Since I spend a lot of time talking about company names, today, I want to give company taglines their due. While your unique company name may begin to tell the story of your brand, your tagline can further build on the intrigue. If the human tendency is to think literal for naming, that tendency becomes even more pronounced when you are trying to sell a client on a great brand-building company tagline. When clients are thinking function, function, function, I gently try to remind them of context. Since your three primary brand identity elements of name, tag, logo are more about “setting the stage” for the sale than actually making it, a tagline limited only to the “what” of what we do can be a giant missed opportunity. A missed opportunity for what, ask my two readers. A missed opportunity to stand for something larger than yourself and your own commercial gain. This is why, in brand discovery, we get into bigger picture issues of vision and values. Because if we can identify a point of target intersect, a place where the company’s beliefs overlap with customer vision and values, that’s a solid brand position. If we can capture the essence of that in a simple tagline, all the better.
Company name first, company tagline second
I know a lot of company naming agencies present name options with taglines. Over the years, I’ve really come to dislike this practice. To each his/her own, I suppose, but I think it’s a short-cutting of something ripe with possibility. The advantages of having a final name selection in place (including legal clearance) prior to developing taglines are:
- We now have the benefit of all the conversation held around the name options; odds are there were many strong contenders and the client had a lot to say about each and every one. Can any of the juice around those other names become inspiration for the tagline?
- The name is strong in many ways, but not all. Can we use the tagline to round your story out?
- Generating multiple taglines for multiple name options is exhausting. I think it’s akin to “using creative as a search for strategy” — something I’ve long since retired. It’s bad business, inefficient both for clients and for myself, and demoralizing for the creative talent involved.
By way of example, I want to salute two great taglines.
Instead of talking about my own work like an egomaniacal, coked-up chef (wouldn’t it be more fun just to call me — wouldn’t it make for a better story?), I just want to use two great taglines to illustrate at least some of what I like and why.
Dow Scrubbing Bubbles – ya know, the bath stuff? No, that’s not the tagline. It’s (as if I need to tell you):
We work hard so you don’t have to.
First, it’s conversational over wordplay (sometimes okay) and punniness (careful, kid!) Second, they tie the us-side into a direct human benefit. Most companies get lost (and lose all of their marketing muscle) in a world of me-centrism. Third, the previously mentioned benefit… it’s enormous! Less work? Are you freaking kidding me? I’m writing taglines here! Who’s got time to scrub, and that’s assuming I even know how to scrub. Come to think of it, maybe I should spray some on the laptop right now. Maybe those little dudes can help with this blog post? Fourth, the common sense inherent in the line is almost Franklinian; with a practical magic like that at work, I can think of this as a very practical purchase… and not the indulgence it probably is. (For what it’s worth, I do use this stuff on everything. With bubbles on my side, I can!)
USAA – the insurance company for veterans and their families:
We know what it means to serve.
Okay, so here there is some wordplay, but look at how good it is! It’s not clunky; you can read it as a simple statement without feeling goofy. What other brilliant thing did they do here? They tied their how promise – a qualitative distinction around the typically-to-be-avoided-at-all-costs abstraction of “service” – into their why! While I don’t know for sure it’s authentic, it certainly feels true for them. Relevant and resonant? I’d say their targets would appreciate the sentiment. Differentiating? Well, for their primary audience, I think they captured the difference already in the brand… and knocked it out of the park. Somebody’s getting a fan letter for their company tagline…
Company name types are the various categories professional naming agencies look at when generating name possibilities for your business or product. If you are just getting started in this process, it may be helpful for you to think about two things:
- Which names appeal to you – a list of companies and products with brand names you admire, especially those outside your industry, may provide direction and insight. In hopes of igniting your own thoughts, I’ll share my list of great company names. If I were in your shoes, on the client side of the branding equation, I’d be mentioning these names to my professional naming consultant: Tesla®, UnderArmour®, FitBit®, Marcus® by Goldman Sachs®, Coldstone Creamery®, Accenture®, Nest®, Zazzle®, The Honest Company®, and Lululemon®.
- Do you recognize a pattern in the names you like? If so, that’s probably because you prefer one or two company name types over the others. Even more helpful for your company naming agency: knowing which categories you don’t like and understanding why.
Company Name Types
Just one more thing before we dive into all of the various company name types, a big caveat for you: this list of company name types is by no means comprehensive. It’s more like a starter course. It’s antipasto, okay?
Also, lots of hairs could be split over how to precisely classify a group or a name within that group. But I don’t have that kind of hair. So, apologies to the angrily commenting mobs who seem to so enjoy mucking up my interwebs. We aren’t going to do that today. We are a peaceful lot. We will digest this internet-based information in a neutral and easy-going manner. We’re Switzerland, okay?
