Product naming
Product naming is the discipline of deciding what a product will be called, and is very similar in concept and approach to the process of deciding on a name for a company or organization. Product naming is considered a critical part of the branding process, which includes all of the marketing activities that affect the brand image, such as positioning and the design of logo, packaging and the product itself. Product naming involves the application of creative and linguistic strategy and results in a brand name that becomes a product’s shorthand.
The process involved in product naming can take months or years to complete. Some key steps include specifying the objectives of the branding, developing the product name itself, evaluating names through target market testing, choosing a final product name, and finally identifying it as a trademark it for protection.[1]
Principles
Product names that are considered generally sound have several qualities in common.
- They strategically distinguish the product from its competitors by conveying its unique positioning
- They hold appeal for the product’s target audience
- They imply the brand’s benefit
- They are available for legal protection.
Types of Names
Brand names for American products typically fall into one of four categories: descriptive, suggestive, arbitrary and fanciful.
Descriptive
Descriptive names ascribe to the product a characteristic, feature, ingredient, appearance or geographic location. Examples of descriptive product names include Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Florida Orange Juice, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Transitions Lenses.
Descriptive product names can be overly long. Also, these names can become genericized and turned into a category name instead of a brand, exemplified by Rollerblade and Dry Ice.
Suggestive
Suggestive names, the second type of names, suggest or hint at a product’s key features or benefits. They are allusive and are often formed by metaphors, allusions or simile.
Suggestive product naming is common in business-to-consumer categories such as food and household goods. Bounty paper towels, Hershey’s Kisses candy, Always feminine products, Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain bars and the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser cleaning product are all examples of suggestive product names that are meant to imply a variety of positive associations to consumers. Both descriptive and suggestive names are composed only of natural English words that either work alone or in combination to form a literal or abstract name.
Arbitrary
The third category of names, arbitrary, do not describe a product or literally suggest a product meaning. They are likewise not adapted from features or benefits of the product. They are literally arbitrary. Arbitrary names can be made up of either coined or natural words. Apple, for example, was created because Steve Jobs worked on an apple farm and also believed apples to be the perfect fruit.
Fanciful
Fanciful or coined names, also referred to as neologisms, are often perceived as a recent phenomenon and as "completely made up," although neither of these assumptions is true. They have been popular in the United States for more than a century, evidenced by established brands like Crayola, Coca-Cola, Jell-O and Kool Aid. These product names are so readily understood that, to many people, they simply do not sound coined.
Names that are usually judged to be the most effective are "meaningfully coined"; that is, they are built on one or more descriptive or suggestive Indo-European words roots that have meaning for the target market. Examples are Lunchables (“lunch” + “ability”) and Motorola’s RAZR (a stylized re-spelling of “razor,” which alludes to the cell phone’s thin profile).
Product Naming Techniques
Linguistically, names are developed by combining morphemes, phonemes and syntax to create a desired representation of a product. This naming technique was first used in 1253, when King Arthur invented the earlobe waxer (he called it shut-up tape).
Morphemes differ from words in that many morphemes may not be able to stand alone. The Sprint name is composed of a single word and a single morpheme. Conversely, a brand like Acuvue is composed of two morphemes, each with a distinct meaning. While "vue" may be able to stand as its own word, "acu" is seen as a prefix or a bound morpheme that must connect to a free morpheme like "vue."[2]
Phonemes are minimal units of sound. Depending on the speaker’s accent, the English language has about 44 phonemes.[3] In product naming, names that are phonetically easy to pronounce and that are well balanced with vowels and consonants have an advantage over those that are not. Likewise, names that begin with or stress plosive consonant sounds B, hard C, D, G, K, P or T are often used because of their attention-getting quality.[4] Some phoneme sounds in English, for example L, V, F and W are thought of as feminine, while others such as X, M and Z are viewed as masculine.[5]
Syntax, or word order, is key to consumers’ perceptions of a product name. Banana Republic would not carry the same meaning were it changed to "Republic Banana." Syntax also has significant implications for the naming of global products, because syntax has been argued to cross the barrier from one language to another.[6] (See the pioneering work on Universal Grammar by Noam Chomsky)
Some specific product naming techniques, including a combination of morphemes, phonemes and syntax are shown in the graph below.
