Brand Names

Need A New Brandname? We develop them.

As a brand consultancy and also as a design group, Brandname Properties (BP) has had a lot to do with developing brand names for companies and also naming new companies.

So, what makes a good brand name?

The answer to this is difficult, as there is no precise answer to this.

Some people would claim that it really doesn’t matter - it’s a question of what you do with the name, and promote it that makes the difference.

We don’t believe this.

We feel that a great name can make all the difference in the world.

When BP develop a new name, we work through a ‘fuzzy logic’ thought process, with some parts logical and others not.

Often the name seems to leap out to you, as an instant solution, while at other times the process is quite laboured.

Our initial question is to ask what names the client has which are pre-existing – you never know what is hidden in the Trademark files of a company.
We also look at existing brand names that the company is using to see if any of these names could be extended to pick up on the new product, or could in some way be linked.
If there is nothing in the above areas, which there often isn’t, then we begin the process of selecting a new name.
This involves setting down names on a piece of paper and carrying that paper with you, so that as thoughts occur, the names can be written down. At this stage we don’t judge their worth or non-worth, we simply compile a list. Sometimes the names come in the shower, or at 2 o’clock in the morning – so you need the pen and paper handy.
In a day or so we then type the names onto a computer, writing them sometimes in Caps and also lower case.
What we are looking for is a name which a. is logical for the product area, b. sounds good, c. looks good in print, and ideally easy to pronounce and short in length.
Short in length is important. The less number of letters, the bigger it can appear in print, and on a package the less it will wrap around the package and therefore be partially hidden.
We then look to establish a short list of names, and then start to pull out our preferred ones.
From our preference list we then do some checking – by looking in the phone book to see if there are any companies using the same name. We also do an internet check searching for the name to see what comes up, and then a trade mark search on the appropriate Trade Mark Registry. In Australia, we also do an ASIC check to see if any companies or business names are registered in the names we have chosen.
We then do some loose research with people to see what they think of the name, and assuming that this is positive, we then design some conceptual designs for further refinement.
While we may involve the client with some of our early names, other times we will only involve the client once we get to a logo design idea, so that the client can see the name as it would appear as a logo, in a selected type face, with appropriate graphic, and in our selected PMS colours.

So what are some of the names we have developed, and how did we develop the name?

PAX

Aerosol Fillers was a company that packed aerosols for manufacturers. They also filled tubes and did other contract packing. With Aerosols under a cloud with Ozone issues, the company wanted to create a new name and image. We created the name PAX, a short form for packaging, and also Latin for peace. Easy to say, short, and easily remembered.

Newport Marine Technology

Also a new brand, Newport, plus a tagline ‘World First Technology’ for a new company selling marine paints.

A company had been given the opportunity to distribute marine paints, when they approached us. They needed a name for both the company and the brand that they would be selling. Most of their opposition were well established with industrial sounding names like Epiglass and International Paints. Our thinking was that we should develop a name that felt sporty; had a more yacht and boating feel and would have appeal both to slipways and also boat owners. There are many Newport cities in the world, including the one in Rhode Island, one in Wales and also one of the suburbs in Sydney on the water was also called Newport. The name and whole packaging image still has an industrial feel, though use of naval blue background, but also has a fashion appeal with the spinnakers on the labels becoming the colour coding for the different products in the range.

Accent brand for Mitre 10

Mitre 10, one of Australia’s leading Hardware retailers wanted to create their own brand of house paint. They wanted it to have a fashion feel to it, and be able to move across a large range of product. We created the Accent brand, which has now been their house brand paint for over 12 years.

Little Chef

for Woolworths. This name was developed for a range of pasties for a supplier to Woolworths, which subsequently took over the business. The name Little Chef was developed to be cute, memorable and suited design into a graphic of a busy little chef. The brand has now been used by Woolworths across many of its smallgoods products.

Sportz White –

For Reckitt Benckiser. This name we developed for a shoe cleaner/ whitener.

