Why Hire a Naming Firm?
When looking to get any task accomplished, there are usually two main routes to choose from: do it yourself, or get someone to do it for you. Which route we choose depends on a number of factors. Related to the task itself, some factors include its complexity, how important it is relative to other tasks, and how quickly it needs to be done. Another set of factors has to do with our own expertise, and with the resources we’d need to get the job done.
Take, for instance, the task of replacing a light bulb. It’s simple and straightforward, and doesn’t require any sort of specialized knowledge or tools. No one would hire a handyman just to change a light bulb. On the other hand, laying the foundation for a new home is a task that you’d need to hire a professional for.
These cases are cut and dry, though. You’re not likely to screw up screwing in a light bulb, and if you do, the consequences are easily remedied. And you know that laying a foundation is a serious task for a specialized crew with tools, materials, and expertise that are out of reach for most people.
But what about naming a new product, service, or experience? Simple enough, right? Most people have some creativity, after all. And people name things all the time: our pets, our kids, even our cars, homes, and other possessions. It’s this illusion of simplicity and our own perceived expertise that make the task of brand naming all the more precarious.
After all, a good brand name needs to accomplish a lot. Apart from getting attention and generating interest, it should have positive core traits that reflect the personality of what it names; it should be applicable to experiences beyond its immediate context; most important, it should be believable to its audience.
And the competition is relentless. There are over 2 million active US trademark registrations and over 22 million globally.
From first uncovering and then channeling the most effective creative angles, to filtering out name candidates based on similar trademarks and unintended connotations, the process of brand name creation is more complex than most people realize. It requires specialized creative, legal, and linguistic expertise. And it’s unlikely that even well-established global corporations have such a unique, centralized confluence of experience in place to efficiently and effectively carry out the brand naming task.
Looking beyond the deceptive veil of simplicity, personally acquiring the sorts of tools and expertise necessary to develop a powerful brand name would be time-consuming and inefficient, and would likely lead to quandaries and pitfalls along the way. Worse still, it could lead to clumsy solutions, or ones that limit the future potential of the brand. And in the end, you may decide to turn to naming experts or branding agencies after all, only with less time and resources to dedicate to the process.
And like laying a new building’s foundation, there’s really no room for error: developing a brand name needs to be done right the first time. Some things are better left to the experts.
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