Naming Services

Verbal identity is the set of written and sound elements that characterize a brand and give it personality and distinctiveness, so defining these elements strategically is crucial for the public to identify it, remember it and, ultimately, the prefer. A globalized market and a situation of competition unknown up to now require the definition of the verbal identity system as far in advance as possible to avoid problems and optimize the financial value of the brand.

Every year more than half a million new products are launched on the market in the European Union as a whole, although the vast majority of them will not reach their third year of life And, obviously, all these products need a brand name that differentiate from competitors. Since all verbal identity rests on this element, no company can afford to make a mistake at the decisive moment of selecting the best brand name for a new product or service.

One of the most complicated and, at the same time, most stimulating tasks for those of us dedicated to naming is creating names for the pharmaceutical sector. Class 5 is one of the most saturated, with more than 1,200,000 registered drug brands in Europe and 700,000 in the United States. If this were not enough, the regulatory bodies (EMA and FDA, mainly) reject 36% of the names that are submitted for their approval. Only a specialist who knows the ins and outs of the pharmaceutical sector in depth can guarantee the success of the process of creating a name for a new drug.

In the countries that make up the European Union there are more than 22 million registered companies, without counting official institutions, foundations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The creation of corporate names is one of the most dynamic naming activities and one that presents the most marked growth prospects. The corporate sector, traditionally reluctant to branding, has finally understood the importance of the brand as an anchoring element of corporate social responsibility and an indispensable instrument to generate positive associations in its different internal and external audiences.

Naming is not an activity restricted to large multinationals, rather the brand is a system of signs that makes it possible to differentiate and sustain customer loyalty, whatever the size of the company. That is why even the most modest business and the most local establishment need to have a business name that attracts potential buyers, that acts as an advertisement that captures their attention from the sign on the facade and that communicates a powerful and relevant.

Although the domain name is generally no more than an address, it is necessary for companies to be easy to locate in search engines by Internet users. If, in addition, it is a 100% virtual business or the sale through the network is of particular importance to the company, having a unique, accessible, easy to remember and flexible domain name is not only necessary, but also it is vital for future development. Knowing the differences between a domain name and a brand name, not only creatively but also legally, is essential for proper management of the brand’s online identity.

One of the most stressful and complex situations that a company can go through is having to change its name, whether due to the loss of rights to a brand, lack of legal availability, some type of legal conflict, the sale of the brand or the message obsolescence. Renaming requires, on the one hand, great conviction on the part of those responsible for the brand and, on the other, the leadership capacity involved in making such a decision while accepting a large dose of risk. Qualities that are not found as often as they should be at the different levels of company management. Name change processes therefore require the help of an expert who transmits security and with extensive experience in this type of situation.

When a company decides to expand its range of products, whether to cover a new market niche, expand the identity of the guarantee brand or to give greater clarity to its offer, it is of paramount importance to create sub-brands that identify each new extension of line and that coexist harmoniously with the rest of the brands in the portfolio. To do this, it is necessary to analyze the category codes, the common semantic and morphological features that characterize these names in use and establish conditions that guide the creation of new sub-brands for optimal coexistence.

When a company creates a new type of product, it inaugurates a new category that needs a name that describes its nature and its use. This statement is very evident, for example, in the pharmaceutical sector, where each new active ingredient requires a generic name that identifies it and distinguishes it from other medical ingredients in the same therapeutic area. The company that creates the innovation faces a unique opportunity to appropriate the generic name of the category, so said denomination must be raised as if it were a proprietary name, with the appropriate strategic definition.

On some occasions it is highly recommended to provide a brand (and therefore a specific verbal identity) to a benefit, attribute or characteristic of the product, with the aim of increasing awareness and making the value proposition more interesting, generating a perception of difference and quality. The presence of a branded benefit or ingredient can determine consumer preference, hence the importance of deciding if said option can provide greater credibility and distinctiveness to the product offer, providing an advantage over competitors, who are not in the market. willingness to imitate branded benefit.

The tag line, also called pay-off, signature or claim, is an important piece of verbal brand identity since it synthesizes the positioning in a creative way and, therefore, recordable in a concise and simple sentence, consistent with the tone of the brand. voice: who the brand is, what it does and how it does it. The main difference with respect to the slogan is that the tag line is not associated with a specific communication campaign, therefore, it is an element designed for the long term. That is what explains why the tone is often more serious and even more neutral than that of a slogan, which can afford to change year after year and, therefore, is more subject to certain fashions.

