Identity Crisis: Whats In A Name?

by Jeff Hilton

Many factors contribute to brand equity from packaging and advertising activity to sales promotions, merchandising and even your Web site. Virtually everything you do to promote your brand to your customers plays a role in increasing brand equity. But it takes years, even decades to build a strong brand. The speed at which your brand identity builds in value is directly related to several factors.These include how much money you are spending to promote the brand and boost awareness; the category in which you sell and the competitive environment in which you operate; and the strategic approach and messaging you utilize in your marketing outreach.

Of course, different brands are at varying stages of building brand identity. Some have already had years of consistent exposure; others are just getting started. Lets briefly evaluate both ends of the spectrum and outline key strategies for consideration.

Born Identity

From our brand consultancy point-of-view, few activities are as exciting as bringing a new brand to life. The first task is to research and develop a long list of name options, whether for the company or for a specific product or ingredient. We generally recommend outlining parameters for name development including:

The initial brainstorming process will usually produce a list of 200+ names for discussion.Your goal should be to get this list down to a manageable 25 to 50 or so and eventually a dozen ranked in order of preference. Remember to not lock in to a favorite too early, until after initial trademark searches have been conducted. As most of us have witnessed, the results of those searches can change everything.

Once a name is identified, the other key part of corporate identity is developing a strong logo design to represent the brand. A good logo should be graphically simple, visually focused, communicate clearly, compliment the desired brand positioning and image, and work well in both large and small applications.

Youre Not Getting Older, Just Better

Many mature and highly successful companies and brands in the natural products industry have invested years of brand building to support their positioning and identity in the marketplace. However, recently many have modified their names and/or logo designs to reflect a change in focus or just to provide a more contemporary makeover of sorts.

How risky is it to meddle with an existing identity? It depends. The marketing history books are rife with examples of companies that tried to modify an existing identity and failed (think Coke Classic). If you are contemplating changing an existing name or visual identity, consider the following:

Once you have explored these and other related questions, you will be in a better position to make the right decision.

In summary, theres no need to be afraid of change. But I would warn against making significant changes founded in speculative opinion rather than market intelligence. Brand identity shifts should be carefully weighed and meticulously executed. Once the deed is done, there is seldom an opportunity to turn back.

Jeff Hilton is the president and chief marketing officer of Integrated Marketing Group (IMG), a full-service public relations agency based in Salt Lake City. Contact Hilton at (801) 538-0777 or visit www.imgbranding.com.