When you talk about branding, it’s more than just having a really good product or service. It’s more than profiting from a business and hitting target sales. When you say branding, it refers to your business’s identity – its impact, influence, and connection to consumers.
A brand is always a business. However, not every business can be a brand. A lot of time, work, and effort are put into the creation of a brand. But it’s something that boasts great reward once achieved. The moment you capture consumer’s hearts, your business will remain flying high for a very long time.
The very first step you have to take in your campaign to raise awareness for your brand is to choose the right name. See https://www.entrepreneur.com/topic/branding to learn more about this.
What Is In A Name?
Almost everything has a name, a title, or at least a term for reference. A name, after all, is a symbol. It’s an affirmation that something exists at this time and in this place. It captures the essence of every existing thing and being on this planet. It’s also what separates, what differentiates one thing from another.
People, for example, are named right after birth. This is to signify that new life is born. Someone uniquely different, someone with a bright promising future had just joined the living world. The naming process is also not something done on a whim. If you ask your parents about it, I’m sure they have some interesting stories about where or how they came up with your name.
What would you feel if you haven’t got a name? What would you feel if you’re referred to in an impersonal manner like being called “that person” or “that human”?
I bet that you’d definitely feel bad. After all, to be a given a name is to be given recognition. It’s an affirmation of your existence.
The same thing goes with businesses. If people refer to your business as “that store” or “that restaurant down 5 th avenue,” it can kind of make you feel defeated. After all the effort you put, all the time you spent rearing that business from the ground up, you would expect a little something more than just generic references to the place you worked so hard for.
If you don’t want your business to go unnoticed like this, then you should really start investing on branding. You have got to get your name out there and give your hard work the recognition it deserves.
But wait, you don’t even have a name yet – do you?
Coming Up With A Brand Name That Works
Don’t be an Anne or a John. Or, in other words, the first thing you have to remember about name creation is that you have to be original. Choosing run-off-the-mill names isn’t going to give your brand the identity that you would want it to have. Anything mediocre or recycled will only pass by people’s ears without notice.
If you are to choose a name for your business, you have to remember three things:
1. Originality
2. Simplicity
3. Appeal
First, let’s discuss originality.
Originality
I don’t think I can stress this enough: Nobody likes a copycat, alright? Sure, competition is inevitable in business and it wouldn’t be just you selling a certain product. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t give your business an original touch.
You can start with the name. Don’t take the easy way and just modify another business’s brand name (even if you see that they’re doing great in the industry). There are 171,476 words in the English Dictionary and that doesn’t even include slang, other languages, mashed-up words, etc. You can even check out unique names offered by this page, for example. Given that, there is absolutely no reason for you to copy – so don’t.
Simplicity
Do you know why single-word domains are so dang expensive? It’s because they’re easier to remember. I mean, not just remember even. They’re easier to write, pronounce, text, talk about, etc. The simpler your brand name is, the easier it sticks to people’s minds. A single-word business name usually does the trick.
Appeal
You got to give your brand some spunk! Say, your business’s name is original and simple like “Good” or “Sock.” But that is so boring, like 100% boring and bland. You can’t just take a random word and hope it becomes a brand. You need to add a twist or a story to it; get the people engaged to the history of the name. Building the appeal of your brand name is the best way to get people to remember it.
