Brands of the word combinations

Inspired by the challenges faced in crafting brands for my clients, I became passionately wrapped in the topic of what makes an effective brand name. I dove into research in search of answers to my question then organized and analyzed my findings. I greatly enjoyed writing this article; My hope is that it will help others in developing one of their company’s greatest assets: A brand name which consumers can emotionally identify with.

Branding pro Marty Neuemier says in The Brand Gap, “The need for good brand names originates with customers, and customers will always want convenient ways of identifying, remembering, discussing, and comparing brands. The right name can be a brand’s most valuable asset, driving differentiation and speeding acceptance.”

1. Metaphoric Brand Names

These brand names cleverly make no sense on the surface, but have some sort of connection to what they are selling. They have a high risk but also high reward; In the beginning, people are going to think the name doesn’t make any sense—But if the brand name can stick around for a while, that business will carve out a new space in everyone’s minds that only it fills—and consumers will never confuse that brand name with anyone else. Obtaining the domain name is a bit problematic as it often carries a high price.

Successful Metaphoric Brand Names:

• Amazon is not connected to South America. However, we link the idea of ‘exotic value’ because the Amazon is a beautiful and hard to get to place. Plus, the Amazon is the largest river in the world infusing brand words like big, powerful, flowing, etc. into the company identity.

• Apple does not sell fruit. They have nothing to do with apples. The bitten apple is linked to the forbidden tree of knowledge from the Bible—the most commonly known book in the world.

• Yahoo! created an identity around the emotion their brand is meant to evoke. Back when the internet was relatively new and there were a lot of people who are completely new to it, they essentially sold the idea that you can feel the joy of avoiding frustration and actually finding what you want.

• Nike, the winged Greek goddess of victory is a great reference for speed and…well, victory. These are effective messages to carry when in an industry like sportswear.

2. Misspelled Brand Names

One method is to intentionally misspell a word, add prefixes, suffixes, or other tweaks to existing words in order to carve a unique spot in the brand name market. Though this is immediately identifiable, you will lose online traffic with many consumers who misspell the misspelling!

Successful Misspelling Brand Names:

• Flickr is naturally evocative of film and cameras.

• Dribbble, a brand name which “came about from the dual metaphors of bouncing ideas and leaking your work,” says co-founder Dan Cederholm.

• Todoist effectively turns to do list into a catchy single word.

3. Invented Brand Names

Invented brand names have the advantage of having full control over the brand identity because there is no pre-established meaning in the minds of consumers. Unfortunately, these creative brand names need a lot of time and effort put into their marketing in order to stick in consumer minds. Since they are not actual words, consumers do not immediately know what the brand name offers—in which case a tagline can play that identifying role until the Invented brand name itself becomes infused with meaning.

Successful Invented Brand Names:

• Twitter effectively makes use of a bird as their logo mascot in order to link this made up word to tweet. Taken a step further, a tweet is now known as a post made exclusively on Twitter.

• Geico similarly leverages the gecko lizard as its mascot to both market the Invented brand name as well as help people remember it due to the mascot’s similar pronunciation. The Geico Gecko creates its own memorable alliteration.

• Google, what is a google? It is a misspelling of Googol which is 10 to the power of 100. This makes the brand name part Metaphoric, part Misspelling—but ultimately an Invented brand name.

4. Direct Brand Names

There is no confusion as to what businesses with this type of brand name provide. It is very hard for Direct brand names to develop their own brand identity because they have to stick with the associations that people already have with the particular product or service the brand is named after. This can be very detrimental as consumers will carry any negative experiences they’ve had with the same product or service from another business. Direct brand names often feel as if they are void of any characteristics or personality to identify with and therefore have a hard time creating an emotional connection or communicating something meaningful.

Successful Direct Brand Names:

• Free Credit Report spells out exactly what it offers.

Some companies which had Direct brand names changed them to something more effective in creating a unique identity.

• Snapple use to be called Unadulterated Food Products—this is a great example of a business going from a thing they provide to an actual identity.

• eBay use to be called AuctionWeb—a compound word for what it literally is: auctions held on the web.

• Nike use to be called Blue Ribbon Sports—sports being a direct and generic word which many other companies could use.

• Yahoo! use to be called Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web. They switched to an emotion their brand is meant to evoke.

5. Word Combination Brand Names

Combining the unique identity of Invented brand names with the clarity of what the business is about, Word Combination brand names are a good option if you are sure the business plan will not need to expand or take unexpected turns. Like Direct brand names, you can usually tell what Word Combination brand names sell just by looking at them but with the added ability to create an emotional connection with consumers.

Successful Word Combination Brand Names:

• Microsoft effectively combines and shortens micro-computer software.

• Netflix combines two shortened words—Net being derived from the word Internet and Flix shortened from a synonym for movies: flicks. These two words embody what Netflix does.

• Mastercard gives the idea of a credit card which is somehow superior.

• FitBit expresses fitness through the use of a small product.

6. Alliteration Brand Names

An alliteration by definition is the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. These can be a combination of any other type of brand name, but with the added chance to stick in consumer minds due to their satisfying flow.

Successful Alliteration Brand Names:

• Best Buy tries to convince the consumer that they have the best products at the best price.

