Name Game

The “Name Game” Survey September, 2002

A Special Report by Interbrand

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Introduction Dear Friends, In July we conducted Interbrand’s first annual “Name Game ” survey to find out what trends marketers see for brand names in this post 9/11, ethically-challenged business environment. In short, they said, names will get real, but naming will get tougher. • 19% say that “coined,” or fabricated names will remain popular; • 9% see a trend toward adopting names that had been part of a company’s heritage; • 57% see a trend toward more “real ” names —either singular or compound words (e.g. Apple, jetBlue, Tide) However, trademark and cultural challenges, which are already problematic, will only increase should this trend continue. Of our 218 respondents, 75 percent are directly involved in naming projects, and most use consultants for their projects, citing that they improve the quality possible names and facilitate overcoming and/or eliminating trademark barriers. (In the English language alone, there are more than six million words and virtually all of them are registered.) The survey also showed us that marketers understand their customers, and what their customers want now are honesty and integrity in branding. And, one of the best ways to communicate sincere values is through the use of brand names that are more accessible and meaningful to their customers. In Interbrand’s view, branding doesn’t start with a product, service, or business. The evolution of a brand starts as a concept formed in the minds of customers. But it’s a concept that’s based on a series of very tangible interactions and impressions that are experienced by your customers. A brand’s name is that first impression. And, we all know how crucial first impressions are. Names are the first public act of branding,and can be assets of enormous value. Through their meaning and sound, names project the personality of a product, service or company and should communicate to customers the quality and integrity of what they represent. The “Name Game ” also asked participants whether they knew the derivations of some popular brand names-Stolichnaya, Rolex and Starbucks. This part of the survey underscored that the relevance and value of a name comes more from its perceived authenticity, rather than from a literal understanding of the word. As is the case with these well-managed brands, the authenticity of the name and the brand are intertwined, creating an experience for customers that communicates the brand’s values. We hope you find the results as revealing as we did. Incidentally, all those who participated received a copy of Interbrand’s “10 Most Common Naming Mistakes.” If you would like a copy, please call us at 212-798-7513.

Julie Cottineau Managing Director, Naming Interbrand Corp.

Methodology

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The Name Game was an online survey that ran on brandchannel.com, an online newsletter about branding that is produced by Interbrand.

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The survey was also e-mailed to marketing and branding professionals across a range of industries. The survey ran from July 22 through July 31, 2002.

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We heard from 218 global respondents, 75% of whom have been directly involved in a naming project at their respective companies.

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Executive Summary - Quantitative •

Overwhelmingly, respondents reported that the typical naming project at their companies was either for a new product or new service offering (66%).

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With respect to how new products and services are named, the results were fairly evenly split. Half said that they were named on an ad hoc, case by cases basis; slightly less said that names were chosen by reference to their corporate structure.

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The majority of the respondents (60%) engaged outside consultants to some degree on their naming projects.

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The greatest two benefits of using outside consultants were the improved quality of possible names (42%) and overcoming trademark barriers (27%).

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Respondents said that the majority of naming projects lasted three months or less (80%).

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19% of respondents say that “coined” or made up names will continue be popular; 9% see a trend toward adopting names that had been part of a company’s legacy (a founder’s name, for example). But 57% see a trend toward names that are “real” or either singular or compound words that reflect the brand (i.e. Target, jetBlue, Tide).

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Executive Summary - Qualitative • When asked an open-ended question about naming obstacles, the most frequently cited issues included: Ø Trademark barriers Ø Picking names that have appropriate URLs available Ø Deadlines Ø Lack of focus group testing Ø Culture and language appropriateness Ø Internal politics • When asked an open-ended question about naming trends, the most frequently cited trends included: Ø There were be increasing cross-culture and legal issues, requiring the expertise of outside specialists Ø More “real” names will come into use, fewer whimsical ones Ø Simplification will result from companies listening to the wishes of their customers Ø Ensuring a name is identifiable with product/service, while maintaining differentiation in the marketplace

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The Survey The next page features the three questions that test your knowledge of some popular brand names. If you’d like to compare your answers to those of our respondents, answer these first before going to the following page.