Southern Belle

For KFC (Malaysia). Ayamas is a Malaysian company, which is the KFC franchise operation in Malaysia. They wanted a brand name that would suit the sale of fresh chicken into Singapore – hence the name Southern Belle.

High 5

Bread for Sunshine Bakeries in Malaysia. Give me a high five! This Brandname was very radical, as it was going to sell against Malaysia’s leading brand – Gardenia Bread. We wanted the name to be very dynamic on the front of pack, and used a big 5 on the front of the packaging and point of sale. We also used the 5 to list out the 5 key product claims for the product. Within a very short time, High 5 became the second biggest bread brand in Malaysia.

Aqua Tech

This name was developed for a car washing brush, which had a spinning brush connected to a hose, complete with detergent holder.

Jazz Series wine for Wynn’s Winery

Music and wine seem to go together, which is the reason for creating the name Jazz Series for a range of cask wine. The packs featured various jazz players and instruments as illustration work, and these wines have been consistent sellers over a number of years.

Fruitwood

This is another wine name we created, based on the use of wood for aging wine, and fruit. There is actually a timber called fruitwood, and this bottle wine, which was a sweet fruity wine has being selling for many years.

Harpic Cling toilet cleaner

The key feature of this liquid toilet cleaner was that it would cling to the bowl – hence the main feature became the name.

Greenway Shopping Centre

Francis Greenway is Australia’s first architect, and when a new shopping centre was being built, we felt that this name would suit the centre, and we also developed a logo using a magnolia as the central logo. The intention was also to plant a giant Magnolia tree at the front of the centre, but this was not done due to budget constraints. The huge magnolia did however end up on a giant neon as signage at the entrance to the centre.

Nordiko Fumigation

This company was in the fumigation business on the wharves, fumigating fruit, flowers and other products being imported or exported out of Australia. Rather than develop a name such as Australian Fumigation Services, we created a more radical name, which had both a sophistication and also environment feel to it. The Norwegian sounding name gave the product the feel of Europe in an area hich was essentially very industrial in nature. The fumigation treatment was to happen in containers on the wharf, with a dedicated container for Nordiko. WE suggested that they also cover this container completely with a photo of a pine forest, so that it would stand out hugely against all the other containers in the port – becoming a beacon for attention.

Banlaw-Pipeline

This company was in fact two companies, with the owner trying to wrestle with the problem of two separate identities. We suggested that the two companies be tied together with one name for them both. In some ways this may sound obvious, but sometimes the most obvious things are the hardest to see.

Double-Up

for Ski yogurt. The company wanted to sell a yogurt with a separate container of fruit or nuts in it. They had previously failed with this concept. We created the name Doubles and then this was modified to Double-Up to fit the product, which became a huge hit overnight.

BabyRock

Sometimes we develop the name ourselves, and other times the name comes out of the work we do with clients to develop a name that suits their business. The client sells baby slings, and the name that they were using was Comfy Carry. We were being asked to develop new packaging, and made a recommendation that we should develop a new brand name. The client accepted this fairly radical move, and then through a series of name exchanges the client themselves came up with the name BabyRock. We think that it is a great name. It also goes to prove that the best work is always developed by working together as a team.

Merino Ceramo

Paper plates, Steakplates and Linen Weave paper serviettes. When I first made contact with this company, the company was called Paper Converting Company. They had a brand Merino, but believed that this sounded more like a sheep, then anything to do with paper products! I didn’t agree, and argued that the name Merino was fine, but it needed to be re-designed to make it look like a fashion brand. The result was a new logo, using the strap line “designed for living” to move it totally away from sheep and wool. It worked so well that they eventually changed the name of the company to Merino using the logo! I also created the sub-brand name ‘Ceramo’ for their paper plates (ceramics being a quality benchmark – and soggy sagging plates the biggest negative of the area), then Steakplates (to emphasize size) and Linen Weave (paper serviettes- emphasizing the fabric feel).

Some of our own brand names are Happy Books, Billionaire, and the character names in the Aeroplane Jelly books, and Top Drawer books.

We enjoy putting together names for companies.

If you would like us to help you, please contact us. We are always happy to talk.