What’s in a Name? The 9 Commonest Brand Name Mistakes

When you’re a young, ambitious start up deciding the future of your business, choosing the right brand name is absolutely essential. Get it right and your business has the solid base from which to grow – and keep growing. Get it wrong and you’re facing an uphill battle. Here are the 9 commonest brand name mistakes and errors – made so that you don’t have to! 1 – Treating the name as an afterthought Creating a brand is a much more complicated process than many give it credit for. There are a numb

Written by TheGenieLab

Jun 25, 2014

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When you're a young, ambitious start up deciding the future of your business, choosing the right brand name is absolutely essential. Get it right and your business has a solid base from which to grow. Get it wrong and you're facing an uphill battle. Here are the 9 commonest brand name mistakes.

1 – Treating the name as an afterthought. Naming your brand needs just as much thought as your design, marketing and product offering — consider it at the very start of the development phase.

2 – Neglecting translations. Even if your business plan is strictly local, you never know how the future will pan out. Make sure your brand name isn't offensive or ridiculous in other major languages.

3 – Saying too much. The best brands don't use their name to explicitly say what the business is about — it's simply a way to hint at the qualities that make the brand impressive. Don't tell customers everything.

4 – Being too trendy. On-trend language, slang terms, or wording fads that seem fashionable right now can quickly date your brand. Be sure your brand stays current in the long term.

5 – Forgetting trademarks. With 13 million trademarks in the world, you need to check online that the brand name you're using isn't someone else's property.

6 – Finding a corresponding URL. If the URL of your preferred brand name has already been taken, confused prospective customers won't be able to find your brand online.

7 – Being overtly descriptive. Being too descriptive can limit a brand name and discourage diversification later. Google also regards exact-match URLs as potentially low quality, which can hurt search rankings.

8 – Not asking other people. It's essential to access unbiased opinions — conduct market research on what friends, family, and strangers think your brand name represents.

9 – Not being yourself. Your brand name needs to differentiate you from competitors and convey what's distinct about your business.

Is your start up business looking for a distinctive, innovative web platform? Talk to experienced developers at TheGenieLab today.

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