I recently had the opportunity to lead a branding discussion at the Maryland Innovation Center and, amongst all of the great questions, one in particular stood out to me and my team, “What’s the story behind your name, insight180?” Honestly, I love it when people ask about our name. It gives us an opportunity to elaborate on who we are, how we’ve evolved, and who we’re becoming. It helps us tell our unique story, something we really appreciate in a good brand name. A good name can do many things: evoke an emotion (like trust or confidence); relay a purpose; create some fun and elicit curiosity. Still, other brand names may be less than inspiring but too established to change (like GEICO – what the heck does that even mean?).
When it comes to choosing a brand name, the most important question isn’t “What’s in a name?” but rather “What else does our name say about our brand?” Read on for our top 5 questions to consider when picking a brand name.
1. Should your name tell your story?
While telling your brand’s story is important, you don’t always have to do that through your name. Sometimes it makes more sense to include it on the About Us page of your website or in marketing material. Recently, as one of our clients was going through a brand refresh, we talked about changing the company name. Because of the company’s long history and established brand recognition within their industry, they were hesitant to change it. Instead, we decided to tell the story of their brand and how it’s evolved to mean even more to their clients and their team. Focusing on their expertise and special sauce, and really painting the picture of who they are and why they do what they do.
If you can find a way to tease your story through your name, great. We did. We sometimes get asked, “Why not insight360,” instead of insight180? We think of “a 180” as a shift in perspective or change of direction. To do a 180, you have to pause (at least for a moment) – and that’s when we can offer insights into your brand. In other words, we don’t want you to leave us as the same brand you were when you walked in. We want to help transform and differentiate your brand.
2. Does your name allow for “brand play”?
When considering a brand name, it’s good to think about the way you will be communicating with your audience. When we chose “insight” as part of our name, we knew we could play off of that word: vision, hindsight, foresight, and more. Think about your social media plan. How does your name translate in social posts or advertising? Is it short and sweet and easily taggable (without having to revert to an acronym)? If your name is too long, it could be tough for people to tag you on platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter, resulting in a minimized reach.
Something else that doesn’t “play well” as a brand name? Acronyms. While you might think it’s a good idea to literally spell out what your company does, few people are going to remember it correctly. And everyone wants to shorten it. (Hint: keep it short from the beginning). People tend to want to say a word, versus spelling out a company name. Acronyms do not often lend themselves to good “mouth feel.” Plus, brands with acronym names tend to relay a serious demeanor, like government (NSA), financial institutions (AIG), or airports (BWI). If that’s not the brand personality you want to convey, then you run the risk of misrepresenting yourself.
3. Is it easy to say/read?
We’re all for clever wordplay when it serves a purpose, but it doesn’t do you any favors when it comes to naming your brand. Using unconventional spelling can lead to confusion about how your name is pronounced (like Fage, Hermes, Adobe) and can result in fewer people successfully finding your business online. Hard-to-spell words can also be a deterrent. Although I’m a huge proponent of the Conscious Capitalism movement, the name gets misspelled a lot! It could also lead to assumptions about your brand and could alienate your client base – like your target audience is too young or sophisticated, that you value fun over competency, flash over substance, and so on.
Similarly, you want to ensure the URL you choose for your website is easy for your audience to find as well. If you don’t have a clear URL you may need to abbreviate or add extra words to your web address, making it harder for people to find you online. Avoid complications down the line and do your best to secure a URL for your proposed brand name before you create everything.
4. Is it memorable?
This is a big one. You don’t want your name to be so generic that it “blends in” with the rest of the landscape, but you also don’t want it to be so “out there” that it turns people off or seems irrelevant to the service you’re providing. While it sometimes works to “define” what your company does in your name (UnitedHealth Group, Home Depot, Dell Technologies, Marathon Petroleum), most of the time you simply want the name to seem like a “familiar” term for your industry. Where the memorable part comes in is finding a way to make the familiar seem distinctive. It can play off of the service you provide or one of your company’s core values. Avoid naming your business with initials, acronyms, or overused, generic terms like “general,” “technologies,” and “services.”
5. Does it evoke emotion?
The purpose of emotional branding is to create a sense of connection and loyalty between the brand and the customer. But no pressure! (Right?). Ideally, you want your brand name to elicit some sort of positive emotion from your client base: trust, curiosity, enthusiasm, joy. If it seems hard to accomplish this, that’s because it is. That’s why at insight180 we use a proprietary brand positioning process that helps us to understand the who, what, and why of a company first before plunging into the naming process. By determining your company’s core values and brand personality traits we are better equipped to identify the emotion rooted at the center of your services.
Finding the right name for your company is important. We appreciate that it can be a frustrating process. We’d like to remind you, however, that it can also be fun. By digging deep – and asking yourself these five questions – you’ll no doubt be inspired by some of the answers. At the end of the day, you are your brand representative. You need to be excited by the name you choose. Why? Because if you’re not, chances are good you’ll be going through this whole process again sometime soon. If you’re getting ready for a name change, service update, or need some branding direction, give us a call. We’d love to help.