• Coca-Cola is named after its original ingredients: cocaine and kola nuts.

• Dunkin’ Donuts has since removed the word donut from their brand name in order to expand.

7. Personal Brand Names

These brand names make use of the founder’s personal name or that of a historic figure. This act of connecting one’s reputation to a business immediately helps build consumer trust; When consumers can connect to the person, this directly results in consumers connecting to the brand. Eventually, the identity of the brand name surpasses that of the individual and continues to carry its own meaning. Plus, there is no limit to the business’s product or service expansion with a Personal brand name.

Successful Personal Brand Names:

• Disney has become a brand name packed with memories and meaning in the minds of consumers young and old…and it is all credited in large to the man who started it—Walt Disney.

• Toyota was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda. The reason for the slight change in spelling is because people though it sounded better and the fact that Toyota can be written with just 8 pen strokes in Japanese.

• Mercedes-Benz was founded by Carl Benz. Among the co-founders, Emil Jellinek named the new cars after his daughter Mercedes Jellinek.

• Tesla is known for making electric cars and—as most people know—Tesla the man was a pioneering innovator with the use of electricity. Tesla was not the founder of this company however which makes this a sort of Metaphoric brand name as it references a name with pre-established meaning.

8. Abbreviated Brand Names

Examples from this category can fall under any of the others, but the use of an acronym makes them behave differently. Like Word Combination brand names, Abbreviated brand names allow for an effective use of a direct word while retaining a unique identity. At first, consumers will need to figure out what the acronym stands for to understand what the business does—but after a while, the set of letters will carry their own evolving meaning even though consumers have long forgotten the words they stand for.

Successful Abbreviated Brand Names:

• AT&T stands for American Telephone & Telegraph. No one says telephone any more and telegraphs are greatly outdated—but that doesn’t matter because society has given the acronym new meaning.

• GE stands for General Electric.

• IBM stands for International Business Machines.

• BMW stands for Bavarian Motor Works in English.

• UPS stands for United Parcel Service.

10 Characteristics of a Good Brand Name

Each of these categories have their advantages and disadvantages. To summarize the above, here is a list of positive aspects to look for in a brand name. Think of these as guidelines rather than rules.

1. Built off of a brand strategy.

2. Connect emotionally.

3. Short and simple.

4. Differentiates from competition.

5. Easy to pronounce.

6. Can’t misspell it.

7. Does not use a direct word for what it provides.

8. Does not limit business expansion.

9. Don’t need to spend a fortune to get the domain.

10. Can be protected under national and international trademark.

5 Questions to Ask When Brainstorming Brand Names

Coming up with a brand name for a new business is a daunting task. Here are a few important questions which will act as a guide in your search for the right name for your brand.

1. Why do we do what we do?

2. What are our values?

3. What makes us distinct?

4. Where do we come from?

5. What is our personality?

The Power of a Tagline

Making use of a tagline—or slogan—can be a powerful way to communicate what a business provides or the message it stands for. This is especially useful when the business is just starting out with a unique brand name which carries a strong identity but is inherently ambiguous. The tagline can be there to clarify what the business does in its early life until the name itself begins to be associated with its products and services. Furthermore, taglines can easily be removed or changed without damaging the brand’s consistency.

What is a Brand?

The word “brand” is a comprehensive term “A brand is a name, term, symbol, or design or a combination of them that is intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors”.

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Branding is the management process by which a product is branded. It is a general term covering various activities such as giving a brand name to a product, designing a brand mark, and establishing and popularizing it.

Branding is an important part of product management, which involves researching, developing, and implementing brand names, brands, marks, trade characters, and trademarks.

What is a Brand Name?

A brand name is a part of a brand consisting of a word, letters comprising a name that is intended to identify the goods or services of a seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of a competitor.

The brand name is a word or combination of words used to identify a product and differentiate it from other products. All brand names are trademarks, but not all trademarks are brand names. The brand name is that of the brand that can be vocalized.

A brand name may be, but need not be a trading name. For example, Coca-Cola is a trading name that is also the brand name of the company’s leading product.

What is Brand Mark?

A brand mark is the part of the brand which appears in the form of a symbol, design, or distinctive coloring or lettering. For example, Ganda Phenyl.

What is Trademark?

A trademark has been defined as any sign, mark, symbol, word, or word, which indicates the origin or ownership of a product as distinguished from its quality and which others do have no equal rights to employ for the same purpose.

A trademark is a brand name, brand mark, or trade character or combination thereof with legal protection. When registered a trademark is flowed by R.

Business firms need some techniques to differentiate their products from those manufactured by others. This is efficiently done by trade-marking them by using letters, words, groups of words, symbols, signs, or any combination of these.

What are Patents?

Patents are public documents offering certain rights, privileges, titles, or offices. A patent confers the right to the use of a technical invention. When a new invention is made, it is registered so that an exclusive right is obtained by the inventor to use it.

What is Copy Right?

This is an application in the case of books and is used in the same meaning as that of patents. It is the sole right to reproduce literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work. Copyright is available for the whole of the author’s lifetime and sixty years after his death.