Question 1 Pick the correct company name origins

Starbucks: a. Derived from “Starbuck” , a character in the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville b. Name of the famous figure skater Jo Jo Starbuck c. What they use to pay for stuff in Hollywood d. None of the above Stolichnaya: a. The word Russians use for a drinking toast (like “skal” or salute”) b. The emperor who founded the Russian ballet c. Russian for “from the capital” d. None of the above Rolex: a. Named for the patented winding mechanism, which “rolls” b. No meaning but easy to pronounce and short enough to fit on the dial of a watch c. Name for the founder’s ex-wife, Rolanda d. None of the above

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Question 1 Pick the correct company name origins

Starbucks: a. Derived from “Starbuck” , a character in the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville (56.5%) - Correct Answer b. Name of the famous figure skater Jo Jo Starbuck (2.7%) c. What they use to pay for stuff in Hollywood (8.2%) d. None of the above (32.6%) Stolichnaya: a. The word Russians use for a drinking toast (like “skal” or salute”) (28.3%) b. The emperor who founded the Russian ballet (10.9%) c. Russian for “from the capital” (41.8%) - Correct Answer d. None of the above (19%) Rolex: a. Named for the patented winding mechanism, which “rolls” (35.3%) b. No meaning but easy to pronounce and short enough to fit on the dial of a watch (39.1%)- Correct Answer c. Name for the founder’s ex-wife, Rolanda (12%) d. None of the above (13.6%)

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Question 2 Choose the following that best describes your company’s typical naming project: a.

New Product (48.9%)

b.

Line Extension (14.1%)

c.

New Service (18.5%)

d.

New Corporate Name (14.1%)

e.

Other

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Question 3 When your company names new products/services, how are they named? a.

Name each on a case by case basis (48.4%)

b.

Refer to a corporate structure (47.3%)

c.

Other (4.3%)

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Question 4 Who is involved in the naming process? a.

Internal team only (excluding legal) (33.2%)

b.

Outside consultants only - creative and legal (3.8%)

c.

Joint collaboration with internal team and outside consultants (57.6%)

d.

Other (5.4%)

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Question 5 What are the top reasons for hiring a naming consultant? (respondents chose all that applied)

a.

Improve the quality of possible names (41.8%)

b.

Facilitate overcoming and/or eliminating trademark barriers (26.6%)

c.

Expedite the generation of possible names (23.9%)

d.

Help ensure compliance to company’s overall brand strategy (22.3%)

e.

Reduce product/service time to market (13%)

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Question 6 Typically, what is the duration of naming projects at your company?

a.

Less than one month (29.3%)

b.

1-3 months (50.5%)

c.

4-6 months (13.6%)

d.

More than 6 months (6.5%)

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Question 7 Name the greatest obstacle you encountered during a naming project: (representative comments)

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“”Language barriers”

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“Too many people with their own objectives in the process”

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“Copyright and trademark issues”

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“Finding names with appropriate URLs available”

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“Finding unique names that aren’t too similar to competing products”

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Question 8 As a marketing professional, where do you think the future of names lies?

a.

More “real”names (e.g. Target, Apple) 19%

b.

More “coined” names (e.g. Accenture, Verizon) 19%

c.

More “legacy” names (e.g. Wyeth, Braxton) 9.2%

d.

Made up, but meaningful compound names (e.g. jetBlue, MasterCard) 38%

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Question 9 Please offer any other comments you have with respect to naming trends… (representative comments)

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“Keep it simple! Consumers want that.”

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“Coined names blur company and product identities.”

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“[Names will be] descriptive of or relating to implied value to customer.”

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“I expect a continuation of one-word, subjective names for brands - words that leave the interpretation to the consumer.”

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“Naming is much more than creating ad copy….the process will increasingly involve serious outside consultants and lots of serious thinking (not only “feeling).

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“Authenticity in all respects is critical in a name.”

Copyright 2002 Interbrand All rights reserved.

