A Strategic Approach to Corporate Naming and Brand Identity Development
A brand is a promise of value in the marketplace. It helps you build awareness and convey meaning for your business!
Effective brand and company naming can differentiate a business from competitors and help get your business into the consideration set of your target market. Once you have a name you like, you need a compelling brand identity package which becomes your visual marketplace personality.
Enduring brand names are evocative and descriptive of the value and benefits delivered. Proper naming can dictate and shape your ability to build your business with your highest value prospects and customers alike.
What’s in a Name?
More than you think.
The best brands or corporate names evoke strong imagery and conjure up a clear and compelling value proposition in the minds of the customers who engage with it. The process of developing new or replacement brand and/or corporate names should never be taken lightly.
Effective naming requires a multi-dimensional process that considers competition, customer needs/wants/perceptions, and a clear understanding of the functional + emotional benefits provided to the market.
Ascension NameWorx℠ is a systematic naming + brand identity development system. It can be applied to new businesses, holding company transactions, and new product/service branding initiatives. NameWorx℠ provides an end-to-end ideation, research, and brand or corporate name imaging package for businesses large and small.
How Your Brand Looks is Critical
Once a name is identified, it is essential to design a look/feet that is appropriate. Ascension NameWorx℠ involves five critical strategic and creative design steps:
- Name Development – Strategic ideation process to develop hundreds of initial pre-vetted brand and /or company name candidates. All names are designed around a carefully crafted strategic framework built on historical information, competitive intelligence, and the inherent strategic qualities of the business.
- Marketplace Vetting – Ascension performs two key commercial and digital vetting processes to eliminate names that are not candidates for trademarking or already appear in use in your product/service category.
- Identity Design – Once a name is determined and vetted, the Ascension design team develops logo and iconography options for client consideration and/or for inclusion in diagnostic market research.
- Standards Package – Finally, we develop a comprehensive name/brand standards program that includes:
- Final logo design
- Approved Type Font
- Iconography (brand imagery element)
- Color Palette
- Acceptable and Unacceptable Brand Usage Guidelines
- Identitity Communication Elements – Downstream materials designed integrating new identity to include grpahical features such as letterhead, business card design, invoice template, etc.
To learn more about how Ascension can help you build value in your corporate and/or product service names and imagery, contact Jip Inglis, Managing Partner at jinglis@ascensionstrategy.com or call 404-250-4547.