Product Naming Best Practices For Long-Term Growth.

Are you struggling with choosing the right name for your new product? Don’t worry; you are not alone. According to McKensy’s study, 50% of product launches fail because companies do not follow product naming best practices. Poor product naming can lead to confusion among consumers and ultimately impact sales. 

For example, Chevrolet Nova had limited success in Spanish-speaking markets as the name “No va” means “It doesn’t go.” With such high stakes, understanding the best practices for product naming is crucial to uplift sales and avoid common pitfalls. 

This article provides a complete guide on how to come up with product names that attract customers, boost sales, and generate more revenue. You will learn critical strategies for new product naming to enhance your brand awareness. You will also learn to select the right product naming framework that perfectly resonates with the target market. 

Market Research Before Naming Process

Data-driven decisions always bring better results than guesswork. Therefore, companies must conduct in-depth market research before the product naming process. It provides valuable insights into consumer preferences, market trends, and competitor analysis. It helps to understand what kind of product naming convention aligns well with the target audience. 

Companies may leverage surveys tailored to customers’ interests when conducting market research. Gathering feedback from the target consumers provides valuable insights into their preferences. Brands may leverage focus groups to understand how consumers perceive different name options. It allows them to evaluate brand alignment, memorability, uniqueness, and simplicity.

Crafting The Naming Architecture

After gathering valuable insights from the market research, the next step is to develop an effective brand naming strategy. An effective product naming architecture ensures that items and services accurately reflect customer preferences and promote brand recognition. 

Choosing the Right Product Naming Strategy

Businesses may utilize various product naming exercises when developing an effective naming strategy. The final name must reflect the nature of the product appealingly and align with the overall brand architecture. The following are some of the most commonly used product naming strategies to go with:

1. Descriptive Names: These names, such as Play Station and Speed Dry, directly describe the product’s key features.
2. Invented Names: Unique, made-up words like Google and Xerox create a distinct brand identity and are unburdened by pre-existing connotations.
3. Suggestive Names: Names like Amazon and Apple use familiar words in unfamiliar ways, creating solid and memorable associations.
4. Evocative Names: These names, like Tide and Amazon, hint at the product’s attributes or benefits without directly describing them.
5. Acronymic Names: Examples include IBM and BMW, which use initials to create a short, memorable name.

Aligning Brand Identity with New Names

Aligning the brand identity with new names is critical to the product naming. Companies must ensure that the new names echo the desires and aspirations of the target audience. It involves considering common factors such as psychology, cultural sensitivity, and legal considerations to shape an identity that builds a lasting impression. 

Integrate New Name into Brand Architecture

Developing a comprehensive brand strategy that integrates the new name into the brand architecture is crucial. This strategy guarantees that the new name aligns with the brand’s identity and values, enhancing the brand portfolio’s consistency and impact. One way to achieve this is to conduct product renaming exercises within a naming workshop. This process allows for exploring various name options and assessing their relevance within the brand architecture.

Brainstorm a List of Potential Names

After developing an effective product naming architecture, it is time to start the brainstorming session. Brainstorming is a powerful tool for creating product names that resonate well with the target market’s needs. During this stage, companies must involve critical stakeholders. Buy-ins from internal teams and stakeholders make the brainstorming sessions more productive. It helps to find the perfect name for a new product without wasting too much time. 

To kickstart the process, focus on generating a large pool of potential names; at this stage, it’s quantity over quality. Let your creativity flow, and consider everything from simple descriptive names to more abstract concepts. A great name often strikes the balance between being distinctive and memorable. Consider product name examples that have stood the test of time and analyze what makes them tick. 

Evaluate Names Through Consumer Response 

Evaluating potential brand names through consumer response is essential when naming products. Companies must provide a list of possible brand names to their target audience. They must carefully observe their reactions to each option. The goal is to find a descriptive name that not only captures the essence of the product. But also resonates with the consumers on a meaningful level. 

