What do Band Aid’s, Google, Crayons and wite-out (white-out) have in common? They all rule (or rather own) their categories with an iron fist, meaning any product that competes with them appears as nothing more than a cheap knock off.
Of course, the best example being Google a name that very simply has become a part of our language. When you ask someone to use a search engine nine times out of ten you ask them to Google it, not Yahoo it and certainly not Bing it – what kind of psychopath even uses Bing anyway?!
So how do you develop a name that is so iconic it will dominate the market for years to come? Well, there’s no straight answer but there are some thought prompts to follow in order to stimulate that kind of flipping fabulous creative genius.
- Start in a Blue Ocean market space
A Blue Ocean market space is a category untainted with direct competition essentially meaning that the products in the Blue Ocean are the first of their kind and harbour minimal competitors. Easier said than done right? While this doesn’t work for every business it is a good place to strive for as your brand name will be synonymously used with that kind of product. Think Band-Aid which is used to describe all Brand Adhesive Bandages as it was the first product in the market it takes the cake.
- Provide a reason to believe
Great brands like Nike, Ocean Chef and Pine O Clean all convey strong brand values that makes their product unique, interesting and a true knock-out. Think what will make the customer reach for it?
- Verb
Uber, Tinder, Google, PayPal, Venmo – need I say more? Verbs are doing words and under the right circumstances are easy to incorporate into the very fibre of our language.
- Loud
A great brand should be as distinctive as a police siren. At the very sound of your brands name the consumer should be able to visual your product, brand or service.
- Don’t play it safe
I’ve always said, “why blend in when you were born to stand out?” No brand was created to blend into a crowd of competitors they’re usually created to sell, sell, sell. So, don’t go down the same root of generic brands that fail to stand out in the market.
There are no rules for creativity and ideation just formulas, insights and lessons to be learned from existing brands. Luckily, I’ve complied everything you need to know in order create truly kickass brands in one place – check out my book Trolley to be kicked into action.
THE NO-BULL BRANDER 