Branding: The Name Comes First

In virtually every industry, there are iconic brands whose names are synonymous with their product or service. Think of Nike or Budweiser or Coke or Google, and you immediately picture a product. Some brands are so ingrained that they’ve become interchangeable for the name of the product. We don’t usually say “tissue” – we say “Kleenex.”

Clearly, huge conglomerates and multinational companies have poured billions of dollars into creating brand awareness and maintaining their position in the marketplace. While small- and medium-sized businesses don’t have the resources to do the same, there are some strategies the smaller guys can use to establish a brand and to will help draw customers to them. We’ll be talking about them this week.

If you’re just starting out, or if your company is in its infancy, the place to start is with your company name. If you’re primarily an online company and will engage in Internet marketing, it’s helpful to select a name that represents your product or service. For example, although UPS is now an iconic brand (who doesn’t think of brown trucks when they think of UPS?), they started out as United Parcel Service. Simple. Straightforward. Easy to understand.

In selecting a name for your online business, it’s often best to start by seeing what domain names are available. You want your URL to explain what your company does, express your company name, and (ideally) incorporate your primary keyword. So, the available URLs can actually dictate your company name. For example, if you sell Hawaiian coffee, check out available URLs at a domain registration site like GoDaddy. You can quickly see that hawaiiancoffee.com is already taken, but that hawaiiancoffeenow.com is available. For an online company, the name Hawaiian Coffee Now is a much better branding strategy than, say, Sarah’s Favorite Beverage.

Selecting a company name is the first step in developing and promoting a brand. Check back tomorrow, when we’ll discuss defining your brand identity.