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Product names need to be meaningful, memorable and ownable - your entire brand in just a word.
The Livingston Group has a 20-year track record of creating names that work.
Our client list includes American Express, Exxon, Nabisco, Planters-LifeSavers, Burger King, General Foods, M&M Mars, Kal Kan, Anne Klein, JCPenny, Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, AT&T, NYNEX, Ford Motor Company, Chevrolet, Eastman Kodak, Sandoz, Ciba-Geigy, Mead Johnson & Merck Agvet, Uniroyal Goodrich, Gore, & Anheuser Busch, and dozens of others.
How We Typically Work
I. PRELIMINARY TELEPHONE CONFERENCE
After reviewing the completed Naming Requirements survey
forms (which we distribute to key players on the marketing
team at the outset of the project), we typically have a
brief telephone discussion with the key players/decision
makers to bring us fully up to speed.
Preferably both the client and the agency are represented.
How does each view the uniqueness of the product? What are
its key advantages and characteristics? How would its
particular positioning be described? Who specifically is
the target? What is the competitive environment? How will
it be "sold?" By whom? What research has previously been
undertaken to understand the target market?
While much of this may be outlined in documents already
available (previous research, etc.), we find it most
effective to fully immerse ourselves in the human process in
an introductory teleconference... to hear it from the
horse's mouth, as it were. Perhaps most importantly, we
find that the initial teleconference provides us with the
opportunity to learn what the team feels is missing from the
candidates developed to date.
II. COMPUTER GENERATION
The next steps at our office include running our own
computerized name program -- feeding in the attributes and
qualities (which were developed and honed during the
in-depth interview) that your new names should communicate.
The program linguistically chooses words and word parts to
match the meanings and connotations relevant to the problem.
It is a proprietary program which we developed to reflect
our years of research into which names work and why. The
program is equipped with a large database of name fragments.
It is unique among naming programs (to the best of our
knowledge) in terms of its method of name construction, a
PRONOUNCEABILITY FILTER, and an interactive module that
blends human ingenuity with the scientific process. Our
staff, after being fully informed of the project criteria,
is instructed to monitor computer output and choose fitting
candidates for the name pool, modifying them with their own
creativity where appropriate.
III. NAME DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
Ideally, we implement a second phase of name development
which again involves the key players (sometimes blended with
consumers, patients, doctors, or others in the target
market) in a team workshop. We recommend inviting those who
will be involved in the ultimate selection to take an active
role in this ideation stage. If it is logistically not
possible to arrange this meeting, we can alternatively hold
the workshop at our home base with our creative staff and
expert panel.
Several days before the session, all participants are sent a
document outlining the particulars -- time tables,
appropriate attire, what they can expect, guidelines of how
to prepare for the session and what to bring. The
program is preferably conducted off-campus in a more
creative, casual environment to encourage inventive thought
as well as avoid the disruption of the telephone.
We guide the group through a series of exercises that have
been designed and refined over time to evoke unique ways of
looking at the task at hand; seeing the problem from new
perspectives. These mental excursions promote the creation
of unique identities that communicate your messages and
simultaneously maximize the probability of a group of name
candidates that should make it through the trademark
clearance. During the workshop we 'fold in' computer
generated names to further stimulate the creative process
and give team members different types of phonemes for
consideration. Approximately 200 name candidates are
developed at this meeting.
IV INTERNAL GENERATION:
Our staff of creatives is briefed with the project criteria
and the results of the Phase II name development workshop.
They are then instructed to develop an additional 200 names
in accordance with efforts to date.
V. INITIAL EVALUATION AND COMPUTER RANKING
After a large pool of names has been generated, our
evaluation team (usually consisting of marketing personnel,
psychologists, linguists, & optionally a few of the key
players) sits down with all the name candidates and the
computer. Each name, after first being screened for
memorability, pronounceability and negative associations, is
evaluated against each of the criteria originally selected
for the project. These ratings are fed into the computer.
The work group decides which of the original attributes
(defined in phase one) are the most important to
communicate, and creates a ratio weighting system (ex:
"breathable" weighted 1.5 times as important as
"lightweight"). The computer combines the evaluation team's
input with the attribute weighting system to produce
rankings, somewhat comparable to a baseball batting average,
for each name remaining on the list.
A factor analysis (a complex statistical procedure which
reduces large amounts of data to smaller, more meaningful
dimensions) is performed on the final numbers to quantify
the underlying emotional rationale driving the team's
evaluation. Scores on these factors are also presented when
relevant.
VI - DEVELOPMENT REPORT
The Name Works® delivers a master list of the top 100 names
which were assigned a ranking, and our top 15
recommendations with a narrative outlining our rationale.
The 100 names are ranked from best to worst.
The computer algorhythm for evaluations makes it possible to
request alternative attribute weightings either at project
completion or at a later date. This can be useful, for
instance, after a focus group is conducted in which it is
discovered that consumers are looking for one attribute more
than the rest in this particular category.
The nicest thing about the expert panel/computer ranking
system is that it eases trademark clearance worries. If the
top name does not clear, you don't have to go through the
whole list to decide which to consider next; you simply step
down the list and choose the available name with highest
ranking.
VII - CONSUMER NAME EVALUATION
The benefit of working with a consumer research firm with a
specialty in name development and testing is that we are
able to thoroughly and effectively obtain consumer feedback
to help you evaluate your top name candidates. After
clearing trademark screens, we recommend taking the top 20
names to qualitative testing.
