Product naming is the discipline of deciding what a product will be called, and is very similar in concept and approach to the process of deciding on a name for a company or organization. Product naming is considered a critical part of the
brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
ing process, which includes all of the
marketing
Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
activities that affect the brand image, such as positioning and the design of
logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...
,
packaging
Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a co ...
and the
product
Product may refer to:
Business
* Product (business), an item that serves as a solution to a specific consumer problem.
* Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution
Mathematics
* Produ ...
itself.
The process involved in product naming can take months or years to complete. Some key steps include specifying the objectives of the branding, developing the product name itself, evaluating names through target market testing and focus groups, choosing a final product name, and finally identifying it as a trademark for protection.
Principles
A key ingredient in launching a successful company is the selection of its name.
Product names that are considered generally sound have several qualities in common.
*They strategically distinguish the product from its competitors by conveying its unique positioning
*They hold appeal for the product’s target audience
*They imply or evoke a salient brand attribute, quality or benefit.
*They are available for legal protection and "
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
".
*They allow companies to bond with their customers to create loyalty.
*They have a symbolic association that fortifies the image of a company or a product to the consumers.
*They help motivate customers to buy the product.
*They can be legally acquired and developed.
Types of names
Brand names typically fall into several different categories.
Acronyms and Abbreviations
AFLAC
Aflac Inc. (American Family Life Assurance Company) is an American insurance company and is the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States. The company was founded in 1955 and is based in Columbus, Georgia. In the U.S., A ...
,
IBM,
M&M (for
Forrest Mars and
Bruce Murrie
Mars, Incorporated is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of Animal welfare, animal care services, with United States dollar, US$40 billion in annual sales in 2021.
Mars wa ...
).
Amalgam
Names created by taking parts of words and putting them together:
Nabisco
Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.
Nabisco's ...
(National Biscuit Company).
Alliteration and Rhyme
Fun to say, and particularly memorable:
FAT BAT,
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
,
Piggly Wiggly
Piggly Wiggly is an American supermarket chain operating in the American Southern and Midwestern regions run by Piggly Wiggly, LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers. Its first outlet opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is notable f ...
.
Appropriation
Use the idea for one thing and apply it to another:
Caterpillar
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...
,
Reebok
Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...
.
Descriptive
Descriptive names ascribe to the product a characteristic:
Toys R Us
A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include Toy block, toy blocks, Board game, board games, and Doll, dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed sp ...
,
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
.
Clever Statement
Names don't have to be just a word or two:
Seven for All Mankind,
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! is a brand of a spreadable emulsion of vegetable oil in water with butter flavorCalvani Terry. ''Antitrust Law Journal'', 1989, "Advertising Regulation: The States v. FTC. "...a nationally distributed butter subs ...
,
The Boring Company
The Boring Company (TBC) is an American infrastructure and tunnel construction services company founded by Elon Musk. Its ongoing and proposed projects are designed for intra-city ("loop") transit systems.
After six years TBC has completed on ...
.
Evocative
Invoke a vivid image that alludes to a brand benefit:
London Fog,
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
.
Founders' Names (Eponyms)
Use the name of a founder or founder family member:
Barneys
Barneys New York Inc. is an American luxury brand founded in New York City in 1923. It has introduced major designers including Armani, Azzedine Alaïa, Comme des Garçons, Christian Louboutin, and Ermenegildo Zegna to the US market.
Barneys N ...
,
Hewlett-Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
, and
Wendy's
Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was the ...
.
Geography
Chose a name associated with company/product location:
eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
for Echo Bay (a fictional place as well as the shortened form of "Echo Bay Technology Group," the name of eBay founder Pierre Omidyar's consulting company, according to the
List of company name etymologies
This is a list of company names with their name origins explained. Some of the origins are disputed.
0–9
*19 Entertainment – talent company founded by Simon Fuller and "named after Paul Hardcastle's single 19, the first No. 1 Fuller had a h ...