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Difference Between Brand and Trademark

The process of branding includes the functions of giving brand name and trademark to any product. However, there are some differences between brand name and trademark. The difference between brand and trademark can be mentioned as follows:

1. Registration
2. Legal Protection
3. Scope

Registration

Any name, word, letter, symbol, design or any sign composed by combining them is called brand. If the same sign is legally registered in the concerned government office, it called trademark.

Legal Protection

Trademark is provided legal protection, No other company or firm can use this trademark except the producer or seller, which has got it registered. But brand or any symbol, sign can be used by other firms or competing companies. No legal action can be taken even if any company imitated a brand used by other company.

Scope

All trademark includes in brand but all brands may not be trademarks. So, all trademarks are brands, but all brands are not trademarks. In this way, there is basic difference between trademark and brand.

Both of them involve in branding, both of them give identity of products and differentiate from same type products of other companies. But legal protection can be acquired only from registered trademark.

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Advantages of Brand Names

There are many advantages of brand names to the manufacturers, distributors and consumers:

1. Vehicle of Goodwill: It works as a vehicle of goodwill to the seller, by which the article presented for sale may be organized and made effective as a cumulative force in selling. It may prove a valuable asset to the seller.
2. Stability of Sales Volume and Price: The seller achieves greater stability of sales volume and greater stability of price through transforming his product, to the maximum possible degree in specialty goods.
3. Healthy Brand Create a Sound Image of the Company: If it wants to bring out new product line or categories they will be welcomed by the customers. This is because the first impression can be a lasting impression.
4. Brand Names Make the Product Easily Distinguishable and Identifiable: Markets are often very large with a massive range of similar products. There is usually a need to differentiate a product from that of the competitor. This is efficiently done by branding.
5. Symbol of Quality: Consumers look upon the brand names as a symbol of product quality of a product’s characteristics and feature and as a symbol of the satisfaction product supplies.
6. Insurance: Branding is an insurance of merchandise comparability when the buyer uses more than one source of supply. Philip’s light bulbs are Philips’s light bulbs, regardless of where purchased.
7. When the brands contribute to the sound reputation of the companies, middlemen also get benefit out of it because their effort to act between the manufacturer and the end user are minimized.
8. If a firm has one or more lines of branded goods, it can add a new item to its product mix much more easily than a company selling unbranded merchandise.
9. A firm can advertise its product and associate each brand and its characteristics in the buyer’s mind. This aids the consumer in forming brand image, which are the perceptions a person has of particular brand.
10. As social visibility becomes more meaningful, a product’s prestige is enhanced via a strong brand name.
11. People feel less risky when buying a brand with which they are familiar and for which they have a favorable attitude. This is why brand loyalty occurs.
12. Branding provides another king of satisfaction to the consumer. When they are satisfied with a particular band they do not regret paying for it. They feel it worthwhile and reasonable.

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Choosing a Brand Name

There are four branding decision a firm must undertake. These involve corporate symbols, the branding philosophy, choosing a brand name and using trademarks. We will discuss here only the “choosing a brand name”.

Selecting the right brand name is one of the most vital yet a tricky and frustrating element in developing a new product. A good product with a lackluster name may not sell as well as a mediocre product with an intriguing name.

And once it is chosen and the product is out on the market. Changing or modifying the name is not only difficult but also rather harmful, getting it right the first time is essential.

In the quest for making the brand name play well in the market the firms ought to ask themselves a few question that are related with the impact of the brand name upon the customers. The questions are represented in the figure:

The first hurdle to be overcome is to decide what type of name is appropriate. These are:

• Names whose meanings bear no connection to the product (Aravalli Scooters, Arrow Shirts)
• Names that sound interesting but have no meaning (Kodak, Sony)
  
• Names that are borrowed from words in other language (Lux)
• Names that belong to company founders (Ford, Tata)
• Names that are company initials (HMV)
• Names that suggest a function or quality of the product (Cool Foam)
• Names that are taken from myths and legends (Atlas, Hercules).

In each of these categories, various innumerable possibilities maybe explored. Therefore, the main criterion should be to see whether or not the name selected will help to sell the product.

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Types of Brands

Following are the types of brands explained:

1. Individual Brands
2. Family Brands
3. Manufacturing Brands
4. Dealer Brands
5. Generic Brand
6. Licensed Brand

Individual Brands

A Company using individual brands uses separate brand names for each product, when its products vary in quality or type. If the products are really different such as Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL) – Individual brands are Pears, Lux, Lifebuoy, Rexona, Close-up and for Godrej- Individual brands are Cinthol, Ganga, Evita, glory, Marvel.

Sometimes firm use individual brands to encourage competition within the company. Each brand is managed by a different group within the firm. Management feels that internal competition keeps everyone alert .The theory is that if anyone is going to take business away, it ought to be one of the company’s own brands.

Family Brands

Branders of more than one product must decide whether they are going to use a family brand- the same brand name for several products-or individual brands for each product.

For examples, of family brands are like Godrej (cosmetics, refrigerators, and hair dye), Kissan (jam, ketchup, squashes, and pickle), Tata (oil, Salt, tea, machinery, watches, and steel), Maggie (sauce, noodles, pickle, and jam), Bata (shoes, sleepers, socks).