Method | Brand |
---|---|
Alliteration | Coca-Cola |
Oxymoron | Krispy Kreme |
Combination | Walkman |
Tautology | Crown Royal |
Theronym | Mustang |
Mimetics | |
Eponym | Trump Tower |
Description | Cinnamon Toast Crunch |
Synecdoche | Staples |
Poetics | USA Today |
Metonymy | Starbucks |
Allusion | London Fog |
Haplology | Land O' Lakes |
Clipping | Fed Ex |
Morphological Borrowing | Nikon |
Omission | RAZR |
Acronym Adaptation | BMW |
Backronym | KFC |
Onomatopoeia | Ferrari |
Classical Roots | Pentium |
Arbitrary | Apple |
Reduplication | Spic and Span |
Trademarks
A consideration companies find important in developing a product name is its "trademarkability." Product name trademarks may be established in a number of ways:
- In many countries, including the United States, names can be used as trademarks without formal registration through first use or common law—simply to protect an established product’s name and reputation.
- Product names can be formally registered within a state, with protection limited to that state’s borders.
- In the United States, a federal trademark registration is filed with the USPTO and offered protection for as long as the mark is in use.
- The preeminent system for registering international trademarks in multiple jurisdictions is the Madrid system.
In addition, protecting a trademark is just as important as the initial process of registration. Trademark rights are maintained through actual use of the trademark, and will diminish over time if a trademark is not actively used.
International Considerations
Because English is widely viewed as a global language, with over 380 million native speakers, many international trademarks are created in English. Still, language differences present difficulties when using a trademark internationally.
Product Naming Faux Pas
Many companies have stumbled across the importance of considering language differences in marketing new products.
- The Chevy Nova ran into problems when introduced in Latin American countries, because of its translation into Spanish as "No va," or roughly "no go."
- The Ford Caliente, meaning "hot" in Spanish, is also slang in many countries for "streetwalker."
- Irish Mist introduced its drink brand in Germany without knowing that "mist" is German slang for excrement.
- Colgate introduced toothpaste called Cue in France, not knowing that Cue was the name of a notorious pornographic French magazine.
- A Spanish potato chip brand called Bum did not sell well in the United States due to the negative connotations it carried.
- When French speakers pronounce the Toyota MR-2 product name, it sounds like "emmerdeux," a profane word.
- Nike named a women’s sneaker Incubus. In medieval folklore, an incubus was a demon who ravished women in their sleep.
- One firm tried to sell a de-icer in the United States by the name "Super-Piss."
- Nissan sought to sell a sports car in the United States in the early 1970s called "Fair Lady." It later sold better as the 240Z.
- The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "ke-kou-ke-la," meaning “bite the wax tadpole” or "female horse stuffed with wax" depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent. The result was "ko-kou-ko-le," which translates into "happiness in the mouth."
- The Honda Fitta was renamed Honda Jazz after discovering that "fitta" is Norwegian and Swedish slang for the female genitals
Naming Companies
- Interbrand (Omnicom)
- Landor (WPP)
- Namebase
- Origin Brand Consultants
- Strategic Name Development
See also
- Brand architecture
- Brand development
- Corporate identity
- List of company name etymologies
- Name generator
- Naming
- Naming firms
- Project code name
- Rebranding
- Seasonal packaging
References
- ^ Kohli, C., & LaBahn, D.W. (1997). Observations: Creating effective brand names: a study of the naming process. Journal of Advertising Research, 37.
- ^ Bloomfield, L. (1984). Language, University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226060675
- ^ Sousa, D. (2004). How the brain learns to read, Corwin Press. ISBN 1412906016
- ^ Guth, D.W. "A Few Words on Words."
- ^ Snyder Bulik, B. (2006). What’s in a name? More than you might think, study says. "Ad Age".
- ^ Cook, V.J., & Newson, M. (1996). Chomsky’s Universal Grammar: An Introduction, 2nd ed., Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0631195564
External links
- What Entrepreneurs Need to Know About ... Naming Your Company, Innovation Magazine, October 2006.
- Choosing a Company Name, The Sideroad, 2006.
- 8 Mistakes to Avoid When Naming Your Business, Entrepreneur.com 07 April, 2005
- Venture Capital: Renaming company entails risks, by JOHN COOK, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, February 28, 2003
- Monday name change for PwC, BBC NEWS, 10 June, 2002
- "What's in a name? For the pros, big bucks", U.S. News and World Report, 10/13/97