),
Fuji Fuji may refer to:
Places China
* Fuji, Xiangcheng City (付集镇), town in Xiangcheng City, Henan
Japan
* Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan
* Fuji River
* Fuji, Saga, town in Saga Prefecture
* Fuji, Shizuoka, city in Shizuoka Prefec ...
for the tallest mountain in Japan,
Cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...
for San Francisco.
HomeNON
For a name with personality:
Yahoo!
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...
,
Cracker Jack
Cracker Jack is an American brand of snack food that consists of molasses-flavored, caramel-coated popcorn, and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of trivial value inside. The Cracker Jack name and slogan, "The More You Eat The ...
.
For example, Yahoo comes from ''Gulliver's Travels'' by Jonathan Swift, where ''Yahoo'' is a legendary being with the following characters: rude'', unsophisticated, uncouth''. Later the name ''Yahoo'' was popularized as an bacronym for ''Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle''.
Ingredients
Base the name on ingredients:
Clorox
The Clorox Company (formerly Clorox Chemical Company) is an American global manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. As of 2020 the Oakland, California based company had approximately 8,800 employees worldwide. Net sales ...
for chlorine plus sodium hydroxide,
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961.
History
Pepsi was ...
for the digestive enzyme pepsin.
Merged
When two companies merge into one, sometimes both names are kept:
ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
,
Cadbury Schweppes
Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...
,
GlaxoSmithKline
GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the ten ...
.
Mimetics
Use alternative spellings for common sounds:
2(x)ist
2(X)IST (pronounced "to exist") is an American luxury fashion label that makes men's underwear, swimwear, activewear, loungewear, socks, and watches. 2XIST also launched a women's line featuring activewear, sleepwear and intimates. The company ...
,
Krispy Kreme
Krispy Kreme, Inc. (previously Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc.) is an American multinational doughnut company and coffeehouse chain.
Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph (1915–1973), who bought a yeast-raised recipe from a New Orleans c ...
.
Nickname
Use a founder's nickname:
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
aka Adolf Dassler,
Haribo
Haribo ( ) is a German confectionery company founded by Hans Riegel Sr.. It began in Kessenich, Bonn, Germany. The name "Haribo" is a syllabic abbreviation formed from Hans Riegel Bonn. The company created the first gummy candy in 1960 in the f ...
Hans Riegel Bonn,
Kinkos
FedEx Office Print & Ship Services Inc. ( doing business as FedEx Office; formerly FedEx Kinko's, and earlier simply Kinko's) is an American retail chain that provides an outlet for FedEx Express and FedEx Ground (including Home Delivery) shipp ...
.
Neologism
A completely new made-up word:
Kodak
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
,
Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...
, Mimex.
Onomatopoeia
Use a sound associated with a product function or other brand idea:
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
,
Meow Mix
Meow Mix is a variety of dry and wet cat food known for its advertising jingle. It is a product of The J.M. Smucker Company as of March 23, 2015. Meow Mix was introduced in 1974 and sells many flavors, including Original Choice and Seafood Medl ...
.
Personification
Create a character or adopt an existing personage:
Green Giant
Green Giant and Le Sueur (spelled Le Sieur in Canada) are brands of frozen and canned vegetables owned by B&G Foods. The company's mascot is the Jolly Green Giant.
Company and brand history
The Minnesota Valley Canning Company was founded in ...
,
Nike
Nike often refers to:
* Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory
* Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment
Nike may also refer to:
People
* Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
,
Midas Mufflers.
Portmanteau
Name is a combination of two (or more) words or morphemes, and their definitions, into one new word:
Travelocity
Travelocity.com is an online travel agency owned by Expedia Group. It has 12.4 million monthly unique visitors, making it the third most popular website owned by Expedia Group, after Expedia.com and Hotels.com.
One of the pioneers of web-based ...
,
Pinterest
Pinterest is an American image sharing and social media service designed to enable saving and discovery of information (specifically "ideas") on the internet using images, and on a smaller scale, animated GIFs and videos, in the form of pinboard ...
.
Product naming techniques
Linguistically, names are developed by combining
morpheme
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful Constituent (linguistics), constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistics, linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology (linguistics), morphology.