In order to thoroughly understand our approach to naming
evaluation strategies, it is necessary to review the manner
in which names are evaluated by the consumer (whether
professional or lay). This process can be summed up in
three stages:
- Attention
- Familiarity/Safety Evaluation (Out of Context)
- Evaluation in the Context of Specific Needs
To be effective, names must do well in all three stages.
The stages are easiest to understand when one compares the
"image or identity" of a brand to that of a human being.
We would all like to believe that humans evaluate one
another on such important characteristics as personality,
intellect, and interpersonal warmth. But experimental
psychology proves again and again that no one gives these
qualities much thought until the person has caught their
attention with appearance. Appearance is, indeed, crucial!
If you can't get people to look at you, it doesn't matter
what you get inside! If you want people to truly know
your quality, you've must create an attention getting
"double take."
Similarly, because the end user is a human being first and
a consumer second (or ninth), they will not under normal
circumstances give the brand name another thought unless it
is attention-getting in and of itself, regardless of what the name communicates.
People must "do a double take" before they
will start to consider "Gee, what might that name mean about
the product or services I need?"
To continue the analogy, after a human being has another's
attention by virtue of appearance, if that person wants to
be known for their true inner qualities, they must be
perceived as safe and "familiar enough to get closer to,"
yet different enough to create intrigue. Even if someone
has our attention, we will run the other direction if they
appear dangerous (to our physical or emotional well being).
Again, this is a prerequisite perception which must take
place before any intellectual evaluation of the true
qualities of the person will take place.
Similarly, in addition to being attention-getting, a brand
name must be perceived as safe and "familiar enough to get
more involved with" (yet different enough to create
intrigue). This must happen before the end user will begin
to consciously and intellectually evaluate the name.
Finally, it is only when someone has our attention, makes us
feel safe, (and generates intrigue by virtue of being a
little bit different), that we will truly take the
opportunity to get to know them. At least this is the way
that the psychology of the masses works. To carry our
analogy to brand names - it is only once a brand has the
consumer's attention, and is perceived as familiar enough to
be safe, yet different enough to warrant further
investigation, that a thorough intellectual evaluation of
that brand will take place in the context of the specific
service or product benefits.
It's not that we're all going around thinking these things
consciously. Most of it happens below our level of
awareness. (There are just too many people and brands
impinging upon our senses -- the "attention-getting" and
"familiarity/safe" filters function unconsciously -- so
that our conscious minds aren't overloaded with things to
evaluate).
Nevertheless ALL names must pass these filters if they are
to succeed. Therefore, our initial concerns in evaluating
names is to assess their attention-getting ability. They
then have to be tested for the associations they stimulate
OUT OF PRODUCT OR SERVICE CONTEXT (before the consumer knows
what the product does). Only those names which pass these
first two filters are evaluated in the context of a concept
statement which explains what the actual product or service
is.
Respondents are first asked to sort through the series of
names -- to put them into piles that grab their
attention and piles they would rather just ignore. After a
brief discussion regarding the reasons certain names got
attention, they are asked to sort these names into ones they
liked and didn't like. "Projective techniques" are used
to thoroughly explore what the names communicate. (Only the
names which pass the first two filters are evaluated).
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While traditional, direct questioning and moderation
techniques are employed, we suggest the addition
of some specialized techniques. This is because, in many
cases, (particularly with reactions to names) customers are
not able to articulate their thoughts and feelings when
asked directly. The major motivating reactions operate on
an unconscious level.
The interviewers chosen for a study are all highly
trained in projective techniques. Succinctly, a technique
is projective when it encourages the expression of
motivational material which may be beyond the awareness of
the respondent.
Most projective techniques accomplish this by supporting the
notion that what the respondent will say will not be taken
to be a part of his/her personality. The subject then feels
more comfortable to give voice to some of his/her more
emotionally charged perceptions. Since these perceptions
are temporarily believed to be part of the "not me," the
respondent feels comfortable to sit back, relax, and to view
his/her responses as if were watching a movie screen.
The respondent remains unaware, for the moment, that he or she, in fact wrote the
film and holds the projector.
A very simple example of a projective technique is to ask
customers to describe the attitudes and feelings of others
who are close to them. A more complex technique involves
the use of relaxation & guided imagery. For example,
respondents might be helped to relax, close their eyes, and
imagine walking through a door which appears in front of
them, with one of the name candidates written on it. When
they open the door, they find themselves in an entirely
different setting, which they are helped to explore, and to
describe in detail after the exercise. Differences in this
description from those elicited by other name candidates are
immensely helpful in understanding the effects of corporate
branding.
Using such techniques, it will be possible to fully explore
the issues reviewed above. Please note that while these
techniques may seem foreign and unusual,
they are actually quite easy to implement and has extremely
well documented results.
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It is only after understanding the power of each name out of
the context of the product or service category for which
they are being tested that we test in a context sensitive
environment. A concept statement is read which describes
the product or service (sometimes with a picture), and each
remaining name is tested for 'fit' with the particular
product or service. What would it tell you about that
product or service? Quality? Particular features it
highlights?
The top three to five names to emerge from qualitative
testing are usually taken to a quantitative evaluation,
which is generally a scaled down and more structured version
of the above interview. For particularly important naming
decisions, we recommend testing with our proprietary
quantitative projective technique 'Interface' which
evaluates each name's ability to create specific motivating
feelings in the consumer without asking them directly about
these feelings. For more information on this technique,
visit
interface.tlgonline.com.
For more information about a naming project, please contact
us at TheNameWorks@ResearchOnResearch.com.
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