How to create a strong digital brand (1): Name

08/31/2020

Step 1: Find a good name!

How do you create a strong brand in the digital world? There are millions of brands out there, and standing out with a new product, a new company, or a new project is a huge and challenging task. Here are a few tips on how to go about it and what to keep in mind. Our goal: to develop a strong and effective brand that gets noticed, stands out, conveys positive information and feelings, and is remembered fondly. It has important components that we look at: the name, the design with logo, colors, shapes, symbols, and font, the identity and history, the communication tools used to convey it through the media, and it is operated and further developed so that it actually “marks” something, i.e., stands for something to someone else. How does that work, how do you create and design it? Find out how we do it. Let's get started!

The basics: goals, target groups, tasks

Right at the beginning: Be clear about what you want to achieve and with whom! The name you want to find does not come out of thin air, but is part of a larger communication concept. Ideally, you have information and have already thought about your goals and target groups—the more, the better. You have defined your product, project, or company, you know who you want to address and convince, how you want to stand out from the crowd, and how you want to position yourself in the market.

Your goals: WHAT do you want to achieve? Why are you starting your company, your project, your product, where do you want to go with it, what state do you want to achieve?
Your target groups: WHO do you want to achieve this with? What kind of people are they, what do they look like, what needs, characteristics, and behaviors do they have? Why should they like your company/project/product, what special benefits will you offer them?
Your message: So WHAT message should your brand convey to your audience? WHAT do you want to say to these people? Condense your goals, preferably into a short and concise statement. At the beginning, you will probably not be able to do this completely. But: this is where you want to go and what you want to achieve in the next steps. So start formulating it now. And keep coming back to this point and change it based on the results you achieve.

What your name should achieve

It should be clearly perceptible and eye-catching.
It should be easy to pronounce, spell, and read. It should sound good.
It shouldconvey your important qualities, advantages, and benefits.
It should clearly distinguish you, a project, your product, or your company from all others.
It should evoke positive emotions in your dialogue partners.
It should be easy to remember.

With your name, you want to “mark” something: yourself, your position and your location, what you stand for, your product, project or company. And you want to be seen, recognized and remembered by everyone who is important to you. Your name is one of your most important tools. So devote plenty of time and attention to it and its design.

The special requirement in the digital world: You work across traditional and local boundaries, often internationally, in dialogue and, of course, with digital media. Long names must be easy to shorten and register as addresses: as domains, profile addresses, hashtags.

Collect ideas and write a list

At the beginning, you should start by gathering ideas. Write down everything that comes to mind, make a list with all the names that pop into your head. Add to it, change it, don't evaluate it yet, just be open to every thought. Keep coming back to your original goals: Who or what should your name represent? What do you want it to express? What could be the special thing that distinguishes this product, this company, this project? It's like expecting a child and thinking of a “suitable” name: what will this child be like later, what do you want to give him or her at the start of their life? What qualities will it need to grow up to be big, strong, powerful, and able to handle its tasks? Keep this list with you at all times, in a book, pad, on a piece of paper, or in a file. Work with it: add to it, cross things out, change things. Don't delete anything. Let it grow.

Small creative aids to help you find a good name

If you can't think of anything at first, there are a few simple tricks to help you fill your list.

Derivatives from Latin or Greek - this is a very popular method. There is a key word or combination of words in one of these two languages that sums up the objective or a particularly striking characteristic. This is then varied slightly. This method is often used and many things have already been covered, but you can at least get a few good ideas. And you'll have to cross something off the list afterwards. In our opinion, other methods are better (but that can also be a matter of taste).
Naming according to the most important characteristic, the most important advantage, and benefit – this is of course particularly great! Because then you immediately communicate what your product, project, or company does particularly well, achieves, or offers. If you are unique anyway, this will make you stand out and get noticed. If you are developing a me-too project, then dozens of others will have similar names. If you still want to stand out, you'll need other ideas.
Associations: What comes to mind when you think about the important characteristics and qualities, advantages, and benefits? What images, situations, or people come to mind? Here you can find images that are (or could be) related to your product, project, or company. This will help you find new starting points for ideas.
History of origin or a joke: You can do the same with situations that gave rise to a project or a special story. Many famous rock band names were created this way, e.g., “Led Zeppelin” = “This band project will go down like a lead Zeppelin.” However, rock bands also have completely meaningless names, which are no less promising because you and your audience can imbue them with meaning, see “Associations.”
Name your promise of happiness, the beautiful situation, the feeling, the state that you promise with your product. Example: “SweetFamily.”
Name yourself after a real or fictionalperson. Example: “Mr. Clean”.
While we're at it: Greek, Roman, Norse, or other deities and mythical figures are also good sources of names. Example: “Nike.” These are often already in use, so you can switch to something similar.
Or based on the cultural circle or origin. Example: “Boston Tea Company”.
Borrow names from other languages, e.g., from a country of origin or another cultural circle. This can make your audience curious, convey characteristics, and perhaps sound a little mysterious. Popular example: “Barilla”.
Acronyms: try using short words and abbreviations that you form from initial letters and/or syllables.
Some people go straight for the initial letters, e.g. for model lines of vehicles or agency names. This means something to those in the know, but excludes everyone else.
There are so-called name generators (German-language link) that work like this: you enter something and something comes out. These also exist for companies, projects, and products. Very original. Feel free to give it a try. But don't expect to love all the results.
Fantasy names: When there are already a lot of names out there. Or when you're naming a completely new project. Here, too, you can work associatively and use the sound of words to evoke images or worlds.
Real names: Just say what it is, what it does, what it brings.
Fads, trends: Good, but also dangerous because they'll probably be over at some point.