The use of the same brand for many products makes sense if all are similar in type and quality. The goodwill attached to one or two products may help the others, thus cutting promotion costs. It also tends to build loyalty to the family brand and makes it easier to introduce new products.

Manufacturing Brands

Manufacturing brands are brands created by manufacture. These are sometimes called “national brands”- because the brand is promoted all across the country or in large regions.

Such brands include Kellog’s, Whirlpool, Ford, and IBM, And creators of service-oriented firms-like McDonald’s. These brands spend a lot of money in promoting their brands in the same way that other products do.

Dealer Brands

Dealer brands are brands created by middlemen. These are sometime called “private brands” Manufacture and dealer brand names depend on whether the product is owned by producers or by intermediaries.

If the brand is owned by manufacturer that brand is classified as manufacture/national brand otherwise it is a dealer/private brand.

Generic Brand

Generic brand is also called as ‘No Brand’. Under the generic brand, product remains unbranded or without a brand name. Widespread consumer goods and pharmaceutical products, which are inexpensive and plainly packed, are under generic or no brand products. Most of the goods purchased by Indian household consumers are non-branded or generic products.

Generic products are most common for staples-especially food product and drug items. Typically, these are offered in plain packages at lower prices.

Licensed Brand

Here the brand names are licensed on ‘rent’ by the established manufacturers to the sellers of goods by tacking royalties or fee. These brands can have immediate effect on customers mind since the brand name used is well established in the market.

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Branding Strategies

Following are the branding strategies adopted by the marketer:

1. Line Extensions
2. Brand Extensions
3. Brand Licensing
4. New Brands
5. Co Branding
6. Mixed Brand

Line Extensions

Here the existing brand name is extended to new sizes or flavors in the existing product category. For instance a company can introduce additional products in the same line or product category using the existing brand name.

Brand Extensions

Branding strategy that uses an existing brand name to promote a new or improved product in a campany’s product line or product category. This strategy’s risk is overextending a product line and diluting the brand with too many products.

Brand Licensing

It involves a legal licensing agreement for which the licensing company receives a fee, such as royalty, in return for allowing another company to use its brand/brand/mark/trade character.

New Brands

New brand for a new category product.

Co Branding

Co–branding can be defined as a partnership between the marketing activities of at least two or more different brands which are also independent providers of products and services. This type of marketing strategy can involve various types of marketing activities like advertisements or sponsorships.

This association should be beneficial for all the brands involved when they are aligned rather than when those products are promoted individually.

Mixed Brand

Some manufacture and retailers use a mixed brand strategy to sell products. They offer a combination of manufacture, private distributor, and generic brands.

For example, A manufacturer of a national brand might agree to make a product for sale under another company’s brand.

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Advantages of Branding

Branding is very important for a company to distinct its products and services from others. Branding is not only important to the owner but also important to consumers and retailers. Following are the advantages of branding:

1. To Consumers
2. To Owners
3. To Intermediaries

To Consumers

1. Consumer can easily identify the products as they are distinctive. For example, a G Star Jeans is easily distinguishable from H&M, Next or Zara’s Jeans because G Star puts their sign or name (96, G Star) on the pocket.
2. It gives some feelings to the consumers when they shop branded products. For example, if someone buys an Armani watch he/she feels prestige.
3. It reduces risk in purchasing because consumer knows the quality, features and other benefits of products without using it.
4. Helps to have quick buying decision because brand attracts consumers.

To Owners

1. Companies can charge premium price. For example, Next plc, Armani, Lactose, Harrods etc charges premium price because they have strong brand name.
2. It gives opportunity to the company for line extension through building on the consumer’s perception of the values and character represented by the brand name.
3. It helps owners to create consumer loyalty as it gives value to the consumers what they pay for.

To Intermediaries

1. Branded items make easier for the suppliers to process the orders and track down problems.
2. Retailers are happy to sell branded products because they are good seller. In terms of Jobber and Fahy (2006) branding helps to enhance.
3. Company’s value.
4. Consumer preference and loyalty.
5. Barrier to competition.

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Disadvantages of Branding

These are the disadvantages of branding explained below:

1. Cost
2. Impersonal
3. Fixed Image
4. Timescale

Cost

If you wish to create and maintain a strong brand presence, it can involve a lot of design and marketing costs. A strong brand is memorable, but people still need to be exposed to it, this often requires a lot of advertising and PR over a long period of time, which can be very costly.

There are also costs involved with the creating of a brand image or logo (Paying for a designer, printing new letterheads/business cards etc.), and although most of these are only one off costs, they are still relatively large for most small businesses.

The exposure of your brand can be left to word of mouth, this will save you money, but will also greatly slow down the exposure your brand receives.

Impersonal

One of the main problems with many branded businesses is that they lose their personal image. The ability to deal on a personal basis with customers is one of the biggest advantages small business have, and poorly designed branding could give customers the impression that your business is losing its personal touch.

Fixed Image

Every brand has a certain image to potential customers, and part of that image is about what products or services you sell. If you are known for selling just one product, and you want to sell another product, will you be able to do so effectively?

If you sell computers, would your brand name be suitable for selling vacuum cleaners? If your brand is focused too strongly on one product, it can limit your ability to sell other products.

