Jiggles is the name that I proposed for my wife’s business idea to address overweight children. She was horrified. But she’s a doctor, what does she know about marketing anyway?
My point to her was that the name was as important as the business model.
Groupon. Easy to spell. Easy to say. Is the business model. Positions and differentiates against known category. Short. Unique. Web searchable. Unlikely to have translation problems. Doesn’t limit company too much (think Documentum when world went to web content). Has favorable emotive qualities. Can’t turn it into an acroynym or shorten. Could be used as a header to any product module description. Has dual meaning (coupon and group on). Starts with G (only J or K makes people smile more). No-pu-org might work if needed.
Next favorite: Linux. Conveys personal story behind the story while adhering to most best practices.
Look at the B2C guys as they know naming is branding and the analogy or metaphor can create a visual image and emotional reaction that is strong and positive.
Naming it after your professor or dog is interesting. Naming it WindChill is strong and shocking. Naming it token-ring network is cute and descriptive. Naming it AS400 is smart (brand is IBM). Naming it Platform Computing is solid and forward thinking until you go to search for it on the web. Naming it Enigma is not positive for a software company. Naming it Clearforest is good, environmental issues aside. Naming it Symyx is OK in a confined market if you invest to give the name meaning (Greek: ‘to mix’). Parametric Technology Corporation has the predictable fate of new VP rebranding PTC (because that’s what everyone called it anyway and it didn’t really matter since everyone knew the product Pro/Engineer which of course was shortened to Pro/E by most).
OK so those aren’t the real naming issues since they didn’t have (or maybe need) a marketing guy when it was named. The real question is are you going to the CEO and BOD to tell them that you want to rename the company?
Let’s talk about renaming for a second. If I rename myself Alan tomorrow and walk down the street, people will say ‘hi Randy’ to which I will say ‘no I’m now Alan’ to which they will say to themselves ‘he’s still really Randy’. That is the way to think about renaming or rebranding.
One approach to changing the name is to emphasize it less and use a sub-brand or corporate brand more. Just because I have a name doesn’t mean that I use it. ‘CMO does..’ works just as well as ‘Randy does…’ on tradeshow graphics, ads, website, collateral, etc. So by avoiding the bad or useless name, I can get right to feature/function/benefit. But what do I brand it? Either the corporate brand or a new sub-brand. The sub-brand may come be the corporate brand at some point.
So how do you transition cost effectively? Try it out. Try in internally, with a couple of customers, peers and close analysts. When you stop hearing new objections and you still feel good, ask your children (individually) which one they prefer. When you’re ready to go, pick a minor event or medium to roll-out. There you will see all the ‘application’ issues. Example: at Platform, we used a bracket that could expand to allow text between Platform and Computing. Once we starting applying it, we ran into all types of question; any text? how many lines? better as long line or short multi-line? can everyone do it or just with CMO approval? Once the design and brand policy issues are fully solved, do an inventory of assets to be rebranded and cost it out for CFO. It doesn’t have to cost much done right (think $100K including creative, design, redesign of existing, production costs for website, building signs, collateral, powerpoints, business cards, forms for 50M+ company).
My biggest regrets are not having the guts to rename the company and wasting time on taglines. Taglines come and go by definition. Company names can endure for decades and should be the brand since products multiply and have shorter lifetimes.