In the post What's in a name, I shared my experience of trying to remember a product name long enough to get to the store to buy it. Before I delve into a case study about product naming, I think it is important to share my own hard-won lessons.
I've spent most of my career working for large technology companies. Based on my experience as a product marketer, I've recognized that product naming has become an extended family affair.
First, there is the branding department. The branding department is the group that identifies, names, creates and polices the corporate brands. In most companies, significant monetary investment is made into the corporate brands.
How are brands different from product names?
Brands are meant to be highly identifiable, emotionally engaging images. They are meant to trigger recognition and stimulate preference. Often they are associated with multiple products.
Product names are meant to differentiate individual products. Most often they are descriptive of product value or function.
Separate from the branding department is the product marketing department. Product marketers that oversee related products are often organized together. Product marketers are often responsible for identifying names for their product. However, they never do that naming in a vacuum. They may engage a creative agency to assist with the naming. They must include branding, product and marketing management and other product marketing managers in the decision process. Thus product naming is truly a family affair.
Product naming is a very emotional process. Everyone has an opinion. In the organization, those with more political capital hold more weight. They ultimately determine the final name.
In my experience, rarely is the customer's opinion or potential reaction to the name considered in the naming process.
Perhaps because of the emotional nature of name selection, product naming is rife with worst practices. Here are some that I have experienced.
- Long, wordy names - born out of the need to fully describe the product with the name
- Brand multiplication - stringing multiple brands together in the name to achieve greater recognition
- Acronyms as names - born out of the need to make it easier to use long names
- Product line names - a way of grouping related products together
- Product line extensions - highlighting unique values or features in specialized products
- Frequent name changes - new management needs to make their mark on the product
The results of bad naming are always the same - customer confusion.
- Inability for the customer to understand what the product is
- Inability for the customer to remember product
- Inability for the customer to differentiate product
Good product names enable recognition, response and preference. Everything in the product naming process should align to meet those goals. How well do your product names stack up?
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