What’s in a name? Brands and choosing a name identity

When thinking about branding, the first step is to choose the name of the company or product. Whether it is for the company itself or its products, a good name is crucial to creating a memorable business image. There are a number of considerations to be made when choosing a name whether it be the name of an entity, or a product or service. It's advisable to have written your business plan before you start thinking about a name. The plan will crystallize your ideas, and will help to put substance on these aims and clarify who your target customers are. This needs to be the starting point for considering any name for a company or product. An effective name for your company is one that establishes a strong identity. It can be one that describes the type of business you're in but it doesn't always have to, you may decide that your product name will do that or that you will rely on strong marketing to launch the brand. Whatever the criteria, the name is the foundation on which the company or product will be built. Often a creative, invented word for a name will become unique to you and will be memorable to your customer base.

Capcom, the global leader in video games, was the name created from the company's original name, Capsule Computers, who then manufactured arcade machines. IKEA is a composite of the first letters in the Swedish founder, Ingvar Kamprad's name in addition to the first letters of the names of his property and the village in which he grew up. These fabricated words don't actually mean anything in their own right, but they have come to symbolize a company and its identity.