Categories
Marketing

Names and Taglines: Working Together

This morning I attended One Million Cups, a great, thought-provoking meeting that features two entrepreneurs who pitch their business for 6 minutes and then take 20 minutes to respond to audience questions or suggestions.

One of the presenters was a woman who is launching a clothing line for women who experience hot flashes. The clothing uses advanced fabric technology developed by NASA that absorbs heat and sweat from the body through a stay-cool layer. She named her business “alvoru” which means “real” in the Icelandic language. “real” and “Ice”landic: real cool. Get it? I didn’t name this business, but I do like the approach she took to conceiving a unique name. Alvoru is pronounced all-vu-roo.

But she also went one step better. She reinforced the name with a complementary tagline that fleshes out what the product is and what it does. The tagline is “real women. real comfort. real cool.”

That tagline speaks to her intention to produce garments for women who are more likely to have figures other than those featured on the runways, on TV or in magazines. It also underscores the unique selling proposition of comfort and cool. I am sure that this will be quickly understood and will be effective with her target audience.

Image

Here’s another example. I met a woman at the Inventors Center of Kansas Citywho has developed a clipped-to-the-waist exterior cellphone pocket for people with active lifestyles. The product is unique, in that the phone is accessible for viewing and texting without removal via a flip-out flap. The original name she conceived was Flip Flap. However her attorney discouraged her from using it. So, she started calling it CaddyFlap, even though she didn’t necessarily like that name as it seemed to be too golf-oriented.

In communicating with her, she shared that she was excited about a tagline that she was using that quickly explained her product. She said the tagline was “Insert Phone. Flip Out.”

Short, but not as sweet as it could be, I thought.

I replied, suggesting she change it to “Phone In. Flip Out.” Phonetically (no pun intended) it works better and it is more memorable as the “In” and “Out” are better aligned.

She loved it.

Next, I suggested that she could consider naming her product “Phone Flip.” It works with the tagline by using the first two words of the two-sentence tagline. It also says what it is for and what it does. I checked, and the http://www.Phone-Flip.com domain was available.

She love the name and reserved the URL. Now she is running it by her attorney. Some might say that she should have done that before reserving a URL. I disagree. $14.95 isn’t much money to put at risk. If you find a good URL that you think might work, reserve it ASAP.

If you’d like help with your business/product name and taglines, please get in touch with me. Eric 816-797-9946.

Categories
Marketing

Naming and branding doesn’t have to be expensive to be good.

Naming, branding and identity work doesn’t have to be expensive to be good.

And it doesn’t have to take months or even weeks.

In a matter of days and sometimes hours, you can have the naming, branding and identity work that can help propel your success; work that considers your corporate culture, goals, SEO, keyword competition, phonetics, foreign translations, and domain availability.

Below, I offer you a couple of cost-effective options. The first one is a Do-It-Yourself guide that I have written, that provides you some of the methods and tools that I use to create great names. I offer it up super cheap because there are a whole lot more people that think they can do it themselves than there are people willing to pay me to do it for them. My DIY Naming Guide gives you a fighting chance to actually do it yourself. And for $5, why not give yourself a headstart?

The second thing I offer, at a ridiculously low price and quick turn-around, is my time, effort and brainpower in coming up with naming and branding solutions for you.  Or you can choose to spend tens of thousands with another firm, like this Ohio municipality that spent over $40,000 to rename their recycling program.

Naming – Sometimes you just need a good name and don’t really need to develop a strong brand presence or identity – like names for internal company programs, newsletters, sales contests, and other things that customers won’t necessarily see. Or maybe you just need a good name for a new business concept, before you invest toward branding or identity; something that will inspire you to flesh it out.
DIY Naming Guide $5
One-day turnaround $500
One-week turnaround $300

Simply email me, eric@nameBrandIDENTITY.com and I’ll send you a PayPal invoice.

Branding – Sometimes you need a more thoughtful approach that considers your complete marketing environment: competition, target market, communication channels, SWOT analysis, and more. In most cases, branding is for products and services. Branding can include both words and a visual way of quickly communicating what it is and how it is different. It is important to recognize that branding says something about the buyer too; Buyers often buy brands that reinforce or elevate their sense of self.
DIY Branding Guide $5
One-day turnaround $1500
One-week turnaround $1000

Simply email me, eric@nameBrandIDENTITY.com and I’ll send you a PayPal invoice.

Identity – Branded corporations like Sprint, H&R Block, and Hallmark Cards (all located in Kansas City : )) are the result of highly sophisticated and expensive corporate identity efforts. Corporate and product identity is a structured recipe for communicating the brand across a plethora of internal and external channels. Be forewarned that identity development or enhancement is a serious undertaking and can be very expensive to execute. The consulting I offer is to help you get three bids from graphic design firms or ad agencies that are within your budget. I can also write a creative brief for the agency that outlines the project. I can also be engaged to manage the project with the selected agency, on your behalf.

Identity Consulting (Contact for Quote)

Call me at 816.797.9946 or email me at eric@nameBrandIDENTITY.com