Timescale

The process of creating a brand will usually take a long period of time. As well as creating a brand and updating your signs and equipment (For example, Stationary, vehicles etc…), you need to expose it to your potential customers.

It is commonly shown that people need to see an advert at least three times before they absorb it, which means you will need to advertise and promote the brand for a considerable amount of time before it will become well known.

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FAQ Related to Branding

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Great brand names can become common words. This happens when a company capitalizes on a great idea, works out the best strategy to brand it, and then the name becomes synonymous with what they do. Think of household names like Google or Kleenex. These are category-defining common brands that people convert into verbs and nouns. For example, you don’t just search the internet when you want to look something up… you google it.

What’s surprising is how many common brand names have transitioned into everyday language. Below are 25 examples of brands that became common words. And if you’re keeping count, you’ll find 7 more names placed in the copy of this post. Can you find them?

1. Band-Aid

The Band-Aid was invented in 1920, and trademarked by Johnson & Johnson. The trademark is active today, but regardless of the product, do you know an “adhesive bandage” by any other name?

2. Bubble Wrap

Bubble Wrap is a brilliant packing material and an immensely fun noise maker. The product was invented in 1957 and is a trademark of Sealed Air Corporation.

3. Cellophane

Walk the grocery store aisles and you will see countless items wrapped in cellophane. Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. It is trademarked in Europe and several other countries by Innovia Films but is a genericized product in the United States.

4. Chapstick

Lip balm may be the generic name, but Chapstick captures the essence of the product. Chapstick is one of Pfizer’s consumer brands. Due to the name’s popularity, the term has become a genericized trademark.

5. Crock-Pot

A Crock-Pot is a brand of slow cooker by Sunbeam Products. These handy devices cook your food all day at a low temperature so you have a tasty stew ready when you get home from work.

6. Dry Ice

Dry Ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. (Thank you, Wikipedia…I learned something new today.) The Dry Ice Corporation of America trademarked the solid form of CO2 as “Dry Ice.” The name stuck and became the common name for the substance.

7. Dumpster

Dumpster is one of the words that surprised me on the list. For some reason, I just assumed this is what you call a garbage bin. But it’s a brand of the Dempster Brothers. The name is a portmanteau — the blending of two words — of the word “dump” and the last name Dempster.

8. Escalator

Otis Elevator Co. trademarked the word “escalator” in 1899. They created the word by combining the Latin word for step, scala, with the word “elevator.”

9. Fiberglass

Fiberglass is the brand name for “glass wool.” It was trademarked by the Owens-Corning company.

10. Flip Phone

Some of the most common words began life as trademarked brands. Flip Phone was originally a trademark of Motorola.

11. Frisbee

Frisbee is a trademark of Wham-O. What’s surprising is the number of brands that Wham-O created into generic names: Hacky Sack, Hula Hoop, Super Ball, Silly String, and Slip ‘n Slide. Wham-O are branding legends.

12. Laundromat

Laundromat was another surprising name for me on the list. This is a trademark for a coin laundry shop. It was registered by Westinghouse in the 1940s, but they let the trademark expire.

13. Memory Stick

The company Sony branded their portable flash memory as a Memory Stick in 1998. The first Memory Stick held up to 128 MB. It’s kind of quaint to think that was a lot of storage back then. Meanwhile, my iPhone has 128 GB of storage…and I still keep running out of space.

14. Ping Pong

Ping Pong is a brand of table tennis products owned by Parker Bros. They coined the name in 1901. The founders thought the sound of the small ball when they hit it across the table sounded like “ping pong.”

15. Popsicle

Popsicle, generically known as “ice pops” or “freezer pops,” is a registered trademark of Unilever. Frank Epperson popularized Popsicles after patenting the concept of “frozen ice on a stick” in 1923. Epperson claimed to have first created an ice pop in 1905 at the age of 11 when he accidentally left a glass of powdered soda and water with a mixing stick in it on his porch during a cold night.

16. Realtor

This is another “Who knew?” name for me. We often call real estate agents “realtors,” but the term is a trademark of the National Association of Realtors. The terms “Realtor” and “Realtors” refers to members of the association, and not to real estate agents generally.

17. Seeing Eye Dog

The Seeing Eye, Inc. is a guide dog school located in Morristown, New Jersey. Since 1929, the organization has trained guide dogs to assist visually impaired people. Interestingly, a “Seeing Eye Dog” is a trademark. If anyone else trains a dog, it’s a “guide dog.” This is another example of a remarkably effective brand name.

18. Sheetrock

Sheetrock is the trademark held by United States Gypsum Corporation (USG) for its drywall product. This product is omnipresent in modern home construction, and has largely replaced plaster.

19. Styrofoam

Styrofoam may not be considered a “green product” anymore, but it’s still commonly used for foam cups, plates, and coolers. This is a branded product of polystyrene, and the trademark is held by Dow Chemical.

20. Super Glue

“Super glue” is used informally as a verb or noun, but it is a trademarked product of Super Glue Corporation. It’s a brand of cyanoacrylate adhesive, and as we all know it’s super sticky.

21. Super Heroes

This is really neat. Super Heroes is a jointly owned trademark by DC Comics and Marvel Comics. I guess only DC and Marvel heroes can be super.

