By Owen Fay . Posted on December 16, 2022Brand names are an essential means for people to remember a company’s identity; from that, they create their own viewpoints about the company. From the outside, it may seem that the brand illustrates just a name, logo, and colors, but instead, it describes the company’s attitude, credibility, quality, personality, and reliability. They are so powerful that they influence customers about what to expect from the business.
Branding means a lot to businesses regardless of their size. This is because the advancement of social media has given companies a chance to represent themselves to the world. Thus, they spend considerable time deciding on their brand’s identity, colors, theme, etc., to align it with the company’s core values and vision. They may also need to change the name of their brand, product, and teams to attract customers and ensure trust and loyalty from the beginning.
In this article, we are going to see the meaning of a brand name, how it influences customers, and a lot more about it. So, let us start with its meaning.
What is a Brand Name?
A Brand name, also known as a trademark name, is given a product or service by the owner or manufacturer of the organization. It can also be regarded as a symbol or a mark of that company. Each company or business will have its own unique name that others cannot copy.
It will help clients recognize and distinguish the product from others. When it comes to the source, sometimes it can be based on location/region, animals, and even the name of the manufacturer. Also, as it represents the main idea and benefits of the product, it should be chosen appropriately.
Even when selling the product, its brand name is used the most in conversation. Thus, it has unmatched importance compared to other branding features. The essential factor to keep in mind while thinking of a name is that it will be used to create awareness, loyalty, and trust among your customers.
Characteristics of a Good Brand Name
A good brand name can be appealing if it results from accurate and critical thinking. To avoid making brand-naming mistakes, it is important to learn how to decide on a name and its characteristics. It should:
- Be one-of-a-kind.
- Not be difficult to spell, recognize, and remember.
- Be easily translated and understood in other languages.
- Describe the product type.
- Reflect on the company’s vision, values, and behavior.
- Not highlight any wrong meaning in the same or another language.
- Summarize the product’s functionalities and advantages.
- Not look identical to other brands selling the same product.
Importance of Brand Name for Customers
The importance of a brand name goes much deeper than you can think of. Many companies are spending a fortune deciding on a compelling name, and why not. It will help build a better and unique brand identity, eventually establishing a powerful business reputation that goes a long way.
There are various essential factors depending on a brand name.
- It tells the story of how and why your product was created.
- It helps in analyzing your place in the online and offline market.
- It conveys the company’s vision, mission, ethics, and strategic values.
- It says how the community will be beneficial and how much you value the target audience.
- It describes the reliability and promises you have made.
- It reinforces customers’ trust.
- It helps the company stand out professionally.
All these factors help customers decide whether they should invest in the product. The overall reputation will be at stake if a product fails to fulfill the criteria. Thus it is beneficial to spend a lot of time selecting a name that stands out.
Why Brand Name Should be Changed
Nowadays, changing brand names is very common among companies. This is one of the widely used tactics to attract more customers. Even if you make any mistake while naming, changing it to a new and uncomplicated one is possible. But it is essential that the new name should be more beneficial than the previous one. There can be many reasons behind a name change, and each of them should influence your clients.
The first reason for changing names is to make them feel good to the customers. Depending on its contrast, words create different feelings in the customer’s mind, and thus they have a different impact too.
Another good reason to switch to a new name is that it should be easily enunciable, understandable, and recognizable to the audience. According to a study by Harvard Business Review, more investors are likely to be attracted if the brand name is short and straightforward. Also, a reduction in the length by 1 word in the brand name equals around $3.75 million market value for a mid-size company.
Companies change names even to suffice geographical expansion. Your business can have the capability to grow beyond boundaries. Under such circumstances, you don’t want customers to think that you provide only regional offers. Names can also be modified when there is brand confusion among clients, which can adversely affect lead generation.
Going behind time, you would have noticed many renowned companies changing their product name. Let us take some examples to make it more clear. The famous search engine Google was started earlier with the name BackRub. Similarly, Ralph Lifshitz changed his name to Ralph Lauren because, according to him, the name was not suitable for his brand.
Other than these two, here are some other firms that have changed their name. For example, Amazon was earlier known as Relentless, Sony was known by Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, and Yahoo was Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web.
Effect of Brand Name Change Over Customers’ Minds
A customer’s decision-making depends on how well your branding works, so brand awareness is a must. Customers are less likely to invest in brands that are lesser known to them, while they purchase from the ones with more credibility, trustworthiness, and value. So lesser-known brands face strong competition in the market.
If you have a few faithful customers, turning them into brand advocates can be your more prominent weapon to this challenge. Customers often purchase products that they hear from trustworthy people. Selecting or changing to a better name can also work because famous brands attract more customers. If you are dealing with one of the reasons mentioned in the previous section, you must also change your brand name to make it simpler for your audience.
The Importance Of Brand Name Testing
We now know the importance of a brand name and its impact on potential customers. So what’s the best way to find your brand name? Brand name testing!
Brand name testing is an important step in creating a successful business. A strong brand name can help a business stand out from competitors, attract customers, and build trust and loyalty. A brand name should be unique, memorable, and reflect the company’s mission and values. Testing the potential brand name with a target audience can help ensure that it resonates with the intended market and avoids potential negative associations. This can ultimately lead to better brand recognition and customer engagement.
Testing a brand name with Poll the People is easy. All you have to do is follow our guide through designing your test, choosing your audience, and analyzing the results. With Poll the People, automatic response rejection removes the poor responses, so they don’t appear in your results, giving you only the best feedback on your test. On other platforms, you will get about 80% ok responses. These platforms will still include the other 20% of bad responses in your results, giving you results that aren’t valuable. On our platform, you get 95-100% of the responses you need because we reject the 20% of bad responses before you see them.
With expert-built templates, a diverse user panel, and an easy-to-understand results dashboard, it’s quick and easy to choose the right brand name without blowing your budget.
Concluding Thoughts
In this digital age, when social media usage is becoming more and more prominent across countries, you must look after your brand and reputation very well. Your brand name carries much value. From promises to support, it creates a unique impression in customers’ minds which helps in drawing their attention. What name you decide can strengthen your brand or push it further away from the targeted audience. Create a memorable name for your customers with the help of Poll the People and see the difference yourself.
- How To Retain SEO Ranking After A Redesign - February 22, 2023
- Ultimate Guide: How to Write Brand Names - February 17, 2023
- 10 Best Practices for Using Video in Your Email Marketing Campaigns - February 8, 2023
