Brand Names

After doing initial research about existing brand names and branding, we investigated the process that company goes through when choosing brand names. There are many factors that go into choosing a logo, including the consideration of desirable properties, including connotations, relevance and memorability. There are also branding objectives, including establishing a particular image, identifying a target market, fostering brand loyalty and market segmentation. We found that brands use a branding criteria when choosing their brand name, including compatibility with the product image, memorability and trademark availability, as brands cannot share the same name as another.

Kohli & LaBahn (1997) state that there are five stages of brand naming: 

1) Specifying the objectives of branding. 

2) Creation of candidate brand names.

3) Evaluation of candidate brand names.

4) Choice of brand name.

5) Trademark registration.

We found that some main resources for name creation are individual creative thinking, group brainstorming, considering existing names (competitors) and reference books (e.g. dictionary or thesaurus). 

With our research, we began to think about some brand names for our brand. We wanted something memorable that would not be too difficult to pronounce, relatively short and simple, but not simple enough that it would get lost within a web search. 

Some of the names that we thought of during our initial discussion include:

Upal, Unipal, Edge, Fixer, Dentless, Sense, Fuse Media, Tone Media, Neon. 

We liked that these names are short, catchy and memorable. Our main target audience for our company is young people who would be drawn in by an interesting, fun brand name, rather than a boring one, and would be put off by something too complicated and long. 

Upon discussion and further thought, we decided our top choice for a brand name is 'Edge'. We chose this name because it is short, simple but memorable. It isn't a complicated word to remember or pronounce, so people who speak other languages would not have trouble with reading the brand name, so it would be able to be used worldwide. Our company will be aimed at young people, particularly students, so we wanted a name that would be easy to read and pronounce as many University students in the UK are international students and may not speak English as their first language. We thought out of our initial ideas for a brand name, Edge was the simplest of list that would be easiest for those to pronounce and read as it is an English word but only one syllable and not too complicated. We also thought as it is short, young people would find it interesting and be curious about the brand, unlike a longer brand name which would not spark interest or curiosity in young people. 

References:

Kohli & LaBahn (1997) Observations: Creating Effective Brand Names: A Study of the Naming Process. Journal of Advertising Research. Vol. 37(1). P. 67.