The “Name Game” Challenge: Creating That Ideal Brand Name and Archetype

Branding is more than finding a new name or image. It’s about developing a compelling promise and making the right impression, one that resonates and stands out. It is strategic, with the long-term goal of cultivating a relationship of trust and loyalty. But a clever and meaningful brand name will make that positive first impression that is so essential to attracting your target customers.

Our fascination with sometimes outrageous fashion brands extends from companies to products to even novel names for types of consumers: Baby Boomers, then Generation X, Y, and now Z. Millennials (that is, Generation Y, born between 1980 and 1995) are all the rage now, as they represent the biggest generation of spending power, spending $200 billion per year. They are also often social activists and very entrepreneurial. Deloitte’s 2014 survey found that 6 in 10 Millennials cited their company’s sense of purpose as part of the reason they chose their job, while only 12% identified “own personal benefit” as a priority. Furthermore, a 2014 Bentley University study revealed that 66% of millennials want to start their own business.

However, this market segment is very diverse and dynamic. Among Millennials, there are some interesting subgroups, each with compelling archetypal brand names, defined primarily by their values ​​and purchasing behavior. For example:

• Yuppies: young urban professionals, with a well-paying job and a prosperous lifestyle, a predecessor of the true Millennials. It’s not a new archetype (Newsweek cover story in 1986, the “Yuppie Year”), but it’s still used to describe the most successful types, those with lots of new money acquired before the 2008 recession.

• Muppies: Today’s version of the yuppie (ie the Millennial-Yuppie hybrid), the post-financial crisis Millennial, are also driven by ideals of success, status and their quest to be important, actually “cool” . But the path to that “desirable life” is not the same. Lehman’s collapse made it clear that the Muppies would not reap the same monetary and social rewards as earlier yuppies. You may be working in a prestigious law firm or bank, but you will soon be leaving for a new company or a company run by someone under 40. business to change the world.

• Hipsters: They probably live in trendy neighborhoods in Brooklyn (eg, Williamsburg) or San Francisco, are countercultural, value independent thinking, appreciate art and indie-rock, and are associated with avant-garde vintage fashion and preferences. more progressive compared to cultural preferences. protected primary consumers. They may even be trust fund graphic designers who enjoy warehouse parties.

• Yuccies – the newest archetype, a cultural offspring of yuppies and hipsters – the “young urban creatives.” Yuccies believes that hipsters are now mainstream, a generic. They describe themselves as more creative, with more valuable ideas, and believe that they deserve to pursue their dreams and even benefit from them.
Yuccies define themselves by their purchases, driven by both price and taste, as long as the material purchased validates their intellect. Named after writers, Warby Parker glasses appeal more to them because these cheap frames make it feel literary.

The challenge of creating catchy names extends to companies and products. A recent article in The Economist on “Nine Billion Company Names: Companies Are Devising Increasingly Silly Ways to Identify” revealed just how difficult it is these days to find that ideal name, one that conveys the essence of one’s personality. Of the brand. .

The name development business has never been more hectic due to the unprecedented rate of startups today and the ease and desire to go global, therefore seeking acceptance in many languages. There are some basic guidelines to create memorable names, for example, short and simple (2-3 syllables maximum), they should reflect the personality of the brand, evoke emotions, sound good and, of course, be distinctive and protectable. The technological boom has given rise to unique names like Google, which is derived from the mathematical term for ten to the power of 100 (a “googol”), and also has the advantage of being used as a verb. On the other hand, some naming experts have described Yahoo as “tediously wacko” and PayPal as all too familiar. Similarly, they see “Mondelez,” the new name for Kraft/Nabisco’s snacks division, as bland and “soulless,” with no human face on the company’s brand.

The pharmaceutical industry faces other challenges. They are highly regulated and most prescription drugs have names that primarily appeal to doctors who are obsessed with the most scientific or medical sounding names. For these Rx products, many pharmaceutical companies are using a new discipline, “Phonological”. This involves linking the raw sounds of vowels and consonants with the desired emotional impressions for new brands.

Research by linguists and neuroscientists has shown how certain speech sounds affect the emotional and subconscious relationship with a brand, even in foreign languages. For example, the use of “x”, “z” and “c” implies power and innovation, hence so many pharmaceutical names with these letters, for example, Nexium, Clarinex, Xanax, Zyban, etc. Similarly, the letter “x” is frequently exploited in the high-tech world, seeking an action connotation, eg “Matrix”, X-Files, etc.

While many companies are obsessed with developing names that stand out, even to the point of absurdity in some cases, personality and brand promise should always be the primary compass in developing that ideal brand name. Ultimately, common sense should prevail.