Matching languages to industries

by Kevin Taylor

Today’s post is a translation of an interview from Nomen Italy’s Managing Director Gianluca Billo. In it he discusses the perception of different languages when used in certain industries. Gianluca can be contacted through the Nomen Italy website: www.nomen.it How important is the choice of a language in brand naming? The choice of a language definitely is fundamental to create a new name. But it is not always as our clients see it. Most companies ask for a short name…

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Are bad names a good idea?

by Kevin Taylor

Should you deliberately choose a bad name for your new company or product? A week or so ago a couple of friends sent me articles they had seen suggesting that it was actually a very good strategy for getting yourself noticed. The argument went that people will discuss a bad name much more than a good one and therefore get your company in the spotlight. I actually talked about this kind of thing a few weeks back: the enthusiasm with…

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Common naming process pitfalls

by Emma Peto

I had a conversation at a recent pitch meeting that I think is worth expanding on and sharing.  I was asked by a potential client what I felt were some of the most common things that can go wrong during a naming process, the effect that they can have and how to best guard against them.  What was interesting was that he wanted to know what mistakes were made by the client themselves so that he could try to stop…

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When should you start thinking about a name?

by Emma Peto

There are very different ideas about when you need to think about naming your new product.  Some might have a name when the idea is but a twinkle in someone’s eye; others might have everything but the name to show to investors in a couple of weeks.  Is there an ideal time to start considering names, and if so, when is it? It is important to allow enough time to obtain the right name.  Naming is a surprisingly lengthy process:…

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A few things to consider when naming

by Emma Peto

It is a rare pleasure that all of the Nomen branches get together at the same time but we were lucky enough to do just that recently at the group seminar. While there, we asked representatives of each branch what one tip they would give people to help with their naming process. This could be a specific attitude towards the naming or a behaviour to maintain to make your process smoother. Below are some of those thoughts: * Be Bold:…

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How adopting a bold naming strategy can make your life easier

by Camille Medina

What is one of the major problems facing companies when they want to expand their range of products or services? To find a name that is relevant for the range and that hasn’t been taken by the competition yet! This problem usually comes in two different forms. The first one: company A develops and is about to launch, say, a product in one or a few more markets but doesn’t think of expanding further. Fine. They choose a name that…

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Football's naming dilemma

by Kevin Taylor

It seems like every other day now I’m seeing stories of various sporting stadiums looking to change their names to that of a sponsor. This used to be considered a very American trend but recent years have seen it become much more common in the UK. Look at the English football Premier League alone; you have Emirates (Arsenal), Etihad (Manchester City), Reebok (Bolton Wanderers), Britannia (Stoke City), Liberty (Swansea) and DW (Wigan). That’s just over 25% of the teams in…

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A rose by a different name…?

by Emma Peto

Would a rose smell as sweet if called by a different name? The Nomen UK creative team is an eclectic group of individuals with different talents, coming from all walks of life and of ages ranging from the young to the not-so-young. We have in common a passion: creating great brand names for whatever project comes our way. What’s in a word? Words are powerful tools and a knowledge and understanding of words is essential to our task. The word…

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Controversial?

by Emma Peto

As consumers, it is not often we stop and think about the name of a product we are buying or the company we are buying from, especially in the case of familiar brands. On reflection, and particularly taking a name out of context, we might notice some strange choices. For example, have you noticed that Christian Dior’s perfume range called ‘Poison’ is not exactly an enticing name for a liquid product? And have you ever really thought about Richard Branson’s…

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Names and linguistic screening

by Emma Peto

It is well-known that the Chevy Nova was a failure in Spanish-speaking markets because “nova” translates as “no-go”. That’s not the kind of message you want to transmit in a car name. It may be well-known, but it’s also untrue – the translation is inaccurate and, in any case, the car was a success. But that doesn’t mean that linguistic howlers don’t occur all the time. There are three types of error to avoid. Firstly, the inadvertent use of words…

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