Improveon naming guidelines

Naming Guidelines

1. Good naming starts with thorough analysis
a. Who are your customers?
b. What are their needs, feelings and emotions when using your service?
c. What do they like?
d. What are they driven by?
e. How do you want your customers to feel about your service / product?
f. How will/does your proposition differ from your competition?
g. What are your propositions core strengths in terms of what it will achieve
for your customers?
h. What names are your competitors using?
i. How will you want to use the name?
• What media will it be used in and what are the implcations of this
for your name/logo (TV, Advertising, Online, Social Media, Print)
j. What other language will surround your name?
• Other products / services
• Slogans
• Business units

2. Ensure your name reflects your brand
a. Is yours a value driven brand or a price driven brand?
b. How would you describe your brand if it were a person?
c. What is the purpose of your brand and how is it relevant to your
customers?
d. How would you like your brand to be positioned in the minds of your
customers?
e. What is your vision for your brand and how might this impact on the name
you choose? (Will you want to expand or diversify for example?)

3. Brainstorm names

Once you’ve done your thorough analysis it’s time to brainstorm to generate a list of
names. Following on you’ll find a table outlining the different types of names. Use
this table to generate a list of names for consideration. In doing this you might find a
dictionary useful.

davidgreen@improveon.co.uk www.improveon.co.uk 07753 430 557 01202 830601

Proper Dictionary Created

Descriptive: Purely descriptive of what the company, product or
Person
service does. Useful when a company strategy is to direct the bulk of Compound: Combining words (Firefox, Facebook)
(Dave)
brand equity (attention) to the company name. (Pension plan)

Imagistic / experiential: A direct connection to something real, a
Place
part of direct human experience. Usually literal in nature but presented Acronyms: (Quantas)
(Zurich)
with a touch of imagination. (Explorer, Navigator, United)

Re-purposed: (Adobe, Amazon, Fox, Yelp, Sapphire, Virgin) Alphanumeric: (Phones4U)

Abstract / Evocative: generaly short names that are either completely
made up or since their origins are so obscure they may as well have been
Imported: Making use of other dialects (Latin for Voice is Vox) made up. Usually evoke the positioning of a company, product or service
rather than describing a function or direct experience (Yahoo, Bebo,
Plaxo, Google)

Blends: Have two parts, at least one of which an be recognised as a real
Mis-spelled: (Digg instead of Dig, Flickr instead of Flicker)
word (Netscape = Net +Landscape, Wikipedia = Wiki + encyclopedia)

Tweaked words: are derived from words that have been slightly
Phrases: These names follow normal rules for combining words but
changed in pronunciation and spelling, commonly derived from adding or
are not compounds (Myspace, Stumbleupon, Improveon)
replacing a letter (ebay, itunes)

Affixed words: Unique names that result from taking a real word and
adding a prefix or suffix (Friendster, omnidrive)

Puns: modify words/phrases to suggest a different meaning (Farecast =
Forecast with fore replaced by fare)


4. Choosing your name

Now that you have a list of names use the following tools, as you see fit, to help you sift
and evaluate a shortlist of 3-5 for final consideration:

a. Trade mark distinctiveness
If your company, product or service has some of the following
characteristics you may find it necessary to protect it through registering it
as a trade mark:

• unique, with high intellectual property,
• Likely to be widely promoted with large budgets to support it
• In danger of being copied
• Likely to be licensed

If this is the case then the name you choose is likely to be towards the
suggestive, arbitrary, fanciful, inherently distinctive end of the spectrum. If
this is not the case then you may also consider names that sit towards the
descriptive and generic end of the spectrum.

Fanciful / Arbitrary Suggestive Descriptive Generic
inherently
distinctive

‘Prima facae’ Arbitrary Presumed to Not Not capable
– Self marks are be entitled registrable of
evident that immediately to trade unless it can distinguishing
it is eligible for mark be shown the company
registrable registration protection that product or
distinctive services
character
has been
acquired
through
extensive
use
Kodak Apple Blu-Ray Salty Hoover /
crackers Xerox /
Aspirin

b. Levels of engagement
• How much engagement will your name create?
• Will it be helpful in creating stories about your business?
• Is it easily translatable and meaningful?


• Does it work across geographical territories if this is required?
• Does the name distinguish the products/service benefits and qualities?
• Does it anticipate how the product or service might change in the
future?
• Is it distinctive and does it create a strong image in your mind?
• Is the name easy to pronounce, recognise and remember?

Answer the questions above and use the following table to plot your names in
terms of their levels of engagement. You might also like to use this table to
plot some of your competitors names so you can see where your names fits
against theirs in terms of levels of engagement. Score 5 as high engagement
and 0 as no engagement.

Proper names Dictionary names Created names
5

4

3

2

1

0


c. Name evaluation

Use this tool to evaluate your names. Score each name from 0 – 5 across
each of the categories and then total up the scores to arrive at a final
ranking. At this stage you may also like to have some of your shortlisted
names ‘mocked’ up by a designer to get a feel for how they might look in a
logo and working across different media.

Name Name Name Name
1 2 3 4
Appearance – How will the name look as a visual signifier, in
a logo, an ad, on a billboard?

Distinctive – How differentiated is the name from my
competition?

Depth – How much meaning and association is there with
the name?

Energy – How vital and full of life is the name?

Humanity – A measure of the name’s warmth and ability to
build relationships.

Positioning – How relevant is the name to the positioning of
your company, product or service?

Sound – How the name sounds and how easily it will be
spoken by your customers?

Buzz – Has your name got that certain something that
makes people lean forward and want to learn more about
your business?

Trade mark – How likely is it that your name will be
available for trade mark should you require it?


5. Final selection

Now that you’ve tested and evaluated your names you’re ready to make your final
selection.

In order to do this you’ll need to check that your name is available across the following
areas. If it isn’t available across all the areas you require, you might need to consider
one of the other names that made your shortlist.

• Company registration – If you are setting up as a limited company you can check
the availability of your name using Companies House webcheck service
• Trade mark – You can check for availability of your name as a trade mark on the
Intellectual Property Office Trade mark enquiry database
• Domain names – A website is likely to be a very important part of your business
and you can check for domain name availability on various different sites online.
domaincheck.co.uk is one of those sites
• Social media sites – These could also play an important role in how you market
your business. You may also want to secure the sites to prevent others from
damaging your business reputation or setting up in competition. You can check
availability across multiple sites using NameChk


Improveon naming guidelines

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