Whenever we talk about brand and branding , the choice of brand name is considered as an important concern.
We all know that a brand is more than a name, and branding is a time-consuming and multifaceted process, and choosing a brand name is only the first step in this long and difficult path.
However, we should not neglect the importance of choosing the right name. When we are going to live with a brand for years and maybe decades and expose it to the eyes and ears of our audience, it is logical to obsess over choosing a brand name and not simply ignore it.
Brand name selection process
The first thing that we should pay attention to is that choosing a brand name is not a mechanical process and has no special rule.
Contrary to what we see in some sites or books, we cannot say that choosing a brand has, for example, three or five or seven steps, and if you go through these steps step by step, your brand will suddenly appear and you can announce it.
It is enough to look at the famous brands of Iran and the names chosen for the brands to see that the principles of brand selection cannot be simply included and expressed in a specific framework.
Iranian Persian words or languages of other Iranian ethnic groups have been used in choosing the names of some brands. In the selection of some others, words with non-Iranian roots have been used. Some have used their name for branding . Others have tried to distance themselves from the surnames and names of individuals. A group has gone to make abbreviations. Another group has preferred not to use abbreviations. A number of brands have used related words. A number of other brands have chosen generic names that are not directly related to the brand’s field of activity.
With all these disagreements and differences, finally brands have been able to find a place among their audience and remain in their minds.
With this introduction, I am not going to present my points in the form of dos and don’ts and insist that there is a set of brand naming principles . By the way, I believe that strict prescriptions in choosing a brand name are immature and exceptional. Therefore, in the following, I will simply try to put forward some suggestions that may come in handy when making a decision and help you choose the right brand.
The pattern of choosing a brand and brand name
Don’t be limited to a template in choosing a brand name and brand name , there are many different styles to choose a brand name or brand name. But the mind of many of us gets locked on a certain method and we leave the other methods and options to the hands of oblivion. Consider the following as just a few examples:
Descriptive names
One of the options in determining the brand name is to go for names that describe our activity. By hearing descriptive names, you can largely guess the field of activity of the brand. Iran Khodro and Tabriz and Isminar Manufacturing are examples of this type of naming.
Abbreviation
Another option that is in front of you in choosing a brand name is abbreviation. Abbreviation in Persian language and its relatives is not as simple and accepted as in languages like English and French. Because we don’t have the habit of reading letters separately. Therefore, we can use the abbreviation only when the keywords together form a pronounceable and acceptable word.
However, if you are a little creative, the use of abbreviations can still be used as an option, for example Mahek, which stands for the Institute for the Support of Children with Cancer, or MAPNA, which stands for the Management of Iran’s Power Plant Projects.
Some Persian sites suggest that you prefer not to use abbreviations. This recommendation is directly translated and quoted from English language sources and does not apply to Persian language. A group of branding experts believe that when you register the FKC brand, for example, you must compete with dozens of other brands such as KKC, KFC, CKF, CFK, etc. in the audience’s mind. This requires heavy spending on advertising and branding . But since we make words in Persian with abbreviations, we are not facing such a challenge and that advice has no meaning in the space of Persian speakers.
Names based on the message
Think of the two banking brands, Saman and Aydeh. These names apparently have nothing to do with the banking industry. But order can evoke a kind of order and organization that is not far from the field of activity of an active group in the financial field. The future can also be associated with the fact that a brand wants to be a leader and forward-looking in its industry.
Behran is also such a brand. Unlike Iranol, which clearly refers to activities in the field of oil, Behran has tried to have a message in it, and that is to drive better. This type of brand naming makes it possible to develop the brand in the future. You can think for yourself and see what other products and services the Behran brand can be used for.
Meaningful but irrelevant names
Among the famous brands in the world, Apple is the best example of an irrelevant name. Apple can produce cars or even satellites as easily as it produces mobile phones and laptops. When you name yourself apple and build a computer, your hand will be free for any other unrelated work.
In Iran, brands such as D and Tat in banking, Mino in food industry, Bahman in automobile manufacturing, Shahab in home appliances and Asia in insurance are examples of this type of naming.
Of course, choosing an irrelevant name has its own challenges. For example, in the beginning, you have to spend more effort and money so that your brand fits in the mind of the audience. In general, it is safe to say that the road to increasing brand awareness is likely to be more difficult and bumpy for you.
Completely meaningless names
This type of naming and choosing a brand is less popular in our country. But there are many examples of it at the global level. For example, Kodak has no special meaning. Although the word Sony can evoke Sound, it is meaningless.
In Iran, in recent years, with the growth of start-up businesses, the desire for this naming method has increased slightly. Digiato, Bimito and Shenuto are meaningless words made up by brand owners. Of course, there are still references in them. It can be assumed that Digiato is related to the field of technology, Bimitu operates in the field of insurance, and Shenuto is related to audio.