In English, morphemes are ...
s,
phoneme
In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west o ...
s, and
syntax
In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituency) ...
to create a desired representation of a product.
Morphemes differ from words in that many morphemes may not be able to stand alone. The Sprint name is composed of a single
word
A word is a basic element of language that carries an semantics, objective or pragmatics, practical semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of w ...
and a single morpheme. Conversely, a brand like Acuvue is composed of two morphemes, each with a distinct meaning. While "vue" may be able to stand as its own word, "acu" is seen as a
prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...
or a
bound morpheme
In linguistics, a bound morpheme is a morpheme (the elementary unit of morphosyntax) that can appear only as part of a larger expression; a free morpheme (or unbound morpheme) is one that can stand alone. A bound morpheme is a type of bound form, ...
that must connect to a
free morpheme
In linguistics, a bound morpheme is a morpheme (the elementary unit of morphosyntax) that can appear only as part of a larger expression; a free morpheme (or unbound morpheme) is one that can stand alone. A bound morpheme is a type of bound form, ...
like "vue."
Phonemes are minimal units of sound. Depending on the speaker’s accent, the
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
has about 44 phonemes. In product naming, names that are phonetically easy to pronounce and that are well balanced with vowels and consonants have an advantage over those that are not. Likewise, names that begin with or stress
plosive
In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or simply a stop, is a pulmonic consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases.
The occlusion may be made with the tongue tip or blade (, ), tongue body (, ), lips ...
consonant sounds B, hard C, D, G, K, P or T are often used because of their attention-getting quality. Some phoneme sounds in English, for example L, V, F and W are thought of as feminine, while others such as X, M and Z are viewed as masculine.
Syntax, or word order, is key to consumers’ perceptions of a product name. Banana Republic would not carry the same meaning were it changed to "Republic Banana." Syntax also has significant implications for the naming of global products, because syntax has been argued to cross the barrier from one language to another. (See the pioneering work on
Universal Grammar
Universal grammar (UG), in modern linguistics, is the theory of the genetic component of the language faculty, usually credited to Noam Chomsky. The basic postulate of UG is that there are innate constraints on what the grammar of a possible hum ...
by
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...
)
Some specific product naming techniques, including a combination of morphemes, phonemes and syntax are shown in the graph below.
Owning a name: Trademarks, URLs and beyond
A consideration companies find important in developing a product name is its
"trademarkability". Product name trademarks may be established in a number of ways:
* In many countries, including the United States, names can be used as trademarks without formal registration through first use or common law—simply to protect an established product’s name and reputation.
* Product names can be formally registered within a state, with protection limited to that state’s borders.
* In the United States, a federal trademark registration is filed with the
USPTO
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...
and offered protection for as long as the mark is in use.
* The preeminent system for registering international trademarks in multiple jurisdictions is the
Madrid system.
In addition, protecting a trademark is just as important as the initial process of registration. Trademark rights are maintained through actual use of the trademark, and will diminish over time if a trademark is not actively used.
Companies need to consider whether they can own a name in the digital realm. Securing a domain name, particularly with the globally recognized dot-com extension, is critical for some companies. It has also become increasingly important for firms to interact with their audience through social media websites. Social media sites like
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
,
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
,
Pinterest
Pinterest is an American image sharing and social media service designed to enable saving and discovery of information (specifically "ideas") on the internet using images, and on a smaller scale, animated GIFs and videos, in the form of pinboard ...
and
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
all have procedures for acquiring a name on their sites. In modern communication, the trademark is just the start of owning a name.
International considerations
Because
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
is widely viewed as a global language, with over 380 million native speakers, many international trademarks are created in English. Still, language differences present difficulties when using a trademark internationally.
Product naming faux pas
Many companies have stumbled across the importance of considering language differences in marketing new products.
*
Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
Th ...
named their hybrid models
e-tron, french: étron, label=none meaning "excrement" in French.
*The
SUV is called Montero in Spanish-speaking countries as ''pajero'' is a commonly used as a pejorative to mean "wanker".
