How to name a brand, here are 6 tips!

Written at the beginning: The success of big brands can cover up many illusions, and the same is true for brand names. Not all brand names of big brands are good naming methods.

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In the previous article, I only solved one problem, that is, what exactly is a brand "How to name a brand (Part 2)" . A lot of space was spent explaining the brand from its origin, reason for existence, and purpose of the brand. Then, from the perspective of information theory, an overall trend judgment of the brand is given: the brand has great potential now and in the future.

Of course, only when you understand what a brand is can you name it, otherwise everything will be a mess.

This is the second in a series of articles.

After clarifying the meaning of the brand, we have a clear impression of the brand in our minds. Next, I will sort out the naming status of several major categories of brands on the market to find out the naming patterns of most brands.

This article mainly classifies the existing brand names on the market to see how most companies currently name their brands, and summarizes the current naming routines in the industry.

After collating a large amount of information, it can be generally divided into six categories . The details are as follows:

1. Name the company after the founder

2. Use brand names to highlight a culture

3. Use some specific things to name

4. Naming related to the industry or product

5. Use the brand name to highlight the company’s proposition or commitment

6. Name the product directly after its place of origin

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1. Name the company after the founder

This type of brand name must be uncommon in the market and exists in all walks of life. The founder names a brand based on his or her last name or first name, or personal information .

The food industry includes McDonald's , Xibei Youmiancun (Xibei is the decomposition of the surname Jia), Wang Shouyi Thirteen Spices, Yang Mingyu Braised Chicken, etc. In the advertising industry, there are Leo Burnett, Ogilvy, Hua & Hua, etc. In the automobile industry, there are Mercedes-Benz and Buick. Not to mention the clothing industry. Even in small shops on the street, you can see signs named after the founder. In short, there are founders in every industry who name their companies after themselves.

This type of naming pattern is very simple. It is either named directly according to one's own name, or it is a combination of some founder's information plus some other information.

[Summary] The naming pattern of the first category of brands: founder information + other information

So is it a good idea to name it this way? Seeing that many brands that follow this naming model are doing so well today, it seems that naming after the founder is a good idea.

Analysis: In fact, for startups , it is not a good idea to name the brand using the founder’s relevant information, unless the founder himself has a certain fame. In this case, the founder will have his own communication power and will help the brand to spread better. Otherwise, the founder’s name will be an unfamiliar word to the general audience, and it will cost a lot for the general public to remember it.

2. Use the brand name to highlight a cultural heritage

What's the meaning? That is, the brand name is an obscure word, or a combination of several meaningless words. The name seems profound and difficult to understand .

There are many names of this kind.

For example, the home appliance brands Haier and Gree. Just looking at the literal meaning, it is difficult to understand what Haier and Gree mean and what product categories the brands represent. Heilan Home and Bosideng in the clothing industry; Huiyuan and Jinmailang in the food and beverage industry; BYD, Chery, Audi , etc. in the automobile industry.

Such brand names that look very obscure from a literal point of view exist in all industries. For ordinary consumers, it is also difficult to understand the specific meaning of the brand name. It is completely an abstract new word. However, this type of brand name is still common, and there are many newly born brands that are using this naming model.

[Summary] The second type of brand naming routine: the combination of new words to form a completely new word.

By breaking down each word and then recombining them separately, or naming it by translating English into Chinese, it reveals an incomprehensible sense of depth that has nothing to do with product or industry information. It is a completely new word.

Analysis : This type of brand name is actually the most undesirable, because the more difficult the phrase is, the fewer people know it, and the more difficult it is to spread. Of course, there are some people who choose an English name in order to look more foreign. This kind of naming may indeed give consumers a sense of foreignness when it first appears in their eyes, but it only conveys a sense of foreignness, wasting the most important communication opportunity of the brand name.

3. Use some specific things to name

Add specific animal names, plant names, or some original cultural symbols to the brand name .

This type of naming is very popular in today's brand world. The "Zoo", "Orchard" and "Botanical Garden" composed of various brands are quite interesting.

For example, Apple is directly linked to fruits, and Guazi is linked to nuts; Tmall , Three Squirrels , Kaola, Cainiao, etc. are named after animals ; Septwolves and Peacebird are in the clothing industry; Red Bull, Mengniu, Six Walnuts, and Golden Dragon Fish are in the food industry, etc. Some of the brands named using primitive cultural symbols include Great Wall Lubricants, Yellow Crane Tower Tobacco, Alibaba , Hongqi Automobile, Snow Beer, etc.

This type of brand name directly incorporates the original cultural information of human society into the brand name. Modify animal names, plant names, and cultural symbols, and link them to your own product attributes to form a brand name.

[Summary] The third brand naming routine: specific thing name + other combination information

Among these brands, there is a common phenomenon that, although many brand names do not involve specific names of things, their extended brand images are often represented by an animal or plant, such as JD's electronic dog, Meituan 's kangaroo, and QQ's penguin image. . .

