Above: one example of a raw, unlaunched brand from a student at the Vancouver Film School.
Branding: Who are you?
When you close your eyes, what do you envision your company to express? Is it power and assertiveness, traditional and business oriented, or is it hip and modern, new age, or futuristic? By really seeing this, it will at least start a good conversation with a designer that you can build on. Come up with adjectives, read the thesaurus, and study some adverbs. They will all come in handy for both branding, deciding on a name, and defining your companies mission and vision statements.
Deciding on a name:
Something easy like your name? Depending on the name, it really might not be a great option. I can think of plenty of names where it really wouldn’t do a company any justice! And really, unless you already have a name that is recognized, being independent can be enough of a challenge as it is!
Something simple and straight forward? For example, in my line of work, you’ll see Dream Home Realty, My Home Realty, USA Realty, etc., all of which are acceptable, but again, how are you truly going to build an amazing brand with such an obvious name?
Something completely unassuming that says nothing about real estate? Careful here. While there are some AMAZING companies that have been created in all industries using this format, you have to NAIL this branding thing!
Some that come to mind: Apple (computers), Windows (computers), Zillow (real estate), Trulia (real estate), Amazon (e-retailer), Zappos (e-retailer), all of these companies had the true vision of a brand as well as leadership to overcome any weird name hurdle. I can easily remember people asking what a “zillow” was! You will not only be fighting to just simply get people to remember your industry but then after they are still trying to decipher your name, you then have a few seconds left before the stare goes completely blank, as to the type of company you have and why they should work with you!
Something niche? Again, eek! Don’t pin yourself to a niche unless you know that said niche is going to provide you with enough income and sales to justify only working that niche! Condo Only Realty, Any Neighborhood/City in America Realty or Foreclosure R Us Realty.
Picking colors:
What are you trying to evoke? Study up on color and how it influences the mood. Red ignites passion and portrays power. Blue is calming, yellow cheerful and green fresh and invigorating.
Figure out what you want people to “feel” when they see your signs, your cards and your marketing collateral. Surely, this will tie into both your name and logo design.
The hardest thing to start with any name, color or logo is going to be how to stand out. Will someone remember your sign because the house was for sale for so long or because there was something about a sign that really stood out, made them take note and actually wrote down your number to remember to call you because you connected to them?
What brands do you relate to in any industry? Look outside of the one you are in. There are thousands of companies that have built brands that people loved, and ask yourself why they are beloved. Study them and analyze even more how you are going to create the company of all companies.
Don’t try to please everyone, though. You will end up diluting your brand, alienating your sought after audience, and looking confused.
Roger Noujeim
August 7, 2012 at 9:17 pm
The branding subject definitely hits home with me. Great article. If I may build on your piece, and hopefully you agree, one thing that one may also consider in developing a brand name is to also look at the brand’s value proposition and/or concept and aim to reflect those in the name. Think ‘Tide’ or ‘Huggies’. Can you figure what each of these names reflects? I bet you can. How about Pert Plus or Head & Shoulders?
The key though is to acknowledge and realize that coming up with such a great name is not easy. It requires a lot of work and sometimes lots of money too, to develop and vet. But it is well worth it.