To effectively assess potential brand names, consider these methods:

• Use Surveys and ask participants to rate how well they think the name fits the product. It can identify which names have the most potential.
• Conduct focus group sessions where participants can discuss the names in depth. It provides insights into each name’s emotional and psychological impact.
• Introduce different names to separate groups and monitor their response to marketing material that includes the brand name. 

In the case of hybrid names, ensuring they communicate the product value is necessary. Hybrid names can offer uniqueness, thus making your product stand out. But these names must be easy to understand to avoid alienating the brand positioning. 

Finalize a Versatile Name 

Finalizing a versatile name means ensuring the chosen name aligns seamlessly with the product line and resonates with the parent brand. It must complement the existing company name structures and adapt to future feature names. This name must be the chameleon in your branding toolkit. It must fit in yet stand out no matter where it’s placed. 

It must encapsulate the overall brand personality and become a shorthand for the values and promises. Companies must test the name across various marketing materials, from product packaging to digital campaigns, to achieve this. They must observe its flexibility. 

Companies may ask simple questions to ensure the selected name fits every aspect of the business. For example, does it overshadow or enhance the company? Does it encompass future product line expansion while maintaining a clear connection to the parent brand? Can it serve as a feature name without confusing the customer?

Revisit and Refine the Name Before the Final

Before revealing that creative name to the world, take a pause; a good name is like a key—it must fit perfectly to unlock success. Revisit and refine it because it is not just a label; it’s the first hello to your target market. Start by gathering feedback from those who matter the most—your potential customers.

Ask for buy-ins from stakeholders. Their insights can further sharpen the name to a fine point. Next, recheck the trademark status. It keeps your unique name safe from copycats. Confirm trademark availability early on to avoid last-minute legal hiccups. Test the new product name across different platforms and channels. See how it looks as a Google ad, check the vibe on social media, and imagine it on the packaging. 

By ticking these boxes, companies can pick the right name for their product and craft an identity that resonates, protects, translates, and occupies the suitable space. 

Ensuring Long-Term Success

Only picking the right name for your product is not enough. Companies must ensure that their name must be more than just a string of letters. It must become the cornerstone of their brand identity. Simplicity can greatly help under such conditions. A memorable name creates a lasting impression in the target audience’s minds. 

The new name must be easy to spell and pronounce to avoid confusion. If people stumble over your name or can’t spell it after hearing it, you’ve lost before you begin. Clarity is the name of the game. Avoid using short trends because they can lose their value over time. Go for a name that is independent of time. 

Checking for unintended meanings in other languages is one of the product naming best practices. Translation mishaps can be humorous at best and disastrous at worst. A clear and clean name in one language might mean something entirely different in another.

Common Mistakes to Avoid 

When naming a product, it’s easy to fall into traps that can hinder your brand’s success. Here are some common mistakes to steer clear of:

• A name that’s too complex or hard to understand can alienate potential customers. Make sure to keep it simple and approachable.
• Failing to check if a name is already trademarked can lead to legal issues and a costly rebranding process. Always do your due diligence.
• Not testing the name with your target audience can result in a name that doesn’t resonate or, worse, offends. Gather and consider feedback before finalizing.
• The product name should reflect the overall brand and fit seamlessly with the existing product line and company ethos.
• Avoid trendy language that won’t stand the test of time.
• A name that works in one language may have negative or embarrassing connotations in another. Consider global appeal and translation.
• If people can’t say it, they can’t share it. Ensure the name is easy to pronounce to encourage word-of-mouth marketing.
• While descriptive names can be influential, they can limit the product’s perceived use or potential to evolve.

Data-Driven Product Naming

Want a best-selling brand? SmashBrand is a brand development, rebranding, and product naming agency for FMCG and CPG companies. From brand strategy to product name testing, our Path To Performance™ process guarantees a retail performance lift. Book a time to discuss your project with our team.