22. Trampoline

George Nissen and Larry Griswold invented the Trampoline in 1936. Nissen was a gymnastics and diving competitor and Griswold was a tumbler on the gymnastics team. The name came from the Spanish word “trampolín,” meaning a diving board. George had heard the word on a demonstration tour in Mexico in the late 1930s, and decided to use an anglicized form as the trademark for the apparatus.

23. Videotape

Ampex Corporation owned the original trademark for “videotape.” They were an early manufacturer of audio and video tape recorders, and quickly became a leader in audio tape technology. Ampex developed many of the analog recording formats for both music and movies that remained in use into the 1990s.

24. Windbreaker

Windbreaker was Celebration Trading Inc.’s trademarked word for jackets. Now, a windbreaker is a thin coat designed to resist wind chill and light rain, a lighter version of a jacket.

25. Zipper

This may be the greatest piece of automation ever invented for clothing. The Zipper was originally a trademark of B.F. Goodrich for use in rubber boots. The word Zipper is onomatopoetic — a word that phonetically imitates the sound that it describes. They named the product after the high-pitched “zip” sound the device makes.

Your Turn to Brand It

This is only a small sampling of brands that became common words. What other words come to mind that originated as brand names? Can you think of anything you’d give the “brand it” treatment to? Tweet your examples to @StickyBranding and let’s brand it together!

Curious about our strategy? Take a look here!

“See if your brand name is up to the Universal Naming Trend”

Trending is all about timing. To select the most up to date brand name to your startup or business, you have to follow the naming trends.

Unlike in the past, we, humans have a big relationship with brand names. There is so much to choose in the market and we have the freedom to select which product or service is going to satisfy our needs the most.

To become the selection of the majority of your target customers, you should exactly know what startup naming trend to follow and how to shape your brand name.

How Do You Name A Startup In 2022?

Our brand name specialists have analyzed the naming trends of the past few years and predicted the following naming trends for the year 2022. If you are planning to start a business in 2022, do not forget to consider the following naming trends.

1. Short names- Most of the brand names of the startups of the last few years, the brand names consist of 4 to 6 characters such as Brex (2017)
2. Unique names- Most of the entrepreneurs from the last few years have chosen names that are unique as their brand names, for example,  Meesho (2015).
3. Generic words – This is also a naming trend a considerable amount of entrepreneurs selected generic words for their brand name. Although these brand names are generically worded, they do not represent the core of the business. Our brand name specialists point this out as a special feature. For example, Cameo (2017)
4. Updating logos-  In modern days, having only a physical store is not enough; online presence is also important. The logo is a very important marketing tool in an online store. So our brand name specialists have figured out updating logos as a related trend for startups. Popular companies like Toyota, Chanel, Coca Cola, and Gucci continuously update their logos and maintain a strong relationship with customers. An attractive logo promotes strong brand recognition.
5. Visual brand promoting- It is said people remember what they see 60000 times better than what they read. The same goes for your brand name. Make sure to add (naturally not forcefully)  your logo and brand name whenever you share a photo, post, or video.
6.  Using social media- most of the businesses in the world are active in social media. Social media is a very effective promoting tool for businesses. So being active on social media sites is also a brand naming trend.
7. Customer-focused marketing- you need to promote your brand name as a customer-friendly brand name. First, discover your target customer crowd and shape your product or service according to their needs, suggestions. With this, you can market your brand name naturally, through the customers. So consider this trend also when you design your brand name.

With the results we extracted from the previous brand naming trends, we developed the universal brand name trend that will never get outdated and secure your online presence among your competitors.

The Universal Startup Naming Trend For 2022

Whatever the naming trend you follow, ensure these factors are included in your brand name. This trend will keep your brand name stand out for decades. Your brand name should be,

01. Not Too Lengthy

If your brand name is too long it won’t be easy to remember for your customers. The latest research results have shown that short brand names are more catchy and memorable than long brand names. So make sure your brand name is limited to 4 to 6 characters as it is the ideal character count for a brandable brand name. For example, Google, Amazon, Visa.

02. Easy To Pronounce And Remember

This is also a very important fact, if you want your brand name to stand out trending for decades. Remembering your brand name depends on how easily you can pronounce your brand name. Customers have long lists of brand names in their memory, so confirm your brand name is easy to pronounce and easy to remember. For example, E-bay, Nike, ADIDAS.

03. The Global Meaning

Always consider the global meaning of your brand name. There can be different meanings in different languages for one word. Even though your brand name is meaningful in your language, there can be negative or unrelated meanings in other languages which is harmful for your brand name especially when the brand name is introduced for the other countries.

A brand name is the very first detail of your business that deals with the customers. So the global meaning of the brand name needs to be positive in order to build a strong connection with the customers. For example, HP, Viber, Twitter.

04. Uniqueness

In the brand naming process, uniqueness is defined in a bit different way than the usual. In the brand naming process, we define uniqueness in the means of the legal ownership to the brand name. Although there are thousands of domain extensions nearly half of the businesses using .com domain extension. With a .com domain extension, you can get the legal ownership of your brand name.

05. User Friendly

Your brand name needs to be easy to deal with when it comes to your smart devices such as laptops, smartphones, tabs etc. When your brand name is easy to pronounce for the robots in your smart device, it will be easy for anyone in the world to read it. So make sure your brand name is robots friendly.