Using the founder’s name
This way of determining the brand name is more common in other countries, especially in Europe and North America, than in our country. For example, William Fox named his company 20th Century Fox, and Duncan Black and Alonzo Decker chose the Black & Decker brand. In a similar way, Walter Chrysler started his automobile company with the same surname, and Michael Dell also considered the Dell brand to sell home computers and related equipment.
Of course, this form of naming and branding is common in some guilds in our country. For example, in the jewelry sector, there are many family brands such as Gohrbin and Mozaffarian.
Pharmacies and medical clinics sometimes use the brand of their founders. Sohan Haj Hossein and many other Sohans and Pashmak Haj Abdullah and Chalukbabi Naib are other examples of family naming.
In recent years, in the field of education, especially digital and online education, there have been those who have preferred to create a brand by combining the title of the academy and their surname.
But it seems that in many guilds and industries, there is a bit of cultural resistance in this field, and the audience may not feel good about these types of names.
However, it is still not possible to completely discard the choice of brand and brand name based on the family name because there are many successful examples in this form of branding .
Offer to choose a brand name
The first suggestion in determining the brand name and choosing the brand name is what I said at the beginning of the article. That is, try not to lock on one method. For example, don’t just focus on abbreviations and think about choosing irrelevant or meaningless names. Or if your mind is busy with unrelated names, think a little and see if you can find words with related associations. The more you try to increase your initial options, the more likely you are to reach a favorable final option.
In addition to this suggestion, there are some other things that you should consider:
Check similar brands
Ideally, your brand should be completely unique and nobody, anywhere, has used it before. But such an event does not necessarily happen in practice. It often happens that you see that the name you want is used in another industry. For example, we have Mahan Airlines and Mahan Azad Higher Education Institute.
But the least you should do is to make sure that there is no similar brand in your field of activity. My suggestion is to at least do the following:
- Search the web for your desired brand
- Visit the brand inquiry site owned by the intellectual property center
- Search for the hashtag of your desired brand on social networks and see what activities have been done on it
In addition, my suggestion is that even if you agree to choose a brand that has been used in other industries, at least make sure that the brand is not infamous in its industry and does not have a serious case. Searching the web can be very helpful. If you are careless in this regard, later you will have to constantly explain to everyone that we are different from them and they have nothing to do with us.
Radio test
The radio test, sometimes called the phone test, is a simple test to measure the suitability of the brand. It is suggested that you tell a few people about your desired brand orally, in person or by phone or any other audio method and ask them to write this brand.
Ideally, a large number of your audience will be able to guess the correct brand dictation. If it happens a lot that it is written incorrectly, you may decide to leave the option you want.
For example, Jeff Bezos first considered another name for Amazon, Cadabra, which means magic, but his lawyer told him that the word might be heard on the phone in the form of Cadaver, and Bezos gave up on this name.
Check associations
You can tell a few people who don’t know your product or service, the name you have for the brand and ask what attributes or characteristics are associated with them.
They are not going to tell you exactly what you want in your brand identity . But at least you can make sure that the name you have chosen for your brand does not conflict with the identity you intend.
Domains are free
All sites that perform domain registration have the ability to check the availability of domains. Make sure you can get a domain for your brand.
Do a little research on social networks. Even if you can’t define an account with the exact brand name you want, make sure there are related and similar names that you can take over.
The first page of Google results
Search for your brand in Google and carefully check the first page. Don’t just look for records of similar brands here. But also think about an important question: Does this brand have the power to get to the first page of Google and preferably the first three results, and ideally: exactly the first result, with a little precise and consistent effort in the field of SEO ?
If there are big and powerful competitors in the first ranks of the first page of search results, maybe it is better to think of another name.
The capacity of the selected name
It’s hard to know from day one what you’re going to be doing three, five, or ten years from now. Many businesses have changed direction over time.
But anyway, think for a while and guess what activities you might go for and what other products or services you might offer in the next five or ten years. Does the brand you choose today have the capacity to be used for a wider range of products and services?
Audience poll
If you have the media or access to your audience base or can afford a small budget for research, submit your final few options to others for review and evaluation.
Maybe you can make a few samples of exactly the same product just with different branding and put them in front of people to see which one they choose. Maybe you can design a landing page and direct people to that page, and based on the behavior of the visitors, decide about the brand fit.
Even a simple verbal survey is better than relying solely on your own judgment.
Of course, these suggestions are based on the assumption that you have a number of options and you cannot choose the best one. If you only have one option or one of the names is far more popular and desirable than the others, it is natural that you prefer to make the final choice yourself based on your personal taste and that of your team.
Finally, I would be happy if you have other tips and experiences in the field of choosing a brand name, share them with us.
