Because brand names are such valuable assets, it’s essential to get brand naming right first time. Our strategic approach is based on a proven and methodical 5-step brand naming process which aligns naming with the brand and business strategy, reinforces brand purpose and uses filters for trade mark, unregistered rights, domain name and social media availability. Detailed trade mark searches are conducted by our expert trade mark attorney partners.
Brand naming strategy
Branding began to denote ownership - a crude branding iron applied to an animal's haunch. Trade marks followed in the 1880's with brands often featuring the founder's name as a mark of consistent quality, such as Ford, Cadbury and Heinz. Today, with crowded trade mark registers, a digital transformation and the Green Industrial Revolution underway, we need a 21st century approach.
When you have the opportunity to create a memorable brand name to communicate your brand purpose, why would you settle for any old name, especially one with risks attached? Creating a distinctive, meaningful brand name which supports business strategy requires more than the ability to brainstorm interesting words, because to fully realise the potential of the process you have to be able to weave together brand purpose, business strategy and design, with a protectable name that encapsulates the brand's positioning and value proposition.
Our 5 step brand naming process integrates purpose and positioning with inspiration to create compelling brand names that come to life in word marks and designs that can be protected around the world, as word marks and figurative designs. Our designers can then emphasise the brand name's meaning through creative logo design and motion graphics to bring the brand name to life. And we can do all of this in one seamless process.
Our brand naming process
Brand naming requires a clear understanding of business strategy, the brand's competitive positioning, the market context, together with expert knowledge of the brand protection and trade mark process. From the outset, we recognise the brand name will become a valuable brand asset, which only retains value if you can protect it in all your key markets - and avoid infringing any other brand's existing rights.
We avoid unsuitable choices by filtering all name candidates for pronunciation, linguistics, cultural double-meanings and trade mark and domain checks – only proposing names with a high chance of achieving trade mark and domain name registration. This ensures that we maintain momentum and only deliver viable shortlist name candidates that meet the brief. It also means our naming process is well suited to fast-track projects, when time is of the essence, such as our work creating the Finalto brand in just 72 hours and Byyd and Encyclis in a few hours more.
Once the final name is agreed, our naming consultants work with our trade mark attorneys to secure trade mark registrations around the world and then manage them with trade mark watching services that alert any potentially conflicting applications, delivering an end-to-end brand naming service.
With so many more marks being registered across the world, possible trade mark infringements are always a risk, so we consider innovative ways of naming new brands, including using numbers, unseen letters and phonetic equivalents. Read our opinion articles on Branding by numbers, What's in a name and Green branding.
View our brand naming case studies including our recent project to create a new name for Covanta Europe. Encyclis is evidence that our brand naming orocess works time and time again.
Product brand names
The choice of name is also crucial to any product’s success. It must fully support a product’s promise to its customers, partners or other stakeholders, whilst being memorable, distinctive and relevant. By attracting and engaging its target audience, a good product name will enhance awareness, differentiate from competitors, support the desired brand experience, and build trust.
As global markets become ever-more competitive, distinctive product brands – fully protected as trade marks – become increasingly valuable as business assets, as well as being differentiators for their owners.
IP strategy, trade marks and brand asset management
Our brand strategy services include how to avoid trade mark infringements and protect brand intellectual property, such as new brand names.
We use specialist expert advisers to audit brand IP portfolios to assess whether there are assets that can be better secured to increase value or can be retired or sold once they are no longer relevant, saving cost.
Our experts conduct trade mark searches in any market in the world, and then assist with trade mark registrations. We can organise other services such as trade mark watching - monitoring new filings to ensure that no infringements occur - to ensure that the value of trade marks are fully protected.
Web domains
Innternet domains are also an important business asset. We propose domains that are relevant to the brand name, assessing the availability of domains early in the process, and offering alternatives that are logical, cost-effective and memorable. Where required, we negotiate and purchase suitable domains.
We also manage domains for our clients, ensuring that they are held securely and renewed automatically.
For more information about our brand naming services in London and across the world contact one of our experts.
Our naming services
- Brand naming
- Product naming
- Product name extensions and product tiering
- Sub branding
- Brand naming architectures
- IP strategy
- Trade mark searches
- Trade mark protection
- Internet domain strategy
- Internet domain acquisition
- Trade mark watching services
- IP asset management
See our brand naming case studies
Read Peter Matthews' Brand Naming Guide blog