7 Tips for Choosing a great brand Name and Slogan for your Business

 

In my freelancing journey, I have encountered many people, whose brilliant business ideas, are usually punctuated by their inability to choose the right names, slogan and sometimes logos for their businesses. Some of the people I have consulted for in this respect usually get stuck, when confronted with the duty of choosing the right brand name for their product or service. This invariably served to delay the full operationalization of their business. In the process, some great business ideas are left uncultivated, with some being abandoned. These individuals are not least unclear about what product or services they need to produce. Usually, what they are not too sure of is how to select the right name and slogan, and sometimes logo for their business.

Why Is A Great Name and Slogan Important To Product/Service?

The right name or slogan for your product or service is important. Not only is that key for purposes of identification, also the right name and slogan aids recall of your products/services. Your ability to register your brand’s name/slogan and logo in the minds of your market, is critical in the customer decision making process. Until, your brand’s name, and sometimes, slogan can be remembered, you cannot break through the clutter of other competing alternatives and be considered by the customer. Therefore, choosing the right name and slogan for products/services is essential. Again, a great name and slogan builds affinity with the customer and gives them a sense of belonging. A great name of a brand translates into a great unique proposition and credibility. Perhaps, that is why the good book says, a good name is better than riches.

In this piece, I share seven critical approach you can use to brainstorm and choose the right name for your product or services:

To help scale over this rather stifling challenge, I share some of the tips that we have used to arrive at some incredible brand names, which is doing reasonably well.

 

1.       Be Flexible: In branding nothing is cast in stone. To achieve reasonable results, one needs to be open minded and intellectually flexible. The fact that you are into alcoholic beverage manufacturing or related retail businesses does not mean you should center your name of your brand around drunkards. Of course, I know that binge drinking is that last thing any great alcoholic beverage manufacturer wants to achieve). Brainstorm and be open to many options, in selecting your brand name. You can even use your family’s name if you can make it catchy and appealing to your targets.

2.      Simplicity: It has been said that simplicity is the ultimate complexity. Choosing a great name and slogan for your brand, must not be too complicated to confuse your business and your targets. Whilst your brand name and slogan must be catchy enough for attention and attraction, it should equally be simpler enough to be remembered and internalized.

3.      Ask for Help: You will need to consult not only friends and family members, but also getting an expert opinion is very important. That way, you can balance the opinions of your friends/families with the expert advice you receive. If you feel selecting a name, slogan or logo is not your calling, you can hire it out to a professional, and focus on your business. Even with that these tips should help you assess the work of the person you consult.

4.      Listen to your Target/Market: Business is about the customer or the market, therefore, knowing what the customer wants to be associated with is critical. If you can afford, you can run a customer survey among your target in choosing the right name for your brand. Certain brand names and slogans have been developed around the target audience rather than the product.

5.      Be Mindful of your Brand Position: Your brand positioning is your over-arching message to your market. It tells them how they should think of you and relate to you. If you want to be known as the best local chop bar operator, you can communicate this through your brand name or slogan.

6.      Assess your Capacity: In choosing the right name or slogan, you need to be sincere about what you can handle or what you cannot. Do not promise above what you have the capacity to deliver. In a bigger market like Fashion designing, the right brand name and slogan, should capture just your niche in the entire fashion designer market. Again, if you are starting out as an event organizer, your name or slogan can also capture the type of event planning you do.  This makes you easily searchable.

7.       Focus on the Ultimate: However catchy it is, a great name or slogan is the one that aids recall and helps the customer to easily remember your offer and services. This should be your ultimate focus and not just for the aesthetics of it. Don’t be too caught up in flashy and fancy names to the detriment of the main objective for your branding.

Conclusion, Of course, choosing the right brand name is no substitute for delivery of promise. However, with the right brand name and slogan, you give yourself a best negotiating chip in the customer’s minds.

 

Samuel Osarfo Boateng

Brand Architect/Writer and Researcher.