COINED OR CREATED COMPANY NAMES
Yeah, the title of this category sounds kinda dumb. I mean, they’re all created, right? I coulda said “Made-up Names,” but that’s even goofier. (Not that I’m against goofy, as this blog will no doubt prove beyond a shadow.) By calling this name type created, I simply mean a whole new word has been brought into the universe. Some of these will have direct connections to the English, Greek, Latin or otherwise meaningful root; some won’t. When working in this arena, we also pay great attention to euphonics (good sounds) and mnemonics (ease of recall) – but all of this will work better by example…
Examples of created company names from my name portfolio: OrgoDomo®, Sequent Systems® and Eukonic®. Created company names by insignificant people whose blogs you aren’t reading now: Xerox, Yelp, Charmin.
EVOCATIVE COMPANY NAMES
Whether via historical or mythological allusion… by linguistic connection or by sheer force of ingenuity, these name types tend to be emotional and experiential. (Incidentally, one of my favorite name types here is synecdoche (no, we aren’t referring to a city somewhere back East; it means small for large.) Examples of evocative company names from my name portfolio include: IfThenWow®, Shine Candles®, InfoSing® and Libretto Espresso®. Many large corporations are also embracing the emotional brand pull of evocative names, such as Pandora®, Staples®, and Twitter®.
PRIMARY ATTRIBUTE OR BENEFIT-DRIVEN COMPANY NAMES
Just as it sounds. This company name type is more descriptive than anything else. If what you’re describing is great, great!
Examples of descriptive, attribute or benefit-driven company and product names from my naming portfolio includes: Sympo®, Smoky Joe®, FastPort Series®, Intellitoll Series®. Descriptive company names from other corners of the world include: Jiffy Lube®, Lean Cuisine® (George Lois genius!), Hefty®, SoftSoap®, and Budget®.
METAPHORICAL COMPANY NAMES
See this one thing? It’s like this other thing. In a good way, natch.
Examples of metaphorical company names from my company and product naming portfolio include: Pawed Piper®, Workbench®, PassPort Series®, Sentinel Series®. If you’ve ever eaten a Red Vine®, shopped at Amazon® or interacted with an Oracle® database, you’ve come face-to-face with a metaphorical company name type. (And you lived to tell about it. Yay, you!)
CONJOINED COMPANY NAMES
When we aren’t talking about putting two simple words together, people worry about this category. Nor is the concern unfounded. Especially with the onslaught of name generation robots and crowdsourcing companies, the fear is that you will wind up in some sort of Greek-Latin polyglot mess. I’ve seen it myself. You look at the work coming out of some of these “factories” and it’s like, hey, bud, you get that those two consonants don’t play well with others, right?
So, yes, pronounceability, spelling and tackiness/lack of sophistication can be concerns. Not global warming level. More like getting pooped on by a vengeful bird. How do you hedge your bets here? By working with 1) a naming expert, 2) one who shows competence in ALL of the company name types, and 3) for sure, a true lover of the English language. Not a name generation robot. Not an impoverished mob. (Intrigued by the business model, I recently thumbed through thousands of crowdsourced naming examples. Less than one-half of one percent were names that would pass my sniff test or meet the standards at any of the biggie professional naming agencies.)
Examples of conjoined company names utilizing word combinations, hybrids and oxymorons include: ManifestEquity®, Articulated Brands® and HarvestWaste®. Conjoined company names from obvious hacks include: FaceBook®, FedEx® and PaperMate®. OrgoDomo® and Lessoneer® are naming examples wherein I conjoined two morphemes (units of meaningful language) into one coined name, which is why these also appear at the top of this blog.)
A WORD ABOUT USING ACRONYMS: DON’T.
Not only is it way old school, it’s also tres confusement. Since acronyms require adoption over time, unless your budget is massive, be very careful with trying to finance name recognition for a new set of initials. Actually, even if you do have a massive budget, I’d still advise avoidance.
ON LITERAL & GENERIC COMPANY NAMES
Though extremely counterintuitive, literal names tend to underperform at the brand level, so be wary. (I’ve taken this serious risk myself on a temporary basis, with Names & Naming, for reasons of SEO/backlink anchor text and my ambition that this website will one day become a truly definitive source of information and inspiration. Regardless, the decision is under constant evaluation. Not loving the implied hypocrisy. Ug. My best guess: I’ll be re-branding and re-naming within the year, once I’ve established the business viability of this Articulated Brands® spin-off.)
If you’re absolutely certain you don’t need local or even industry name recognition and SEO is your sole purpose for naming, consider adding a more distinctive moniker to your generic term. So, the formula for you would be {STICKY} + {LAME & UN-DIFFERENTIATED} = naming success, optimized!
If you’ve read this far on types of company name types, you’re my type of person!
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this little escapade into company name types. Come to think of it, I’m also sitting on a whitepaper on the brand importance of naming right that might interest you. Should you feel like taking a gander, just reach out.
Photo credit: Sarah Gualtieri
This company naming blog post is a brief peek at a whitepaper I wrote for Articulated Brands® back in 2015. Should you wish to read the original pdf in its entirety, I’m happy to share it with you. Just use the contact form on this site. Simply request the naming whitepaper in the comments section. You’ll have it in your inbox within 48 hours.
Company names matter.
Remarkable names can turbo-charge growth, forever setting your business apart in the marketplace. Solid positioning and professional naming ensure all of your company communications have a strong strategic center.