... and much more. The important thing is to be able to work well with these and other creative techniques. Your list should contain as many name suggestions as possible, at least 30, but no more than 120 to start with (these are the numbers we work with, others do it differently).

Try out names: with variations and sketches

Now you can start to narrow down your options. Try it out: what would they look like if you were to design them? We work with scribbles and sketches here. Try to make an initial assessment: which names would help you achieve your goals better, and which ones less so? Always keep your target audience in mind: how would they react to the name? Which ones will they like better, which ones less? And: how do you feel about them, what does the name trigger in you? Observe yourself closely: What new ideas arise? Write them down and add to them.

Initial list of names when founding a digital agency

Give the names to the first faces

You've probably already noticed that our examples are from the process of finding our agency name a few years ago. When we got to this point and had a list of possibilities, we wanted to see how they would work as our name. For you, this means: What would your name variations look like if you designed them? Pick your favorite names from the list and try them out. Play around and have fun. Enjoy the alternatives. In the next design step, this will be systematized and you will refer back to your current results. (But we're not there yet.)

DRIVE various logo designs

Research

You now have a list of names. You probably already like some of them, others less so. But taste shouldn't be your only criterion. You want to find the best name that will help you achieve your goals, appeal to your target groups, and convey your message to them. So what should you pay particular attention to when evaluating and ultimately selecting a name? To do this, you need to do some research and gather as much information as possible.

Research 1: Does the name already exist?

Simple search via Google. Does such a name already appear somewhere, used by someone else? Focus on your potential national target markets and their languages. If you find this name or a similar one on your list, it is interesting to consider what it refers to and who it is aimed at. Maybe you are on the right track, or maybe you are barking up the wrong tree? Here you will find some good tips, including how to come up with new names. Expect that others have already had good ideas, and maybe even the same ones as you: tough luck. Keep going, find something new.

Research 2: Is a domain available?

Find a good domain: short, clear, concise, and easy to type. If the important domain is already taken, it will probably be difficult. Not only because it's gone and you're missing an important communication tool. In most cases, someone else will already have a similar idea with a comparable focus. Check this and use it to improve your idea. You may need to adjust your goals or refine your target groups.

If the domain is taken: Find others and come up with different names. Don't just look in your primary target market, but also in other potential countries and regions. Register good, available domains early on before someone else does.
Likewise, check the addresses on social media that will be relevant to you: LinkedIn, Instagram, Xing, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and all others. What is already taken, what is available? Register it.

Research 3: Can you register the new name as a trademark?

This point of research is very important but is often forgotten. You want to protect your name as a trademark from plagiarists and imitators. To do this, you need to be able to register it. It is possible that someone else has already registered this or another name, but in a different industry. You might be able to live with this, because there are so-called goods and service classes and a directory for them. When registering, you select three or more classes for which you want to register your trademark and thus protect it. >>> Search in the German Patent and Trade Mark Office directory.

You can protect your trademark nationally, i.e. in Germany or specifically in other countries, as well as across Europe and internationally. This depends on the target markets in which you want to use your trademark. It is important to plan ahead, just as you would when registering a domain name.
IMPORTANT: You should seek advice and representation from a specialist lawyer. We work with such lawyers and check this at an early stage.
Documents and explanations must be prepared for the registration. We take care of this too.

Research 4: Meanings – what does your word creation mean in other languages?

This is a classic scenario: you come up with a wonderful-sounding new name. And in the language of an important target market, it means something indecent. So: check meanings carefully! This is particularly important for fantasy names, derivations, and borrowings from other languages! You never know.

During this process, you will usually find other new name options. Add them all to your list and check them in the same way. But: some names should already be falling off your list at this point. It should now be shorter.

Sort, evaluate, delete, and select

Now it's time to evaluate your ideas and suggestions. Your list should now get shorter and shorter. From your goals, the requirements of the target groups, your task of communicating the important qualities, and your key messages, the environment, and all other points mentioned, you can derive criteria that you can use to evaluate all the names. Here's a suggested method: Add more columns to your list and rate each suggestion: first with “A,” “B,” “C” = “really not good,” and even better with ‘AAAAA’ = “can't get any better.”

