Friday, March 29, 2024

Business

Does a Company’s Name and Logo Have to Reflect Its Brand?

Does a Company's Name and Logo Have to Reflect Its Brand?

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You can find all sorts of advice online about choosing a good business name. Some experts insist that a company name and logo has to reflect something about the company’s brand. Others say company names and logos can be more vague. So is one right and the other wrong? That is hard to say.

Whether or not company name and logo have to reflect brand is a matter of short- and long-term goals. But let’s not forget the issue of definitions. How do you define ‘brand’? Some people associate brand with products and services. Others say that a company’s brand is that thing that separates the company from the competition.

Because so much about branding is not black and white, it’s really tough to answer the main question posed in this post. If you were starting a new company, your best bet would be to sit down with a branding expert, discuss your goals, and then go from there.

The Advantages of Being Vague

There are times when a vague strategy is called for. For example, consider Apple. The company’s original founders may have applied some hidden meaning in the word ‘apple’, but the word itself denotes nothing about computers, tablets, and smartphones. In fact, the company was first known as a desktop computer maker. It wasn’t until decades later that they got into the phone business.

That’s one of the benefits about being vague with a company name and logo. It gives you room to transition your core focus without having to change everything else. You can expand from computers into smartphones and not have to change the company name and logo.

The Advantages of Being Specific

Just as there are advantages to taking a vague approach to names and logos, there are advantages to being specific. Chief among them is having a name that directly reflects the business you are involved in. This is beneficial for SEO purposes. It can also help with local marketing efforts.

Consider a company like the fictional A-1 House Painting. If you saw that name and the company logo anywhere, you would know immediately what the company does. There would be no confusion. And if you happened to be considering having your house painted at the time, you would have at least one company you could contact for an estimate.

How Business Owners Choose Names

When it comes to company names and logos, they can be directly linked to branding in very specific ways or they can be purposely vague. There’s no right or wrong. But how do business owners come up with their names? In the old days, they used to just brainstorm until they landed on something that sounded good. Business owners might have even consulted with marketing executives and graphic artists.

That same strategy still works today. But for the technologically minded, TRUiC recommends one of the many intelligent business name generators available all over the internet. Most are free; some are paid. All are data analysis tools that search the internet for specific keywords, analyze the retrieved data, and spit out name suggestions.

Alongside business name generators are websites that offer DIY logo design. Again, some of them are free; others are paid. Combining the two services can get a new company up and running with a name and logo fairly quickly and cheaply. But that doesn’t guarantee success.

Do business name and logo have to reflect brand? That’s a matter of debate. While branding and marketing experts argue over it, the business owner’s priority is to give their customers great products and service. Ultimately, this will win their loyalty over the long term.

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