Rowland s Naming Process

Transcription

1 Rowland s Naming Process A name will inevitably spur the first impression your customer has of your company or product. It has to have staying power, be weighty and most importantly, provide a strong nod to who you are and what you do (as much as any few words can). Whether you re an established business naming an integral new product or a startup looking to make your mark in the industry, a name is one of those make-or-break items. Xact Metal or the company previously known as X Material Processing knew their name would be crucial to their success as a startup in the metal 3D printing space. They had tough competition from established companies across the globe, but knew their product could stand up to the test, offering premium printer features and quality at an accessible price. They had to have a company brand that matched those competitors. And it all started with the name. rowlandcreative.com

2 Phase 1: We approach naming like we approach all of our marketing projects. In order to do our best work and deliver a lasting and effective solution, we need to know as much as we can about the company we re naming and its customers. That s where discovery comes in. We develop personas, review competitors and generally get smarter. By getting a deeper understanding of your company, your competition and your customers, we can capture what types of names will resonate and stand out from the crowd. And if we know why customers typically engage with your company, we ll know what the name should try to express. was crucial for Xact Metal. Our team was working toward an aggressive deadline for all of our deliverables and the name had to come first so we accelerated discovery, relying on our clients to give us a deep dive into the complicated direct metal printing industry. With the information we garnered in this process, we decided that the name needed to express a forward-thinking mindset and likely needed to be specific about the type of printing they used and the quality of their printed products. rowlandcreative.com

3 rowlandcreative.com rowland naming. X MATERIAL PROCESSING February 2, 2017 Company Naming Naming Approach and Rules Goal At its core, our mission is to shift the name of X Material Processing to more clearly tell your company s story. We also hope to include the X element of your current name into the new name. The Team Our naming team combines your detailed industry knowledge with our marketing and naming experts. The idea is to put a combination of folks with differing perspectives and skillsets in the room. At the outset, it s critical to decide who is the one person who will make the final decision. Guidelines The Process Kickoff Meeting During this meeting, your team will:» Describe the company in general terms» Outline features / benefits At a general level, the company name should resonate with our audience and be as simple as possible. It is typically critical for the name and URL to be exactly the same. As in our ABC company has a URL of ABC.com.» List competitors and distribution partners The group will: You should also secure the.net and.org URLs as a protective measure. For certain industries, there are URL extensions that are frequently used (such as.tv or.aero). You may want to purchase those as well. Similarly, you should secure the ABC name for all relevant social media outlets (Twitter, Facebook, etc.).» Discuss and finalize naming strategy» Generate list of relevant key words and phrases Round 1 Process All names should be put to these tests:» Meaningful allows the audience to attach relevant meaning. This often manifests itself as the major offering of the company. It must also clearly place you in your industry niche.» Unique differentiates you from others in the space. Similarly it cannot be too generic as to be confused with companies in other industries.» Memorable you would easily remember it from a cocktail party conversation (even after a drink or two).» Easy to Spell should be spelled just like it s pronounced.» Easy to Pronounce should be pronounced just like it s spelled.» Brief you can t tell the whole story in a name. Limit the name to one word or a compound word, preferably with 3 syllables or fewer.» Weighty - should have the strength and cachet of a leading company. While every name may not pass every test, we need to have a great reason for allowing it to move on in the process. 1. Get creative and come up with a list of names. 2. Put them through the memorable, spelling and pronunciation tests. 3. Cull the list. 4. Apply the URL and USPTO tests (see below). 5. Cull the list again. 6. On a single page, print your favorite names and those that you threw in the garbage can. Bring enough copies for everyone at the meeting. 7. At the meeting, people will present their favorite names and rationale behind each. 8. The group selects their favorites and identifies the phrases and words that best resonated. public:clients:x materials processing:xmp startup package plus xmp:naming:xmp naming guidelines docx 1 rowlandcreative.com Hints Round 2 Process» Consider technical terms as part of the name. 1. Repeat the process from Round 1.» For some markets, commonly used foreign language terms may work as well.» Try combining technical terms with more general words that describe features or benefits of the company. 2. Narrow the collective list of favorites to around 10 names. 3. As a group, define how you will test your names (in addition to the guidelines on page 1). This varies by company, but you must create an ordered series of rules such as: Directly relates to industry. Describes the most important benefit. Etc. 4. Ruthlessly apply the rules and choose one favorite and 2 backups. 5. Put all 3 through the Urban Dictionary and Google tests. Helpful Tools Additional Rounds» Online thesaurus such as thesaurus.com» Translate app such as translate.google.com» Rhyming dictionary such as RhymeZone.com URL Search» Only use this site instantdomainsearch.com» Other URL search sites track the searches and often purchase the URL before you decide to.» Never hit enter after searching on this site. That takes you to GoDaddy which then tracks the results as discussed above.» You want the.com URL preferably the.net and.org as well.» Sometimes you simply have to go more rounds. Better to do it now than live with a bad name for years to come. URLs» Buy the URLs for all 3 names.» They re cheap to buy initially and there is always the chance your first choice won t work out. Test, Test, Test» To the extent that our budget allows, test the name out with your target audience. This can range from running it by trusted advisors to surveys to formal focus groups.» The tests we apply from USPTO are preliminary in nature. You must ensure the name is legal to use in all 50 states and possibly internationally. Now is the time to bring in legal counsel. US Patent and Trademark Office public:clients:x materials processing:xmp startup package plus xmp:naming:xmp naming guidelines docx 2» Use the Basic Word Mark Search on the TESS system at uspto.gov/trademark.» If you find related trademarks, note their status (live or dead) and how the trademark owner and company/product relate to our world.» Note that trademark issues generally arise within an industry not across industries. Urban Dictionary» Go to UrbanDictionary.com» Look up the name as well as close variants.» The idea is to be sure the name doesn t have some sort of hidden meaning that would come back to bite us later. Google Search» Search for the name in quotes as in NewName.» If you have a name that combines terms search for both New Name and NewName» Browse through the first 100 hits and look for matches in your industry or negative connotations.» Note any hits that are close to your world.» The idea here is that while a name may not be registered with USPTO or have an associated domain, it could be in use by a business. public:clients:x materials processing:xmp startup package plus xmp:naming:xmp naming guidelines docx 3 rowlandcreative.com Phase 2: The best naming brainstorms ironically begin with clear rules. Most importantly, we feel that for 99% of the companies we work with, your URL must match your name to avoid confusion. And of course, you wouldn t want a similar name to another company in your industry. We use rules like these plus a set of core tests for things like weight, brevity and easy pronunciation to ensure that time isn t wasted falling in love with a name that just won t work. We also set client-specific rules that ensure your name isn t just a good creative decision, but a good business decision as well. This takes the form of a short process where you outline key phrases and words that resonate with customers. We also elect a final decision maker on your team. Then, you re set free for name generation. Based on our issues with the company s original name, we knew the new name needed to feel cuttingedge. And in our word exercise, we learned that concepts like precision, fusion and metal were important to include, because they were key to the business. Competitive companies used terms like 3D, so we left that phrase on the table. Armed with our guardrails, we sent the team clients and agency members alike away to brainstorm. rowlandcreative.com