Analysis: This type of naming is considered a better naming method among the six major categories of brand names. It borrows animals, plants or special cultural symbols and does not cost a lot to educate consumers because consumers already know these things. But it also has a fatal problem: how to perfectly link its own products with a specific thing.

4. Naming related to the industry or product

This type of brand name either indicates an industry attribute, allowing people to know it is a certain industry at a glance, or expresses product-related characteristics through the brand name .

Among the first three categories of brand names, we see that many brand names have nothing to do with products or industries. Just looking at the brand name, we have no idea what they sell specifically. However, the brand names in the fourth category, which is summarized in this small section, more or less show industry characteristics, which make people think of related products at a glance.

For example, in the food industry, Coca-Cola and Nongfu Spring, the brand name represents the industry’s products and is both a brand and a product.

Gankang and Jinsuozi in the pharmaceutical industry; Ping An Insurance and Taikang Life in the insurance industry; Didi , Alipay , Meitu , Toutiao , Dianping and other internet brands. This type of brand name is directly linked to the brand’s own products or industry, allowing people to know what the brand does at a glance.

Didi is a good example. Originally, Didi was a synonym for traditional taxi vehicles, and now it is also a well-known brand name. The brand is completely linked to the industry, so that consumers will know its products when they mention the brand.

[Summary] The fourth brand naming routine: product attributes + other information

The key point in naming this type of brand is to try to link the product with the brand, then simplify the combination, add some other information, so that the brand name is easy to read, easy to spread and remember.

Analysis: This type of naming is considered to be a relatively good naming method among the current naming methods. In the previous article, I said that the purpose of a brand is to reduce the cost of consumer choice. This naming method, where the brand is the product, allows consumers to know what you are selling at a glance and can also reduce communication costs.

5. Use the brand name to highlight the company’s proposition or commitment

For the sake of ease of classification, I will temporarily classify them as the company's claims and commitments. What's the meaning? That is, the brand name expresses the company's wishes or propositions, conveys a promise to consumers , and is a positive word. This type of brand name is still mainstream today and can be found everywhere.

For example, the Internet used car brand Uxin is easy to understand just from its literal meaning, and it conveys an excellent and trustworthy brand concept.

The electrical appliance brands include Midea, Konka, and Changhong; the food industry includes Fortune and Holiland; the travel industry includes Changan Automobile, Roewe Automobile, and Juneyao Airlines; the clothing industry includes Anta and Hengyuanxiang, etc. They all convey the company's positive brand concept through a word with positive meaning or a combination of words. A brand is the promise of a product, the proposition of a company, and of course, a good message conveyed to consumers.

[Summary] The fifth brand naming pattern: corporate proposition - positive, beautiful words or word combinations.

Analysis: Using a brand name to highlight a company's proposition or promise is actually from a higher-level perspective. The assumption in this case is that most consumers already know the brand and its products. However, the reality for startups is that their brand awareness is seriously insufficient, so the promise that the brand name gives to consumers is just the brand’s own wishful thinking.

6. Name the product after its origin

There are many brand names of this kind, especially in the wine industry. In the beer industry, there are Tsingtao Beer, Harbin Beer and Chongqing Beer. Moutai, Luzhou Laojiao, and Jiannanchun in the liquor industry; HNA , Shenzhen Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, etc. in the aviation industry, as well as the invisible small brands formed by various local cuisines and local characteristics in the streets and alleys, are also brands.

[Summary] The sixth brand naming routine: place name + product attribute information

Analysis: The prerequisite for naming a product directly after the place of origin is that the place of origin itself has added value to the product. For example, Maotai Town is to Maotai as Jingdezhen is to ceramics. If the origin itself has no added value, it will instead be a communication barrier for the brand, because consumers must first understand the origin information.

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The above six categories are the brand naming routines I have summarized on the market . They cover most of the brand naming patterns, and these patterns are being continued. Each pattern lists some well-known brands . You might as well pick a brand name at random and see if it falls into my categories.

So, are these existing naming routines all good naming methods? After all, each category is supported by successful cases of big brands.

If you make this judgment and copy the naming pattern of successful brands, you will be making the wrong judgment. Many branding people name their brands by looking at how big brands are named, and then copy the patterns of the big brands. They really don’t understand brands.

The success of a successful brand has many aspects, which may be the product, the channel chain, or the means of communication. The final impression of a big brand can easily give people a misleading impression that everything about a successful brand is successful and good. Those who make brands think that others have good brand names, while those who make products may think that others’ products are awesome…

Therefore, the above classification of brand naming and the examples listed cannot prove which naming model is the best, nor can the success of big brands prove that their names are good.

So let’s look back at the six major brand naming patterns listed above, as well as the examples of big brands I listed. Never use the naming patterns of big brands to support your own naming, because you can’t say that the success of a big brand is due to its name.

And every time we name a brand, the brand is still in its birth stage, it is the start-up stage of the enterprise. The model at this time cannot be compared with the existing big brands at all.