Often, both entrepreneurs and companies approach naming processes internally, holding sterile contests and brainstorming sessions among their employees that often end up with long lists of uncreative, banal, and unregisterable names. A tool that can help to correctly focus the gestation of a new brand is holding a name creation workshop. The objective of this workshop is, on the one hand, to bring together the different managers of the new brand to share points of view and criteria and, on the other, to stimulate the exchange of ideas coordinated by an expert in verbal brand identity.

Before deciding on the name, it is necessary to define the naming system, the naming macrostrategy that a company will use to structure its portfolio. Depending on the product portfolio, more complex or varied or simpler and more concentrated, and also taking into account the hierarchy that must be established between the different levels of brands, the nomenclature roughly organizes which messages must be communicated and how they must be communicated. be transmitted, which also includes a correct definition of the brand tone of voice: the way in which the brand personality is transformed into words that express the core values, the style that characterizes the brand’s own voice, the unique tone that differentiates not only the names but all the communication and that the consumer is able to recognize.

Brand architecture is the complex system that organizes a company’s products and brands in a simple, structured, and flexible way. A correct definition of the brand architecture is crucial since, in addition to reflecting the business strategy of the company (monolithic structure, independent brands or guarantee brand with sub-brands), it helps the consumer to identify the origin and function of the brands. different brands, establishing what should be the optimal interrelationships between the products and making the most of the synergies between the brands that make it up.

On some occasions, the communication force of a tag line or a slogan can be diminished by a mere literal translation, which leaves aside nuances or meanings that add depth or broaden its meaning. To avoid this problem, it is necessary to have the help of experts who can adapt the tag line while preserving the connotations, double meanings and evocations with which they were originally created, maintaining the appropriate and characteristic tone of voice of the brand.

No solo es importante tener un nombre notorio, memorable y distintivo que asegure la preferencia del consumidor: un asesoramiento jurídico adecuado es lo que garantiza que el largo y complejo proceso desde la solicitud a la concesión de la marca acabe felizmente, sin sorpresas ni retrasos inesperados. Es por ello indispensable establecer una correcta estrategia de registro y protección, definiendo de forma precisa y flexible las clases de producto donde debe protegerse el signo distintivo, así como el tipo de marca y los países, ejerciendo una defensa activa de posibles imitadores que puedan debilitar la fuerza de la marca, manteniéndola siempre actualizada y saneada desde un punto de vista legal.

A new name is not required every time a new product is created. On other occasions, companies have registered trademarks that are not in use and can be implemented immediately without the need to start an expensive naming process. There may even be a situation where names are being used that are obsolete, inflexible, empty of content or with associations that are not entirely recommended simply because it has always been done that way. Relying on external and impartial advice on the appropriateness of names or architecture can prevent this type of practice and help to optimize the management of the brand portfolio.

Unfortunately, some brand names generate more literature because of the hilarity of the associations they convey than because of the benefits of the product they identify. Unforgivable cases such as the Mitsubishi Pajero (Montero in Spanish-speaking markets), the Mazda Laputa, the Nissan Moco or the Nordic Mist tonic (Nordic manure, in German) are part of an endless list of failures in the choice of the name. And all of them are easily avoidable errors with adequate linguistic and cultural validation that provides data on the presence of positive and negative associations, possible problems with loudness or pronunciation, or the adequacy of the name to the product category.

Thirty years of specialization in the creation of brand names constitute the necessary background for teaching and disseminating knowledge about a discipline as relevant and, at the same time, little known as the verbal identity of the brand. Through conferences and courses in business schools, professional associations, companies, social networks, schools and universities, naming is acquiring a solid teaching corpus with a presence in more and more higher education centers, from advertising and communication faculties to schools of design and management.

The elaboration and dissemination of knowledge through the writing of articles and materials on the creation of brand names, as well as the participation in television and radio programs, the collaboration in the general and specialized press, the participation in blogs and the generation of Online content are other activities that we have been carrying out for three decades to help spread the culture of naming, explain its importance, its limitations and also its advantages as a branding tool.