Brand Naming Services
by Brandium

The creation of brand names begins with interpreting brand/business goals and strategies. This initial phase sets the objectives for naming creation, enabling focused development of name options that offer energy and coherent discourse to drive the brand’s business over time.

Once the objectives are defined, the creative strategy is configured, selecting techniques and processes for creating brand names. The developed options are filtered and evaluated based on multiple characteristics such as strategic alignment, communicational and graphic effectiveness, cultural alignment, and more.

Next, the selected options are researched (Intellectual Property Offices) and validated through our clearance search process to ensure they do not infringe on the existing rights of any other brand in the jurisdiction(s) where they will be used. This approach expands expectations for registration in jurisdictions where the brand is intended to be protected, which may include the United States (USPTO), the European Community (EUIPO), Portugal (INPI), Brazil (INPI), and other countries where brand registration is sought.

After the verification steps, the first brand name options are presented and defended to the client to obtain feedback. This marks the beginning of the first stage of a “Funnel Model” that enables joint analysis and reflection (Brandium + client) to optimize consensus building over the next naming creation cycles. Strategic alignment and name evaluation metrics provide the necessary structure for the journey towards name selection.

This entire process can be more or less complex depending on the objectives of each client, especially regarding the breadth of protections sought.

Project development timelines can vary based on complexity (requirements and/or constraints for the brand name).

• For low-complexity projects, development can take between 10 to 15 days*.
• Medium complexity projects can take between 2 to 4 weeks.
• High-complexity projects are analyzed on a case-by-case basis.

Contact us to obtain a quote that is tailored to your specific needs.

Brand names can be categorized as functional, invented, experiential, or evocative (there are also many subcategories). Their goal is to be memorable and provide strategically relevant connections with the target audience. They should also naturally fit into the brand’s discourse on its positioning, values, mission, etc., helping to drive business and appropriately represent the value produced and delivered.

In this context, imagining scenarios where positioning, name, design, and communication articulate helps identify the most suitable types of names, defining the creation techniques to develop them, and focusing on the project’s development to achieve desired outcomes.

At Brandium, the cost of a naming project is determined by its complexity and the set of requirements to be met, such as:

• Obtaining registration in one or multiple classes of products and/or services
• Obtaining registration in one or more jurisdictions (Brazil and/or other countries)
• Adaptation to different cultures and languages
• Character limits
• Availability of cumulative domains such as “.COM.BR” + “.COM” and/or other TLDs, CCTLDs, STLDs
• Need or not for “pure” social handles such as “@brandname” on Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, etc.
• Need for conducting and monitoring market research and testing
• And more.

If you need a proposal for naming development, please contact us to discuss your specific needs. This way, we can prepare an initial preliminary budget.

Easy to hear

A good name is a clear and accessible acoustic fact. Imagine a lively environment filled with people chatting (a bar, a restaurant, a party, etc.). Is the brand name easy to hear and understand correctly?

Easy to speak/pronounce

After hearing it, is the brand name easy to pronounce? Are the phonemes that make up the name ‘accessible’? Will different audiences feel comfortable pronouncing the brand name without fear of making mistakes? It’s important to remember that a brand that’s difficult to pronounce will end up not being pronounced at all. Additionally, will voice search assistants such as Siri, Google, and Alexa (which are becoming increasingly popular) ‘understand’ and interpret the phonemes that make up the name correctly?

Easy to write

Is the name long? Does it contain unusual characters? Will people have doubts when writing it? If they make a typing mistake, what are the most common errors? If the error happens on the internet, what other sites will they end up on? And if people give up searching for the brand altogether? How much is it worth (and cost) to engage a potential customer in learning more about your brand, products, and/or services?

Generate Positive Associations

The brand name should spark positive feelings and beneficial associations in the consumer’s mind. This involves considering the emotional and psychological impact of the words and syllables used in the name. The name of your brand should strengthen the identity of your brand and reinforce the image that you want your audience to have of it.

Relevant/Appropriate for the Brand

The name should be relevant and appropriate to the brand to be able to adequately express the essence of the company, product, or service that the brand represents. It should resonate with the company’s vision, mission, and values, in addition to being appropriate for the market sector in which the company operates.

Internet Domain Availability

The name should be available as an internet domain. A website is an essential marketing tool for most businesses, and having a domain that matches your brand name helps to strengthen your online presence.

The importance of a clear, unambiguous brand name and corresponding internet domain is multi-faceted:

Brand Recognition

A clear name helps in establishing your brand in the marketplace. It allows customers to recognize and remember your business easily. The same applies to the internet domain. If the domain name matches your business name, it makes it easier for customers to find you online.

Avoid Misdirection

An unclear or confusing name could misdirect customers to other businesses, either in person or online. For example, if your domain name is spelled differently than your business name or uses unconventional spelling, customers might end up on a different website.

Prevent Traffic Loss

A clear domain name helps prevent traffic loss. If your domain name is complicated or hard to remember, potential customers might give up trying to find your website or end up at a competitor’s site. A simple, clear domain name reduces the chance of this happening.

SEO Benefits

A clear, relevant domain name can also help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), making your website more likely to appear in search results related to your business.

Professionalism and Trust

A clear and precise domain name looks professional and builds trust. Users may be wary of websites with complicated or nonsensical domain names, worrying they could be scam sites.

Brand Equity

Over time, a clear and distinctive domain name contributes to your brand’s equity. It becomes a valuable digital asset that increases the worth of your company.

In essence, a clear name and internet domain can significantly enhance your brand’s visibility, credibility, and memorability in the digital space.

One of the main objectives of the Naming service is to facilitate the trademark registration process with Intellectual Property Offices. For this, it’s important to understand that trademark registration in the world (more than 170 countries), is organized through classes of economic activities:

a) 34 classes for product trademark registration.
b) 11 classes for service trademark registration.

A trademark can be registered in one or more classes and must comply with industrial property laws in the jurisdictions where it will be registered. It also cannot infringe on third-party rights, among other requirements.

Key requirements to consider:

(i) Names comply with the IPL (adherence to the Industrial Property Law).
(ii) Not using names formed by unregistrable terms (there are words that cannot be registered).
(iii) Not using names formed by terms that cannot obtain exclusive use (terms that anyone can use).
(iv) Names verified and available in the Intellectual Property Offices of the desired jurisdictions and in the relevant classes.
(v) Names verified for prior use in the market (to minimize the risk of opposition.
(vi) Names that are phonetically identical, even if written differently.

Is a brand name really important? Absolutely! A brand name allows for effective, efficient, and competitive positioning by creating differentiation. It also enables more efficient and cost-effective communication, sales, and relationship-building processes.

Business strategies for companies, products, and/or services are based on both transactional and relational aspects of value. The name represents the “value” and is a way to symbolize and position it to represent reputation, trust, and expectations.

Naming is also consequential because it is an opportunity to think about the brand concept more broadly from the perspective of communication and design. This includes considering how the name can be supported by design/communication and vice versa, to create a coherent brand strategy.