Types and Examples of Strong Brand Names: Learn What Works

A strong brand name is more than just something that sounds appealing or looks good on your business card. It is also not powerful simply because you value it. It’s effective because it teaches customers something. A name for your business, product, or service can take numerous shapes. There are acronyms, metaphors, names derived from a person’s sir name, and many more. It’s fascinating to consider the various brand name examples that contributed to forming some of the world’s most successful companies.

A brand name can benefit or harm a business; it can develop alongside the company or, in some situations, limit it to specific products or industries. Whatever your brand name is, it should appeal to the target demographic and promote the company with only a few unique words. In this blog post, I’ll share several brand name examples, the distinction between generic and brand names, and even share ideas from my expertise in the industry.

Key Takeaways

A well-chosen brand name does more than just look good; it educates customers, resonates with the target audience, and plays a crucial role in the company’s success by making a strong first impression.
Brand names can take various forms, such as descriptive, suggestive, abstract, origin-based, acronyms, lexical, alphanumeric, and compound names. Each type serves a different purpose and can appeal to different business strategies and target audiences.
While generic names are easy to recognize, they lack uniqueness and can lead to a brand losing its trademark protection. Successful brands must differentiate themselves to avoid becoming generic, as seen with examples like Kleenex and Band-Aid.
A trade name represents the business itself, while a brand name is specific to a product. Successful companies often operate under a trade name with multiple brand names, each targeting different market segments (e.g., PepsiCo with brands like Quaker and Gatorade).
A strong brand name should be memorable, relevant, distinctive, and evoke a favorable emotional connection. It’s essential to differentiate from competitors and consider the long-term implications of the name on the brand’s identity and market positioning.

What is a Brand Name?

A business or organization offers its firm, product, or service a unique brand name, usually a word or phrase. A brand name, in its most basic form, is a type of signature that recognizes the founder of a specific service or product and distinguishes it from those provided by others. Two of the brand names’ key purposes are listed below:

To distinguish a certain product or service from others of a similar or related brand.
Connect with the user and get noticed by the intended audience.

The idea is similar to how artists sign their works of art, journalists receive editorials, and designers sew on a business logo. Brand names are used by businesses to assess the authenticity and trustworthiness of the products they sell, whether they be marketing agencies, restaurants, clothing stores, or bike shops.

The Role of a Brand Name

What comes to mind when you hear the brands Apple, Nike, or Coca-Cola? These names do more than just represent businesses; they elicit emotions, memories, and perspectives. A brand name is frequently the first impression a customer has of your company, and we all understand how crucial first impressions are.

In fact, research published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that a well-chosen brand name can enhance client recall by up to 80%. This statistic alone demonstrates the necessity of devoting time and effort to selecting the proper brand name.

When I originally launched my consulting business, I struggled to come up with a name that reflected both professionalism and originality. After hours of pondering, I decided on a name that, while it felt wonderful at the time, didn’t quite hit right with my target demographic. Client engagement and retention improved significantly after I rebranded. This event showed me personally the importance of a well-crafted brand name.

Brand Name Examples

Any brand’s naming or rebranding process begins with a grasp of the various examples of brand names that can be used. Your brand strategy will be defined if you offer a variety of goods or services and use various brand names for each one. The brand name that a firm chooses could define the optimal branding approach or logo.

Here are the most popular examples of brand names; we’ll go over each one and offer tips for using it.

#1. Descriptive names

Descriptive brand names are one of the most basic types of names, but they can also be the perfect fit for your company. A specialty business in a new market may profit from this type of brand name as it explains what you do and can educate the user. These examples of brand names are straightforward, usually include a word or two about what you provide, and leave no doubt as to what you do.

Burger King, for example, makes its services completely clear to clients, leaving no space for doubt. This name reveals what they will be offering you (burgers) as well as their expertise (king). This moniker indicates both what you’ll get (burgers) and how great they are at it (king). Simply reading the name tells you what you’ll get, which is a huge advantage.

Examples include Toys R Us, General Motors, and The Weather Channel.

#2. Suggestive names

Suggestive brand names are based on feelings that a user may associate with your organization. They can be a very effective technique to engage with your target audience and convey the feelings they may have while dealing with your company. Does your business provide people with independence, time savings, more money, or a sense of well-being? A brand name that conveys these feelings can help a company approach new customers.

One of the most significant benefits of this type of brand name is that your only limitation is your own inventiveness. It could be ideal for a firm that wishes to stand out, be unique, have a name based on historical personalities, or use witty play on words. A brand name can increase the level of emotion in the client’s mind by tailoring suggestive names to their demands and expectations.

Examples include Pampers, Uber, and Dove.

#3. Abstract names

Abstract brand names can be difficult to understand; they are essentially made-up terms or names that a company employs to distinguish its brand. They may have some significance, but they are not terms you would find in a dictionary. An abstract name is made up of a series of syllable sounds that combine to form a new phrase that never existed before.

Because these examples of brand names are blank slates, they may be transformed into practically anything; yet, building a strong brand identity around them is more challenging.

Examples include Google, Trello, and Oreo.

#4. Origin names

Origin brand names are often formed based on the history or foundation of a company. They can be the founder’s name, historical figures involved in the industry or firm, or the location where it all began.

In addition to boosting the morale of its owners, founder names are undeniably easy to trademark. They can be distinctive if correctly positioned, but creating value necessitates marketing efforts unless, of course, the owner is already well-known.

Examples include McDonald’s, DHL, and Abercrombie & Fitch.

#5. Acronym names

While acronym names are commonly used, it may be wise to avoid them. They are often used when a name is too long or complex, and they consist of letters and digits to simplify the name. While they are short, employing this style of brand name results in a boring, lifeless name.