Skype®. Lean Cuisine®. Sympo™. Google®. Manifest Equity™. The North Face®. Amazon®. Harvest Waste™. Pandora®.
On the flipside, a company name that was hastily chosen can sabotage your business development efforts. It can handicap your launch plans even before your vision gets out of the gate.
I’m not just talking about naming start-up ventures here.
I’m also talking about anybody who has plans for the next stage of business growth. Most times such plans call for the introduction of new products, services and the entry into new markets. Not only does each represent an opportunity to go in with both barrels blazing, but the company name to which you attach to all of this…will it serve as a seal of credibility? Will you create a virtuous circle wherein the brand equity in one serves to reinforce the brand equity in the other? Or will you be like the too many companies who approach their growth plans from the inside-out instead of from the outside-in, determining who you need to be and what you need to be saying from your prospects’ perspectives?
When companies try to carve out a brave and bold new future but refuse to slough off any skins from their past, it reeks of inauthenticity… the kind buyers and prospects can smell… which wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that this is the complete opposite of what good branding and good company naming are all about: striking people (buyers) at the core of why you exist and how you are uniquely engineered to answer to their needs, now.
But legacy/owner names, acronyms and names which no longer connect to why the company exists today may be the easiest ones to spot…and gaining buy-in, though still difficult, is possible, especially with the support of a business-minded brand strategist behind you. But the most dangerous company name or product name could very well be the simply mediocre one; its presence may be so seemingly innocuous you may have never even stopped to consider the negative force it’s exerting on your business or the potential goldmine it could be obscuring. In short, most company names are so harmless they’re harmful. Most company names are so quiet and timid they’re entirely forgettable. And that’s a problem. A big one.
So, how do you know if you have a great company name or product name?
How do you know if your name is one that’s working dynamically and proactively in support of all your other marketing, sales and business development efforts? Do you need to be a brand strategist or a professional naming consultant to know if your name stinks?
Here’s a brilliant opportunity for the small to midsized business to skip the research expense. You can bypass the focus groups and the big naming agency’s fancy charts and graphs. All it takes is a simple test. Next time you meet a new prospect and tell them the name of your company or trade cards, do they comment on the name specifically? Yes or no, it’s just that simple. If even one out of every ten people take the time to comment, you’re probably in good shape. Less than that, get concerned. More than that, throw a party. (And by all means, invite me! Nothing I like better than celebrating the chutzpah it took for you to defy the common, the everyday and the literal, to flabbergast the naysayers by signing off on a memorable moniker.) A great name is one of which your ideal customers take note. End of research.
All trademarks are used for illustrative purposes only and remain the property of their respective owners. Sympo®, HarvestWaste® and Manifest Equity® are examples of small business name projects by Scott Silverman.
A great company name or, perhaps more commonly, a great name and tagline in combination, due to their prominence, exert a marketing influence more powerful than pretty much anything else in your marketing arsenal. It should surprise no one that the companies who haven’t invested in marketing’s dynamic duo, Positioning & Messaging, tend to also be the ones who struggle in the company naming department. (On a similar note, those who struggle with their messaging need to go back to the creative brief stage. In politics, it may be “It’s the economy, stupid,” but in business and marketing, in my experience, “It’s the brief, stupid!” It’s the brief. It’s the brief. It’s the brief.)
The process for creating a vibrant and enduring company name is far more than an exercise in vanity. It is not only a matter of a good first impression. It is also a matter of a dynamic and consistent second, third and fourth impression. Remember, healthy brands are constantly in the process of making and keeping promises. How many opportunities does an enterprise get to make those core emotional promises and to set those expectations high at such a fundamental level? Precious few. That’s why you’ve got to get your company name and your company tagline right.
Just what separates the powerful company names from the meek?
Done well, which means to me both strategically and creatively, a company’s name and its supporting tagline proudly and personally announce its arrival into the target customer’s world.
“Hello, there, you fellow human and lover of all things valuable. We’re one of a kind, we represent a unique point of view, and our shared values render us worthy of your attention and a deeper relationship.”
Those who truly understand today’s competitive forces embrace creative naming wholeheartedly.
Remember, these days, we fight not only for revenue and market share against the literal competition. Rather, we must compete at an even more fundamental level, for time and attention – our noisy, media-rich, choice-saturated world demands levels of strategic positioning, communications creativity and messaging relevance which were previously the sophisticated pursuits of only the big companies.
Name your company well (or name your products and name your services well, for that matter), and you will thank yourself for years, possibly decades to come.
Not so thrilled in the company name department?
Rename. Do it over. As mentioned in a previous blog post, the new opportunities created, provided you’re working with the right business-minded company naming firm or branding agency, will far outweigh any lingering concerns you may have regarding equity in your current company name. Unless you’re Coke® or Pepsi®, who should really call me, it’s the arguments for keeping the current name that are obvious and get expressed. But who on your team is making the convincing counterargument? Your “Outsourced Chief Branding Officer,” that’s who. And that’s me! Call me on it.