*
Reebok
Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...
named a women’s sneaker Incubus. In medieval folklore, an
incubus
An incubus is a demon in male form in folklore that seeks to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. In medieval Europe, union with an incubus was supposed by some to result in t ...
was a demon who ravished women in their sleep.
*The
Honda Fitta was, according to a popular urban legend, renamed Jazz after discovering that ''fitta'' is Norwegian and Swedish slang for the female genitals.
*A drink in Japan called
Calpis
Calpis ((カルピス, Karupisu))/Milkis ((밀키스, Milkiseu)) is a Japanese uncarbonated soft drink, manufactured by , a subsidiary of Asahi Breweries headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo.
The beverage has a light, somewhat milky, and slightl ...
, when pronounced, sounds like ''cow piss''. The product is marketed in North America under the Calpico brand.
*
Bimbo
Bimbo is slang for a conventionally attractive, sexualized, naive, and unintelligent woman. The term was originally used in the United States as early as 1919 for an unintelligent or brutish man.
As of the early 21st century, the "stereotypic ...
is a Mexican baking conglomerate;
in English the term describes a woman who is physically attractive but is perceived to have a low intelligence or poor education.
See also
*
Onomastics
Onomastics (or, in older texts, onomatology) is the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. An ''orthonym'' is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onomastic study.
Onomastics can be helpful in data mining, w ...
, the science of proper names (including names for products, companies, etc.)
*
Brand architecture
In the field of brand management, brand architecture is the structure of brands within an organizational entity. It is the way brands within a company's portfolio are related to, and differentiated from, one another. According to J.-N. Kapferer, ...
*
Brand development
In marketing, brand management begins with an analysis on how a brand is currently perceived in the market, proceeds to planning how the brand should be perceived if it is to achieve its objectives and continues with ensuring that the brand is per ...
*
Corporate identity
A corporate identity or corporate image is the manner in which a corporation, firm or business enterprise presents itself to the public (such as customers and investors as well as employees). The corporate identity is typically visualized by ...
*
List of company name etymologies
This is a list of company names with their name origins explained. Some of the origins are disputed.
0–9
*19 Entertainment – talent company founded by Simon Fuller and "named after Paul Hardcastle's single 19, the first No. 1 Fuller had a h ...
*
List of renamed products
This is a list of renamed or repositioned products.
Renamed products
* Andersen Consulting became ''Accenture'' on January 1, 2001.
*In France, ''Danones yogurt Bio changed to Activia on January 16, 2006 because of EU regulations on organic agri ...
*
Name generator
*
Naming
Naming is assigning a name to something.
Naming may refer to:
* Naming (parliamentary procedure), a procedure in certain parliamentary bodies
* Naming ceremony, an event at which an infant is named
* Product naming, the discipline of deciding wh ...
*
Naming firms A naming firm is a type of marketing service that specializes in the linguistic art and science of product and company onomastics.
Naming firms develop brand names and product names that are typically categorized as evocative, descriptive, invente ...
*
Product naming convention A product naming convention is a process of product or good description or titling. Consistent use of alphanumeric characters and separating devices defines a naming convention. The naming convention will create an identifier for that version or ...
*
Project code name
A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial c ...
*
Rebranding
Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...
*
Seasonal packaging
Seasonal packaging is a way of marketing a product and sparking sales in consumer segments that infrequently buy the product, by wrapping the product in a package closely related to seasons or holidays such as Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Importance of a brand nameWhat Entrepreneurs Need to Know About ... Naming Your Company, ''Innovation Magazine,'' October 2006.*
ttp://www.seattlepi.com/venture/110452_vc28.shtml Venture Capital: Renaming company entails risks, by JOHN COOK, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, February 28, 2003br>
Monday name change for PwC, BBC NEWS, 10 June 2002*[http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/marketing/advertising-branding/change-your-business-name-7-issues.aspx#Changeyourbusinessnameissues "Change your business' name? 7 issues," Microsoft Small Business Center]
small business resource for product naming IYBI 2013In the name of the brand, m+a report 2008The 2017 Igor Naming Guide
Product management
Brand management
Naming