Naming: Four Tips for Companies of All Sizes

The process of establishing a name can be one of the most challenging components to starting a new business, naming a new product or adding a new service. And, the number of start-ups only adds to the challenge. In 2019, 3.48 million applications to start a business in the U.S. were submitted.¹ With so many naturally occurring words already claimed as names, it explains why companies turn to naming experts to identify names that are unique, memorable and meaningful.

But what is the process and what should be considered when working with an agency specializing in naming and branding? To break this down, there are four key things companies need to be prepared for (and expect) when hiring an agency to help develop a name.

1. Investment

Naming takes both a financial and time investment. Companies can expect to invest anywhere from $3,000-$75,000 for a single name, and if companies are rebranding, everything from updating signage to vehicle decals need to be considered when budgeting. This can oftentimes cost tens of thousands of dollars and up depending on company size, but it can also be budgeted over time with a brand rollout plan in place.

Once budgets are decided and an agency has been selected, the naming process alone can take several months. To begin, the naming agency will spend a lot of time meeting with founders, executives and marketers to extract information regarding company or product differentiators. At Voom, our naming process is similar to the first step of our branding process: Discover. It is through this step we draw out the necessary information to help establish creative directions and get us on the right naming path.

As with any word, a sound (or combination of sounds) alone can evoke a feeling of excitement, passion, strength, power, trust, ease, comfort and more. We understand how various sounds can help steer the creative process when a specific sound is desired in the naming process.

When working with clients on naming, we also consider where the name falls on the name scale. On one end of the scale are descriptive names, or more natural occurring words, such as Bank of America or The Weather Channel. On the other end are arbitrary names, which are made up names like Kodak and Starbucks. And in the middle of the scale are suggestive names such as Pinterest and Netflix. Determining where a name lands on the naming scale is important because the more arbitrary the name, the easier it can be to legally protect. (More on this in #4.)

When the agency has completed the creative “namestorming” process, clients should expect to see the agreed upon number of name ideas with an explanation or description that supports each name. At the end of the process, the client typically only has ownership of the selected name, but this is something to address in advance to ensure all expectations are met.

2. Highly Regulated Industries

Expect to pay more and wait longer for pharmaceutical names. Among all industries, pharmaceutical is the most highly regulated when it comes to naming. Because of this, the cost is usually higher due to the number of government restrictions. The FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research must investigate every drug name to ensure excessive or misleading claims are not made. For example, Rogaine’s hair regrowth treatment was originally named Regain until the FDA declined to approve the name. And Prilosec, a heartburn treatment, had to change its original name, Losec, after the FDA said it could be confused with Lasix, a diuretic. The FDA’s process is so thorough, their Best Practices in Developing Proprietary Names for Drugs guide is 33 pages long and they write out potential names to test if pharmacists might mistake scribbled drug names.²

3. International Considerations

Address international intentions sooner than later. Any intentions on marketing your brand, product or service beyond the confines of the country in which the business is being marketed should be addressed in initial meetings. This is especially important for e-commerce companies who may sell products globally through retailers like Amazon or the company website. Just as color can mean different things to different cultures for our branding clients, this is also the case when developing a name to be marketed in other countries.

A good naming agency will ask if conducting business outside of the country is a possibility (we always do) and it’s critical to share this if there’s the slightest inkling to do business outside the border. When needed, we consult international linguistic and translation professionals on global naming projects to eliminate any naming missteps.

Here are just a few global naming blunders as a reminder of what to avoid and how seeking the help of a naming expert from the start can pay off:

1. Coca-Cola’s brand name, when first marketed in China, was sometimes translated as “bite the wax tadpole.” ³
2. Clairol launched a curling iron called “Mist Stick” in Germany even though “mist” is German slang for manure. ³
3. Puffs marketed its tissues under that brand name in Germany even though “puff” is German slang for a brothel.³
4. Kellogg’s had to rename its Bran Buds cereal in Sweden when it discovered the name roughly translated to “burned farmer.”⁴

4. Trademarks

Register your trademark. Another important consideration when adopting a new name is determining whether the proposed name can be protected as a trademark. Although naming agencies work to identify and present names not currently being used by competitors, agencies typically do not perform formal searching or “clearance” of such names, which typically is done by an attorney focusing on such tasks. 

A name functions as a trademark when consumers use it to identify and distinguish the goods or services of one entity from those of another entity. Registering your trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) is not mandatory; however, federal registration provides brand owners with several important benefits, including:

• Creates the ability to use the ® “registered” symbol.
• Bestows legal presumptions about your ownership of the trademark and its validity that are extremely helpful in disputes.
• Discourages others from using and registering similar trademarks.
• Provides access to e-commerce tools like the Amazon Brand Registry.
• Creates nationwide priority rights as of the application filing date.

“Registering your trademark with the PTO should be the first step in guarding your business’ most valuable asset: its good reputation,” says Sean Ploen, trademark attorney and founder of Ploen Law Firm in St. Paul. “In the U.S., our trademark law incentivizes owners to file an application to register a trademark even before it goes into commercial use, so it is best to investigate the registration process as soon as a good brand name is chosen.”  

Trademark registration is a formal legal process and can take a year or more to complete, but the trademark owner’s rights start to be protected against later arrivals as soon as an application is filed. Many thousands of trademark applications filed each year never reach registration, however. Sometimes the obstacles are minor, such as needing to change how a particular good or service is described, or they can be sizable problems, like the existence of an earlier registration for a similar mark.

Although hiring an attorney is not required in order to file an application, an experienced trademark attorney can guide you through the process and help avoid legal pitfalls. Trademark attorneys help brand owners decide which classes of goods and services to protect, conduct optional pre-filing availability searches, determine what types of evidence will support the registration and contend with any challenges from other trademark owners.

For most trademark owners, obtaining a federal registration is simply a cost of doing business. The PTO currently charges a per-class filing fee of $275 for each application filed, and many trademark attorneys offer flat fees to prepare and file applications, which can be helpful for new businesses managing tight budgets. With a relatively small initial investment and a bit of patience, your new product name might join the more than 2.5 million active U.S. trademark registrations.

At Voom Creative^TM, we take a holistic approach to naming for organizations, products and services. We can turn a client-approved name into a brand by bringing clients through our naming and three-step branding process. Our experience in both categories has led to award-winning results.

1. https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/how-many-new-businesses-start-each-year
2. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/18/magazine/the-weird-science-of-naming-new-products.html
3. https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/the-20-worst-brand-translations-of-all-time.html
4. https://www.slideshare.net/levi22usa/international-marketing-mistakes-related-to-culture

What’s in a name? A lot, it turns out. Let’s find yours together.