4 Phase 3: Generating Ideas A unique element of the Rowland naming process is including clients in name brainstorming. Whether you re a marketer, engineer or CEO, you ll need to think of some names that fit the company and follow the rules. No matter how ridiculous you feel, you ll write down names even saving the ones you threw in the garbage can and we ll reconvene and discuss. This process is repeated twice. After the first brainstorm, everyone feels more comfortable to share ideas, good or bad. And keeping garbage can names in the mix hasn t failed us yet. Having clients participate in the name generation process is enlightening, especially in the case of Xact Metal. Company leaders were available to provide insight on the naming strategy of competitors and provided solid naming ideas in addition to ours, keeping technical elements at the forefront. Our two brainstorming discussions led us to a list of 4-5 names that could theoretically work in the marketplace. rowlandcreative.com

5 Phase 4: After we ve generated a number of names and indicated our favorites, narrowing names down is the final task. This part of the process is the most ruthless for good reason. We ll discuss each name, including things we like and dislike about it, and cross off options if there s a smidge of doubt. If there isn t agreement on one name, it s back to the drawing board. If we re all decided, then we ll send you home with the mandate to immediately purchase the appropriate URLs and contact your lawyer to begin the trademarking process. (Toasting your new name with some bubbly at our office is an optional but recommended step.) The Xact Metal team ended the naming process with a predicament. The decision makers had narrowed down their options to two very similar names, each differing in the way they related to the metal printing process. Ultimately, they chose the broader, simpler option resulting in XMP being reborn as Xact Metal. With this name, the company made a big splash at their first trade show, stating that the industry-relevant name combined with the new identity and website made them feel like an established industry player rather than a startup. rowlandcreative.com