Differentiation from competitors and benchmarks

This step is often already taken implicitly during the brainstorming phase: How strongly does the name differentiate itself from the competition? Is it close or rather far away? We prefer to leave this step until later. Why? So as not to narrow things down too early and possibly lose good ideas during the brainstorming phase.

In some cases, it can be a good idea to show as much proximity as possible to a market, an industry, a leading product, or a group, e.g., “Africola.” Even ‘Google’ was initially a me-too name, based on the much more popular “Yahoo” at the time of its creation.
Often, you want to differentiate yourself clearly.

Spelling in fonts – how the name can be written

Round, friendly letters such as e, o, u, d ... versus angular, rather hard ones: k, t, z, x
Double letters, e.g. “dooyoo,” versus contrasting letter sequences, e.g. “qwertz”
Repetitions, unusual features in the typeface that trip you up when reading: multiple letters, e.g. “Diffferent,” capital letters, e.g. “DRIVE”
Similarities in typeface to other names – confusion versus uniqueness

Sound and tone – how the name is pronounced

Many vowels versus consonants
Hard versus soft pronunciation
Long syllables and sequences in the name: “PriceWaterhouseCoopers” versus short ones: “Ernst”
Similarities in sound to other names

Fashions and trends as points of reference

How promising and, above all, how long-lasting and sustainable do you consider these points of reference to be? This is how you evaluate the criterion as such. Example: the reference to the organic market.
How understandable is your derivation in the name? You need to check this in the next step, because it's not just you who should understand it, but someone else too. Example: “Rebional.”

Think about which fads you have been influenced by, perhaps even unconsciously. When it comes toagency and software names, as in our case, there are also fads and trends:

From the beginnings to the 1970s: The names of the company founders, who towered like gods over the agency and its foot soldiers, but also made a promise of quality that was firmly linked to their person. There are plenty of examples, all like “Müller, Meier & Schulze” – a somewhat unimaginative era in terms of names.
The 1980s: The decade of initials, shouted in capital letters: “DDB,” “BBDO.” “KNSK,” for example, were the company founders. If one of them dropped out, the successor had to be chosen according to their last name.
The 90s: The decade of double and triple consonants or other word twists: “Google,” “Yahoo.” With more variety, more names that spark the imagination.
The 2000s and 2010s: Images and meanings, as in “DRIVE,” where we were among the first and immediately international. Or: linguistically unusual terms that are brought into the agency's semantic field, e.g., “Heimat” (home). Also very memorable, but not always internationally understandable.

Meaning with associations, connotations

What emotions and feelings are triggered?
What meanings are conveyed consciously and unconsciously?
What behaviour patterns, attitudes are being appealed to?
What stories and worlds are you building here? How good, sustainable and expandable are they?

Comprehensibility. ATTENTION: Confidentiality!

Do people understand what you want to say? Now you need to check with others. But BE CAREFUL: You want to keep your new name secret at least until it has been confirmed, or better still until it is first published. No one should be able to beat you to it!

Ask a small group of people: family, friends, colleagues, as close to the target group as possible and reliable!

The ideas behind the development of the name “DRIVE”

Der Name "DRIVE" bedeutet "Antrieb". Er steht bei uns für hohe Motivation und viel Energie - bei der Ideenfindung, dem Gestalten und dem Entwickeln qualitativ hochwertiger Lösungen. Unsere Inspirationen:

Der "Driver" ist der Schläger, mit dem man beim Golf den ersten Schlag macht, dem Ball die meiste Energie mitgibt, ihn ganz weit nach vorn treibt.
Das Buch "Männer, Frauen und Motoren" beschreibt die Lebensgeschichten und den Mut der Pioniere des Motorsports - Männer und Frauen, die zu ihren Zeiten mit hohem Mut Wagnisse eingingen.
Der Name "Drive" ist international verständlich - wichtig, weil wir seit unserem Start mit Kunden aus Europa, Asien und Amerika arbeiten.
Mit dem Zusatz als "DRIVE - Die Medienagentur" ist gesagt, dass und wie wir als kreative Agentur Kommunikation mit Medien gestalten.

Für uns als Agentur und als "Driver" leiten wir daraus unseren Anspruch ab, wie wir Kommunikation gestalten wollen, an Projekte herangehen, uns selbst und auch unsere Kunden fordern wollen, um immer das Beste zu erreichen. "DRIVE ist kein Parkplatz", immer weiter nach vorn, nie aufhören uns zu entwickeln - diesem Anspruch wollen wir uns immer wieder neu stellen, das drückt unser Name aus.

P.S.: Die Skizzen und Illustrationen oben entstammen unseren ersten Überlegungen und Scribbles zu DRIVE während der Suche und Findung.