As we know, different industries have different brand naming trends to pick a great brand name. Let’s take a look at the business naming trends of some industries.

06. No Generic Words Are Included

If you need a super brand name, keep your brand name ideas list away from generic words(dictionary words). It is very difficult to translate the original meaning, awareness of a generic word into a brand name. For example, you name your business as “chairs”, but when the customer hears your name for the first time, they automatically picture some chairs instead of your business. With a generic brand name, you cannot make a successful brand image and you cannot reach your target audience. So avoid using genetic words in your brand name.

07. No Numbers And Special Characters Are Used

Unless you are targeting korean or chinese markets, including numbers and special characters in your brand name is not wise. Why? try reading this brand name Zab8won*, was it easy to pronounce? And the surveys we conducted on the market have shown that brand names with numbers and special characters are very hard to memorize. And it does not look good on your URL. Usually URLs contain numbers and special characters, when your brand name also contains numbers and special characters, your customers will be confused. So avoid naming troubles by avoiding numbers and special characters.

Name Trends According To The Industry

Some naming trends are popular in some industries. Here are some examples for that.

-Startup Naming Trends Of The Apparel Industry

These are some popular naming trends in the apparel industry.

• Founder’s name- Armani, Fendi
• Mythical names- Nike, Hermes
• Generic names-  Puma, The North Face
• Unique names- Nike, ADIDAS

-Startup Naming Trends Of The Beauty Industry

Here are some popular brand naming trends in the beauty industry, that you can try for your beauty startup.

• Short Brand Names- Avon, Olay, Mecca
• Use Of Acronyms- Mac, NYX
• Founders Name- Chanel, Dior

-Most Followed Naming Trends In The Fashion Industry

Consider these naming trends if you are planning to start a fashion accessories business in the future. These are the popular startup naming trends in the fashion industry.

• One word brand names- Hermes, Rolex, Cartier, GUCCI, Next
• Acronyms- H&M, C&A, ADIDAS
• Founder’s name- Tom Ford, Michael Kors, Dolce and Gabbana

-Popular Naming Trends In The Sports Industry

These naming trends have been followed by most of the entrepreneurs of the sports industry.

• Acronyms- ASICS, DKS
• Generic words- Under Armour, Skechers, New Balance, North Face

-Popular Naming Trends In The IT Industry

There are many businesses that can be found in the IT industry which are of the following brand name trends.

• Compound names- PayPal, Facebook
• Simple and short names- Intel, Adobe

-Naming Trends Of The Food Industry

The following naming trends have been followed by the majority of the food industry entrepreneurs. 

• One worded brand names- Nestle, Mars, Cargill
• Acronyms- JBS, ADM, CHS

-Naming Trends Of The E-commerce Industry

Check out the startup naming trends of the e commerce industry. These trends are still being followed by many entrepreneurs in this industry.

• Using generic words- Amazon, Rakuten
• Short brand names- eBay, Otto

-Startup Naming Trends Of The Tourism Industry

The following listed naming trends are popular in the tourism industry.

• Generic words- Ovation Travel Group, Omega World Travel
• Key worded brand names- Direct Travel, Travel & Transport
• Acronyms – CWT, ATG, BCD

-Naming Trends Of The Social Industry

Most of the entrepreneurs of the social industry have followed these startup naming trends.

• Compound words- Facebook, WeChat
• Generic words- Twitter, Medium
•  Made Up words- Skype, Instagram

-Hotel And Restaurant Industry Startup Naming Trends

• Included numbers- 21c Museum Hotel, hotel 71
• Long names- Belmond Hotel Splendido, Katikies Sun Rocks
• Generic words- Four Seasons Hotel, Royal Mansour

These are the most followed startup naming trends in the hotel and restaurant industry.

-Naming Trends In The Education Industry

• Short brand names- Cram, Podia
• Unique brand names- Chegg, Udemy
• Founders name- Lynda
• Acronyms- ALISON

These startup naming trends are popular in the education industry if you are interested in starting an education industry related business.

What Are The Old Naming Trends?

We are going to analyze old naming trends in two parts, 

• Old naming trends that you should avoid.

• Old naming trends that are still valid.

Old Naming Trends That You Should Avoid

Actually, in the past, the brand name was used just to introduce the product or service to the customers. Introducing the product or the service was the big deal back then. Less competition in the market was a big reason for this. These brand name trends are just for your knowledge and they are not for your business name.

01. Using Descriptive Words As Brand Names

Using descriptive words for their product or service was a naming trend once. The brand name itself explains the product or service to the audience without confusing them. For example, YouSendIt, Hotels.com, Toy R Us. Today it’s not recommended to use this brand naming trend for your business.

02. Common Names

Using keywords as a brand name is also a naming trend and this trend is still followed by some businesses. Some brand names are related to the product while some are not related at all. For example, Apple and Blackberry. These brand names do not relate to the product while Pizza Hut and coca-cola are related to the product. I stated earlier some businesses name their business with a keyword or common word which is an advantage for their business. You will find out why you should avoid common words in your business name.

03. Using Personal Names

There are personal names that turned into a business name, as an honor to the founder of that particular product or service such as Oscar, Lynda. But for your business, you better go with unique brand names.