Today’s entrepreneurs would struggle to find a compelling reason to use an acronym for their company name. Acronyms are notoriously difficult for audiences to remember, and much more difficult to trademark.

Examples include IBM, H&M, and 3M.

#6. Lexical names

Lexical brand names use wordplay to make the name memorable and interesting. Puns, phrases, compound words, alliteration, misspellings, and foreign words are utilized to create these brand names. They are usually cleaver and gain their impact by combining words for linguistic effects.

These names run the risk of sounding overly cute. It’s debatable whether having a name that sounds like a children’s book harms business branding. Just remember that nothing is worse than a bad pun, both in branding and in everyday life.

Examples include Krispy Kreme, Dunkin Donuts, and Krazy Glue.

#7. Alphanumeric names

If a company has a brand name idea but isn’t particularly unique, it can often add a number to make it stand out. Alphanumeric brand names use letters and numbers to create a more distinctive name. While it may make names more unique, they can appear more complex or technical than intended or even less professional.

These examples of brand names are increasingly commonly used to identify products, particularly in the auto industry. Consider organizations such as Five Guys, Forever 21, and 23andMe. The founders of Forever 21 thought that the age of 21 was the most desirable; therefore, they chose that number as the company’s name. The number 23andMe represents the 23 chromosomes examined during the organization’s DNA testing.

Examples include 7Up, Life360, and Six Flags.

#8. Generic names

Generic brand names are easy to remember, recognize, and effectively convey what the company does. However, the category of these names rarely matches the criteria for what a strong brand name should accomplish.

Although it is appealing since it is brief, memorable, and effectively summarizes what your firm does, it is not distinctive, interesting, or piques attention. For example, “Dog Food” could be a good generic name for your dog products. But it’s overly literal and confines the company to a single product or category.

Examples include Cars.com, Crock-Pot, and Chapstick.

#9. Compound names

A compound brand name is another alternative for coming up with a unique name for your firm. This style of name combines two or more words to form one; the words are primarily abstract but yet have significance and explain something about the organization. Depending on the type of impact you want to have on your audience, there are numerous techniques to compound names.

Snapchat is an excellent example of this. The company’s operations revolve around the concepts of photography (snap) and socialization (chat), which are merged into the brand name.

Examples include PayPal, Netflix, and DoorDash.

#10. Technical names

Technical names are typically reserved for software, B2C, and very particular businesses; nevertheless, if you are in the correct industry, they can be an excellent method to convey your message. These examples of brand names refer to the procedures or specific technologies used in a business or product.

Examples include Panasonic, Microsoft, and Xerox.

Generic vs Brand Name Examples

One of the most difficult problems brands confront is differentiating themselves from generic products. Aspirin or escalator are examples of generic brand names, which relate to a product type rather than a single brand. Some brand names become so popular over time that they risk becoming generic.

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a brand name that goes generic loses its trademark protection. For example, the term “thermos” was once a brand name but became generic due to broad use.

In one of my early projects, I worked with a company that was about to lose its trademark because its brand name was becoming generic. We had to begin a campaign to educate people on the brand name vs. the generic word, which helped maintain its trademark protection.

Generic Brand Name Examples

Kleenex: Despite being a brand name, it is frequently used to refer to any face tissue.
Band-Aid: A term used to describe any adhesive bandage.
Hoover: In the United Kingdom, the term “Hoover” is commonly used to denote vacuum cleaners in general.

These generic brand name examples demonstrate the delicate balance between brand success and genericide risk. Brands must work hard to keep their identity and guarantee that their names remain memorable in the minds of customers.

Trade Name and Brand Name Examples

A trade name is the formal name under which a firm conducts business, whereas a brand name is the name by which a product is sold. For example, Procter & Gamble is the company’s trade name, whereas Tide is one of its brands.

I previously advised a customer on the need to distinguish their trade name from their brand name. They were able to better target different market segments by establishing distinct brand identities under the same trade name. Here are a few examples of a trade name and a brand name:

Alphabet Inc. (Google): Alphabet is the trade name, and Google is the brand name.
PepsiCo (Quaker, Gatorade): PepsiCo is a trade name that includes the brand names Quaker and Gatorade.
Nestlé (Nescafé, KitKat): Nestlé is the trade name for various well-known brands, including Nescafé and KitKat.

These examples demonstrate how a strong trade name may support numerous successful brand names, each with its own distinct personality and market positioning.

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What are the 7 types of brand names?

Here are a few types of brand names:

Acronyms
Descriptive
Evocative brand names
Descriptive brand names
Founder
Invented brand names
Compound names
Metaphorical
Alphanumeric

What is a good brand name?

Ideally, it conveys your brand’s essence, evokes an image, and fosters a favorable emotional connection. It is unique and memorable and distinguishes itself from your competition.

How to pick a brand name?

Your guide to choosing the perfect brand name:

Identify you.
Understand what you offer.
Understand its relevance to them.
Differentiation.
Distinctiveness.
Thinking a great name will do all the work.
Thinking every single stakeholder has to like it.
Not setting out with a clear brand naming process and strategy.

How to create a luxury brand name?

Tips for naming your luxury brand:

Embrace exclusivity. Choose a name that conveys a sense of rarity and exclusivity.
Use evocative language. Select words that evoke a sense of sophistication and allure.
Consider heritage cues.
Leverage foreign mystique.
Avoid trendy names.
Integrate aspirational words.

Conclusion

Choosing a brand name is an important decision that can significantly affect your company’s success. You can choose a memorable, relevant, and distinctive brand name by following these guidelines and taking into account the examples I’ve provided.

What is your favorite brand name, and why do you believe it is effective? Please share your ideas in the comments.

Types and Examples of Strong Brand Names: Learn What Works

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What is a Brand Name?

The Role of a Brand Name