Great brand names are very powerful – they differentiate you from the competition and make an emotional connection with your audience. At Story, we believe a great brand name is the result of a carefully planned, clear and methodical process gaining stakeholder buy-in at every stage. The resulting name will encapsulate your brand position in a word or two and be distinctive and meaningful. Gut reaction works for the gifted few, but most great brands are based on indepth market research and analysis.

The process
Every name generation project is unique, but if you examine the most admired brands, the one thing that becomes apparent is that they leave no doubt as to what their brand position is. Through a systematic process utilising proven tools and techniques, case studies and workshops we will help you clearly articulate your brand position and establish a strategic set of criteria upon which to establish your brand name.

Workshop 1 – Types of name
The process begins with context setting. Great names aren’t simply plucked out of the air: first you need to understand the types of names available, how they work and what feels right for your purpose.

Story split names into six key categories: Descriptive; Heritage; Alpha-numeric; Synthetic; Metaphoric and Evocative. By examining the successful qualities of existing company names we can establish which category of name we should develop.

1. Descriptive brand names: Descriptive brand names are often drawn from a small pool of relevant keywords and are useful if you need people to understand your proposition quickly . An example would be Vision Express. However, descriptive names are often restrictive, making it difficult to expand your offering.

2. Heritage brand names: These are often named after the founder or a historic product e.g. Ford. These names take time before they resonate with consumers and are often inappropriate for newly launched products, services or companies. It is only when the name is synonymous with a certain level of service that its strength is demonstrated.

3. Alpha-numeric brand names: Alpha-numeric names, e.g. KFC, often arise because their existing names are descriptive and do not support the shift in their business strategy. They may also arise because of a merger or a more global appeal transcending language, e.g. HSBC or O2. Alpha-numeric names have the advantage in some cases of avoiding lengthy trademark registration process.

4. Synthetic brand names: Synthetic names eliminate the potential for trademark conflict. Examples include Google and Kodak. For companies looking for a hassle-free way to secure a domain name without a modifier, this is the path of least resistance. A disadvantage is that they can lack gravitas, but this can be countered by building names based upon Greek or Latin roots.

5. Metaphoric brand names: Metaphoric names are very popular online, an obvious example being the web browsers, Explorer, Navigator, Safari etc. They make sense to the consumer because they relate directly to the consumer's experience and because they require little explanation. Metaphoric names are also easily approved in a corporate process. However, because they are so intuitive, metaphoric names are very popular, making them harder to trademark.

6. Evocative brand names: Evocative brand names are more difficult to define but generally they are brand names that challenge conventions and therefore stand out from the crowd. For example, Apple deliberately tried to distance itself from other computer companies like IBM, NEC, SAP and Texas Instruments. Other examples include Virgin and of course Story.

Workshop 2 – Establishing criteria
The next part of the process is the most crucial: criteria setting. Without this element, name generation becomes hopelessly subjective and disputes impossible to solve.

Criteria setting is like writing a job description – it allows you to agree what qualities you need from a name and how collectively you will agree on the winner. What we will attempt to do, then, is gather a set of criteria – both emotive and practical – that will be used to guide name generation brainstorms and then narrow down the output to a shortlist and, eventually, a winner.

The emotive criteria will vary according to your brand, but the practical ones are likely to include such qualities as:

• Simple to say and spell
• Memorable
• Difficult to mispronounce
• Free from negative connotations
• Available URL
• It must not infringe on an existing trademark

Workshop 3 – Shortlist
In the evaluation process, we typically use the emotive criteria to produce a longlist of names. The practical criteria then come into play, narrowing the list down to a final shortlist for selection.

We then use use our localisation teams to check the suitability of the names in the markets in which they will be deployed. These teams will ensure the shortlisted names have no negative connotations and will be readily understood and easily pronounced by your staff or customers. At this point, and depending on the nature of the naming project, you may want to get your lawyers involved to check for trademark availability.

With that done, you can proceed to mark your shortlist and choose your winner. Names that initially make you feel uncomfortable should not be dismissed – often these are the ones with greater impact and differentiation in the marketplace. For that reason, we recommend allowing the names to sit with you for a while – favourites don’t always rise to the top immediately, they need time to sink in.

If all of that sounds like a complicated procedure, imagine trying it without a proper structure – chances are you’ll spend a lot of time in meetings arguing until someone pulls rank and chooses their favourite. And that’s why you need a naming process – while not everyone will get the name they wanted, they will have helped set the criteria, inputted to the marking and bought into the whole process, ensuring that the final outcome is one everyone can support.