About Interbrand Each of Interbrand’s discrete capabilities is targeted toward enhancing one or more of your brand’s touchpoints—the goal being to ensure the integrity of the contract that your brand implies, and to create the most positive dynamic between you and your customers. • Brand Naming and Verbal Identity: Names are the first public act of branding, and can be assets of enormous value. Through their meaning and sound, effective verbal identities project the personality of a product, service or company and should communicate to customers the quality and integrity of what they represent. Successful brand names also should be relevant, pronounceable, memorable and free of negative connotations. At the same time, creating differentiated names is increasingly difficult owing to trademark and domain name challenges. Interbrand has resources to overcome these challenges, easing and expediting your brand’s speed to market. Interbrand pioneered the field of verbal identity and has developed thousands of effective, motivating names for scores of industries, including Prozac, Heinz EZ Squirt, Maya Angelou Life Mosaic by Hallmark, Gillette Mach 3, Nissan Xterra, Lumin8 by Avon, Orbitz and Factiva. • Brand Packaging: A product’s package design and structure can leave an indelible impression, encouraging an initial purchase and fostering the emotional link that underlies consumer loyalty. A package must be a powerful selling tool in itself, standing out from the clutter on a shelf. Also, package structure is playing an increasingly important role in product purchase. Structure can differentiate one product from others like it because it clearly proves the brand’s understanding of its customers’ usage needs. Interbrand’s graphic and structural designers understand that a brand’s packaging must instantly communicate its positioning and product benefits, and reinforce that message after the purchase so that the brand becomes a mainstay on customers’ shopping lists. • Brand Strategy: An independent, expert view is invaluable when assessing complex branding issues such as the design of a new brand architecture, the repositioning of an existing brand, the reinvigoration of an under-performing brand or the development of a new brand to suit a particular market need. In all of these instances, our teams of strategic consultants work in partnership with clients to produce focused and actionable solutions. The results reveal which customer touchpoints are most critical to the continued health of the brand, and help yield the highest return on a company’s brand assets. • Brand Valuation: Stock markets, regulatory agencies and accounting groups increasingly confirm that brands and other intangibles are a corporation's most valuable assets. Brand valuation is a unique tool that quantifies the economic value of a brand. It is critical to marketing investments and allows management to plan and assess the impact of their strategies. The first company to ever publicly put a value on a brand, Interbrand has developed the most widely endorsed brand-valuation methodology. To date, we have valued more than 3,000 brands worldwide.

About Interbrand • Corporate Branding: A well-orchestrated corporate branding system is an invaluable communications tool in today’s complex world and does more than just identify a business or organization -- it acts as an indication and endorsement of quality, value and reliability. A corporation's established assets, all visible points of public contact, differentiate it from competitors. Interbrand believes that corporate branding is a powerful strategic weapon, one that promotes customers’ understanding of the corporate purpose and differentiates corporations and their products in an increasingly competitive marketplace. • Environmental Branding: Environments are one of the best opportunities a brand, corporation or institution has for creating a compelling customer experience, and communicating its identity. By developing an environment consistent with the brand message, a brand can provide its customers with a predictable and familiar experience in all locations -- from retail environments and tradeshows to the corporate environment. Interbrand’s environmental design practices employ stateof-the-art technologies to design brand environments in a three-dimensional world, including the design of interactive media and virtual environments. • Internal Brand Alignment: An organization’s employees are often on the front lines of a customer’s brand experience and are essential to communicating and carrying your organization’s values. As such, a brand must stand for the relationship that an organization has with its employees, as much as it represents the relationship it has with its customers through its product and service offering. Brand building is an inside-out exercise, one that needs to engage the organization first before external messaging can be truly credible. Brand stewards should drive initiatives that close the gap between the actual and perceived, and hence will focus on brand building within their organizations in order to communicate their values to an external audience. Our strategic consultants work with clients to align the organization and its operations around brand values to bring to life the brand promise through the four critical success factors: senior management stewardship, responsibility and accountability, aligning business and brand strategy and ongoing performance measurement and feedback. • Research: All business decisions you make involve some level of risk to your brand. Clearly defining and quantifying that risk is the key to enhancing the potential of your brand because it minimizes the damage to your customer touchpoints. Interbrand uses research extensively and commissions both qualitative and quantitative studies for clients. From the choice of a new name or package design to the repositioning of an existing brand, or the introduction of a new one, our experts help clients avoid expensive mistakes through research.

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