We know. But you’ve come to the right place. We offer professional brand naming services and creative naming solutions.
Naming. It’s hard to do. If you are a parent, you know this all too well. Will these children ever forgive their parents: Moon Unit and Dweezil, (Frank Zappa), Zowie (David Bowie), Apple, (Chris Martin/Gwyneth Paltrow) and North West (Kanye West/Kim Kardashian). I guess they didn’t use brand naming experts….
A name is of course a hugely important part of a brand strategy.
Important because the company or brand name is the first contact with your customer and its most elemental marketing communication. The name becomes a natural, authentic extension of your brand, and demonstrates to the world the values of your brand positioning.
For many companies, the name is the brand, and it sets the tone for everything it does. People will remember strong names and, if they are done well, they produce an emotional connection to a brand.
Names - words - have the power to shape worlds both real and imagined.
To distil a story, its elements and all the associated emotions and rationality into a single word or phrase is no small feat. It takes creative naming consultants.
Emotional benefit, cut through, memorability, originality, promise, impact, alliance to brand proposition, the right cultural connotations, imagery and meaning – naming can be complex and take time.
Name generation strategy
Thinking strategically is a smart starting point. Business objectives and rationale are as important as the name scope.
The best brand naming companies understand that they are naming the positioning of a company, a product, its tone, personality, its ideology and its story first. Not a mere name for the sake of it.
We are creating a word that starts a conversation or relationship with a consumer.
The creative naming strategy process itself can be personal, emotive, memory-stirring, legally challenging, intensely practical and culturally flexible. But done well they can have immense value and longevity.
History lovers will be interested to learn that Stella Artois can be traced to 1708 when Sebastian Artois bought a brewery and renamed it after himself. (Stella means “star” in Latin); Twinings Tea was founded by Thomas Twining in 1706. In 1891, Marcus Samuel began shipping kerosene from London to India, bringing back seashells for sale in Europe. Initially, the seashell business was so popular that it was most of the company’s profits. Samuel incorporated the name “Shell” in 1897. And Levi Strauss & Co. Company goes back to 1837. Founded by William Bass in 1777, Bass Ale became the first registered trademark ever issued by the British government. The brand became so popular that Manet featured it in this now iconic, erm.. trademark-friendly painting:
We have a proven brand naming process
Our innovative naming solutions methodology begins with understanding everything about a company or brand including a range of variable elements depending on the life stage of the company. But these might include its philosophy, vision, business priorities, culture, customer profile, core proposition, competition, planned operation/resources, supply chain and much more.
The more we know, the more effective the name will be.
Riches beyond compare: the words of the world
Names, names names… people like to break down their types.
And indeed, what riches there are, what choice! A treasure chest to communicate brand soul, with words being the tools of the trade:
Descriptive names, acronym names, founder names, invented names spanning the purely invented, mashed-up, smashed-up, pureed, shaken and stirred, foreign names (real and foreign-sounding), poetic, rhyming, names, experiential names, generic adjective-based names (eg advanced, superior, ultra, etc.)
Evocative names that are metaphoric not literal, that rise above the product offered, and paint a bigger picture. Many of the most well-known brands have evocative names.
The best of them lean into shared cultural knowledge, imagery, or association and usually work on multiple levels.
Brand naming trends come and go but inspiration and techniques remain constant, various and many.
- We have etymology, pronunciation, phonetics, linguistics and translations.
- We have editing, shortening, lengthening, reordering, tinkering.
- We have personal life stories, corporate origins, science, nature, need states of the markets/of the consumer, mythology, folklore, philosophy, psychology, culture, arts, technology, botany, nature, slang, the celestial realm, architecture, cuisine, history, history, mood, emotion, nuance, colour… the glory of it all at our strategically focussed, commercially conscious, disposal.
An AI 'company name generator' isn’t quite the same.
All we want is a name that delivers an effective brand identity: tells the story, stimulates interest, is impactful and captivates hearts. Oh, and it helps if it’s a catchy brand name.
'If you have the words, you'll find the way'
(Image with thanks to Duncan Cumming)
Said the noted poet Seamus Heaney. We are of course no poets, but we do know our way around language enough to create powerful brand names.
London based Anew are a strategic brand naming agency. Developing unique business names for luxury brands is part of our expertise.
See more about our approach to creating brand names for companies, new luxury brand names, range names and premium product names, plus our brand naming portfolio here.
We help companies increase brand profitability through sharper insights, distinctive propositions, creative ideas and faultless execution. We are particularly adept at working directly with luxury brands, business owners, start-ups and entrepreneurs who are committed to sustainability, outstanding quality and craft.
We'd be delighted to meet for a coffee, either face-to-face or virtually, to discuss any new projects you might be considering.
To get in touch do drop us an email.