04. Using More Than One Words

National Express, Aston Martin, Bank Of America are some examples of this trend; using more than one word or long brand names. The main reason why we ask you to avoid this brand name trend, these brand names are hard to memorize and will not survive on the internet.

05. Using Numbers With Words

This is a trend that you should definitely avoid; using numbers in the brand names. For example, 3M, Chanel No.5. There may be an important message behind those numbers but the latest results show that brand names with numbers are less memorable.

06. Using Misspelled Words

Using misspelled words is an old trend but can still be used even in your business as they are unique. For example, Tumblr (Tumbler) and Flickr (Flicker). Even Twitter started as Twttr and got twitter.com later to avoid this confusion.

Old Naming Trends That Are Still Valid

01. Using Initials Or Acronyms

Naming the business with the founder’s initials or using acronyms as a result of a long brand name with more words is also a notable brand name trend. For example, IBM (International Business Machines) BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH) H&M (Hennes and Maurits). This is also a good brand name approach even today as they are unique and easy to remember.

02. Word Combining

Brand names like Paypal, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, each of these brands is a result of a combination of two words or a combination of two-word partials. This brand name approach is also a unique and trending way to create a cool brand name.

03. Using English Letters or Words

From the past, there is a tendency to use English words or write native words in English letters as a business name trend and this is still valid for today’s businesses too. English is an international language and with English word brand names, you can speak to a global audience. 

English worded brand names- Dove, Apple, Target, GAP, Mini, Starbucks.

Non-English worded brand names- Nokia (Finnish word), Huawei (Chinese word), Honda (Japanese word), Hyundai (Korean word).

What Are The Latest Brand Name Trends?

Selecting an up to date brand name is important. So what are the latest brand name trends?

01. Made Up Words

Made up words are unique and make sure to create them as easy to remember to the audience. Here you have the freedom to create new words but make sure they are easy to spell, memorize, and not a copy of an existing popular brand name. For example, Visa, Skype, Hulu, Google are perfectly made-up words.

02. AI (Artificial Intelligence)

There is a trend in the IT industry to put the two-letter AI for their software or IT company to represent what the brand name relates to. For example, Argo AI, Rulai. If your business is related to AI you can also use this trend in a unique way.

03. Robotics

The latest results about brand names reveal most robotic related businesses include the words, Robo, robotic, or robots in their business names, for example, HRG( Hit Robot Group), Mitsubishi Robotics.

Some Tips To Name Your Startup

Most entrepreneurs struggle in the beginning of the naming process. So we decided to give some tips on naming your startups. If you have no clear idea on how to begin; follow these steps.

• Know the purpose of your startup

Defining your business as the first step is strongly engaged with the overall development of your business. So be clear about your business purpose because it also affects your brand name.

• Target customers

Your brand name needs to be parallel with the customers’ decision making process. There are different types of customers in the market and Identifying and understanding your target customers will help you to design a brand name that attracts your customers. 

• Study the keywords

Studying the keywords is a good way to get familiar with lots of industry related words. So we recommend brainstorming keywords before selecting a brand name. 

• The global meaning of your brand name

When it comes to the brand names, you need to care thoroughly about the global meaning of your brand name or in other words; make sure your brand name does not generate any negative meaning in other languages. Unless, it can affect the future growth of your business.

• Online presence of your business

Online presence is a prior requirement in this era for businesses. So the brand name needs to be attractive in your website and easy to type and search for the users.

• Shortlist the names

If you have more brand name ideas and have no idea to pick one brand name ,our brand name consultants recommend this easy way to shortlist your brand name; brand name qualities!!! Remove all the brand name ideas that lack brand name qualities in them and voila, you’ll easily get the perfect brandable brand name for your startup.

• Check the domain availability

As the final step, check whether your brand name is available to be registered. You can check it easily from godaddy.com.

Comparisons of Naming Trends

Naming your startup is the foremost important duty you should do before starting any new businesses. Startup name trends change from time to time and we cannot come for a strict decision to follow any trends blindly, it’s all matters about the startups impact which is caused by the founder. Still, startup naming is a faddish endeavor.

You can often identify which era a startup started by looking at its naming styles. We have studied and sorted out the naming trends of some of the fastest growing companies which were founded in recent years and some old companies which were successful.

Old Trend	Recent Trend
Word with too many vowels(Google,Yahoo) From 1990-2000	Name end with cute suffixes (Spotify,Napster) From 2000-2019
Word with not enough vowels (twitter,Flickr) From 2000-2010	Compound words (Snapchat,PayPal) From 2010-2019
Two words jammed together with a capitalized letter in the middle (YouTube,LinkedIn) From 2000-2010	Mash-Up words (Instagram) From 2010-2019
Long and descriptive Names (Apple Computer , Cisco Systems) Early 1980	Human Names (Hulu,Oscar) From 2005-2019
Fruit Names (Apple,BlackBerry) Early 1980	Keep Short and Simple (Uber,Nest) From 2010-2019
	Startups cropping up with “AI” in their names(Argo AI) late 2016

Now you have good knowledge about the brand name trends and know-how your brand name should shape according to the given suggestions. Trendy brand naming!!!