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Naming for recognition

Lesson 4 of 20 in Brand strategy.

How to create a great brand name | Jonathan Bell · TED Archive

Lesson

A tiger on a matchbox label, sold as INDIAN CAT.

Names on a line from describing the thing to meaning nothing at all.

A matchbox label printed in blue and yellow only: a striped tiger walking across a field of sunburst rays, beneath a banner reading INDIAN CAT, with PRICE RE.0.0.6 at the right and SATTUR ORIGINAL MATCH CO. SATTUR along the bottom. — An Indian matchbox label printed in just two inks, blue and yellow. Two flat colours were cheap to print and still read from across a shop.Tiger, Indian matchbox label. Unrecorded designer, for an Indian match manufacturer.Wikimedia Commons/Public domain

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Question 1, locked
A shortlisted name is easy to spell, but in the accent most of its customers have, it sounds close to a rival's name. What does the lesson warn?
- It will feel familiar, so customers will trust it sooner
- It will need a bolder typeface to stand apart on the shelf
- Heard as the rival's name, it sends the sale to the rival
- It is fine, as long as the two logos look clearly different
Question 2, locked
The tiger matchbox sold as INDIAN CAT got the animal wrong and still worked. What does the lesson say a name has to do?
- Describe the product on the label exactly as it is
- Let a customer ask for the product by saying it
- Look distinctive when it is set in the brand's type
- Spell out the product category in its first word
Question 3, locked
A designer favours one name because it looks beautiful set in the brand typeface. What does the lesson warn about judging names this way?
- Type is the best guide, as long as the typeface is final
- Looks matter most, since names are mostly read on packs
- It works only when the name is also short and simple
- How a name looks in type is the last thing anyone meets

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