Get a Name!: 10 Rules to Create a Great Brand Name

321 Pages·2009·0.9 MB·English

by  Jacky Tai

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After graduating from the University Creating a powerful brand name is probably the single most GET A
of Wisconsin in Madison with important branding decision you can make for your business.
a marketing degree in 1994,
JACKY TAI headed the marketing G
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great names and the experience gained have prompted by someone else. So, what do you do? humour and wit. Best of all, he knows his stuff. Whether
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Of Naming, the pitfalls of poor naming strategies and illustrates with case examples 10 Rules To Create A Hidayah Hassan
how companies with great names created their names. A q Chief Editor, Three60
Other books by Jacky Tai Great Brand Name r
•Transforming Your Business Into A Brand It’s all in the name. With many examples and anecdotes,
•Killer Differentiators M Tai shows that having the right name is one of the
•Great Asian Brands: Tiger Beer oAw ‘nmeur.s Itf- bhraavned’ infogr i se pvaerrty odf eyosku r oefv ear ymdaayr kliefete, rt,h iesn btoreopkr epnuetsu ry oaun do nb tuhsei nriegshst f yyy G TTTTT m‘Noasmt icnrgu-c1ia0l1 f’a fcotro trhso foser asntayr tbinragn nde. wT hbisra bnodosk o irs loa oking
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© 2009 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited
Published by Marshall Cavendish Business
An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International
1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
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Marshall Cavendish is a trademark of Times Publishing Limited
National Library Board Singapore Cataloguing in Publication Data
Tai, Jacky,– 1970-
Get a name! :– 10 rules to create a great brand name /– Jacky Tai. – Singapore :
Marshall Cavendish Business,– c2009.
p. cm.
ISBN-13 : 978-981-261-846-7
ISBN-10 : 981-261-846-5
1. Brand name products. 2. Business names. I. Title.
HD69.B7
658.827 – dc22 OCN302298753
Printed in Singapore by Craft Print International Ltd
This book is dedicated to Wilson, Adeline, Prantik,
Elgin, Raine, Eileen, Mervin, Lerisca, Nicholas, Kennie, Sheena,
Hui Zhi and Elvira – my learned colleagues and trusted comrades.
~ Jacky ~
9 January 2009
CONTENTS
FOREWORD 8
CHAPTER 1 CONTINUING THE BRAND JOURNEY 12
CHAPTER 2 WHY DO YOU NEED A STRONG BRAND? 20
CHAPTER 3 YOU CAN’T BUILD A STRONG BRAND WITH A LOUSY NAME 34
CHAPTER 4 RULE NO. 1: THE NAME MUST BE EASY TO PRONOUNCE 46
CASE STUDY: ALLSHORES 67
CHAPTER 5 RULE NO. 2: THE NAME MUST BE EASY TO REMEMBER 72
CASE STUDY: ASIA PAINT 94
CHAPTER 6 RULE NO. 3: THE NAME MUST BE ENGLISH-SOUNDING 98
CASE STUDY: EU YAN SANG 119
CHAPTER 7 RULE NO. 4: THE NAME MUST BE SHORT 122
CASE STUDY: LEEDEN LIMITED 142
CHAPTER 8 RULE NO. 5: THE NAME MUST BE UNIQUE 146
CASE STUDY: ROTARY ENGINEERING 167
CHAPTER 9 RULE NO. 6: NO GENERIC WORDS 172
CASE STUDY: CEIL 192
CHAPTER 10 RULE NO. 7: NO ACRONYMS 196
CASE STUDY: GOLDBELL 219
CHAPTER 11 RULE NO. 8: YOU NEED TWO NAMES 222
CASE STUDY: YA KUN 242
CHAPTER 12 RULE NO. 9: YOU MUST HAVE A DOT.COM SUFFIX 246
CASE STUDY: BRANDQUBE 267
CHAPTER 13 RULE NO. 10: THE NAME MUST BE LANGUAGE NEUTRAL 270
CASE STUDY: CRECEPT 290
CHAPTER 14 TWELVE NAMING MISTAKES TO AVOID 294
CHAPTER 15 TYING IT ALL TOGETHER 314
FOREWORD
I
have often been asked why it is that I use so many business-to-consumer
(B2C) brands to illustrate the principles of branding even though I work for
a business-to-business (B2B) branding specialist, and the answer is a simple
one. B2C brands are known to more people than B2B brands because B2C
brands tend to be more mass-market, while B2B brands tend to be specialised
and more niche-market. Even if you were in the B2B sector, you might not know
a B2B brand from another industry. Having said that, I do use B2B brands that
are well-known. Some have become such household names that many people
are shocked when I say they are B2B brands.
Intel is one example of a B2B brand. It really is. Who does Intel sell to? Other
companies. Intel does not sell its products directly to consumers but to various
computer manufacturers. FedEx is another B2B brand. Again, many people will
roll their eyes. Who uses FedEx? Companies or consumers? Mostly companies.
Think back to the last time you used FedEx. Was it to send personal stuff or
work? Likewise, Hyfl ux is a B2B brand but it is well-known enough such that I
can use it where appropriate to illustrate the principles of branding. Caterpillar
is a hardcore B2B brand that sells construction equipment to construction
companies, but I use it to exemplify some of the topics covered because it is
well-known.
Throughout this book, you will fi nd a mixture of B2B and B2C brands
being used to demonstrate the rules of naming. While it is true that I focus
my branding work on B2B companies, I use many B2C brands to illustrate
the principles of branding, differentiation and even naming, because most
B2B examples would be lost on the majority of people. Let’s say you are a B2B
company that makes windscreens which you then supply to car manufacturers.
That makes you part of the automotive industry. Still, you may not know many
9
of the other B2B brands in the automotive industry because you do not deal
with or use them.
For example, as a windscreen supplier to automotive manufacturers, you
may not have heard of Getrag even though it is a famous brand specialising
in gearboxes, nor of ZF, which is well-known for power steering systems.
Likewise, Eibach may be unfamiliar, despite it being a leader in coil springs used
in the car’s suspension system. Bilstein? Koni? Both are famous for their shock
absorbers. You may not even have heard of Hella, the renowned manufacturer
of headlights; of Marelli, reputed for engine management systems; and of VDO,
who are highly regarded for instrumentation displays.
That is why I have to use brands most people have heard of, to make it
easier to illustrate the rules of branding, differentiation and naming. This means
that, very often, I end up using B2C brands. However, the principles of branding,
differentiation and naming are like Mathematics: One plus one equals to two.
They work the same way for B2B, as well as B2C or hybrid brands. They work
whether you are a product or service company. And they work the same way in
Singapore as they do in the United States or Timbuktu or Bora Bora.
Do not be overly concerned if you do not fi nd brands from your industry
being used in this book (or any of my books for that matter). Focus instead on
the principles of naming I will be discussing. In fact, if you do not fi nd brands from
your industry, that might actually be a good thing because this book only uses
brands that are considered strong. Maybe there are no strong brands from your
industry. If so, you can be the fi rst. If, on the other hand, there are many strong
brands in your industry and you are not one of them, you are in big trouble!
In reading this book, remember these few things; they will help you get the
best out of what has been written:
1. The principles of naming are the same regardless of whether you
are a B2C, B2B, hybrid, product, service, brick-and-mortar or
e-commerce brand. They are also the same regardless of the country
you are from.
2. All big brands start out as small brands. Do not look at the size of the
brands today. Look at what they did in terms of naming when they
were small. The rules of naming are the same for start-ups, small and
medium-sized companies or multinationals.