillan Inc. 2006. Web.
Not Just Patents. “When does a brand name start earning legal rights? Depends on if the brand name is distinctive. Stepstobrand. 2007. Web.
Park, Anthony. “Developing a strong brand name.” Auckland, New Zealand: Intellectual Property. 2008. Web.
Sen, Sankar. “ The effect of brand name suggestiveness and decision goal on development of brand knowledge.” Journal of consumer psychology. 8(4):431-455. Lawrence Erlbaum Inc. 1999. Web.