Branding & Naming Fundamentals Glossary

Branding is about answering five key questions:

1. What should your brand stand for?
2. How should you organize and present the business?
3. What should you call your brand?
4. What is your logo and visual identity system?
5. How should you activate across all touchpoints.

The long-term plan for how a brand is positioned, perceived, and experienced.

What is Brand Purpose?The reason a brand exists beyond profit, often tied to values or mission.

What is a Value Proposition?A statement of the benefit customers get, how it solves their problem, and why it is better than alternatives.

A brand’s big idea should be big, simple, and true. It explains how a company uniquely meets customer needs and delivers superior value.

What is a Brand Manifesto?A narrative that amplifies the positioning idea and articulates beliefs, purpose, and commitments.

The attributes and traits that support brand positioning. Together with the manifesto, they form the brand definition.

The system that organizes how brands, sub-brands, and products relate to each other.

A single master brand across all products (e.g., Virgin).

Multiple standalone brands under one parent (e.g., Procter & Gamble with Tide, Pampers, Gillette).

A mix of branded house and house of brands (e.g., Alphabet with Google).

The system that defines how product, service, and corporate names work together.

A structured seven-step approach: Brief, Generate, Shortlist, Screen, Present, Legal, Select.

Sets parameters for naming: what the name should express, what types are in or out of bounds, and decision-maker alignment.

Professional namers create hundreds of candidates, building a master list before narrowing down.

Promising candidates are filtered against the brief. Techniques like index cards can help teams physically sort and eliminate options.

Preliminary checks for trademarks, linguistic risks, and domain availability.

Decision-makers review recommended names with rationale and mockups. Often repeated in multiple rounds.

Attorneys conduct full trademark searches for availability and risk.

Final decision made based on strategy, screening, and legal results.

The foundation of a naming project. It clarifies goals, criteria, audiences, and restrictions.

• Background and objectives
• Target audiences
• Desired associations
• Tone, style, and personality guardrails
• Legal and linguistic considerations
• Decision-making process

It aligns stakeholders early, prevents vetoes, and guides evaluation.

• Eponymous: Founder names (e.g., Disney, Ford).
• Descriptive: What the company does (e.g., American Airlines).
• Acronyms/Initials: Abbreviations of longer names (e.g., IBM, BP).
• Linguistic/Translational: Derived from another language (e.g., Lego = “leg godt,” Danish for “play well”).
• Associative: Linked to symbols or external ideas (e.g., Sirius, the brightest star).
• Suggestive: Real words hinting at qualities or benefits (e.g., Uber = outstanding).
• Abstract: Invented or unrelated words (e.g., Rolex).

Using scent as part of brand identity, common in luxury goods.

Ensuring a name works across languages and cultures. Example: Gillette’s Mach3 tested in multiple countries for pronunciation and meaning.

About 95% of candidates are eliminated due to legal or domain conflicts.

Names that sound alike can cause mistakes or safety issues. In pharmaceuticals, FDA approval prevents confusion that could lead to fatal prescription errors.

Product names are often approved faster with fewer stakeholders. Company names typically require CEO-level alignment.

Some brands use alphanumeric models (e.g., Audi A3) to reinforce the parent brand instead of product-level names.

Coach renamed its parent company Tapestry while keeping the Coach name for consumer-facing goods.

The best names represent a big idea with emotional appeal. Nike = winning. GoPro = heroism. Red Bull = energy. Alphabet = letters, communication, and “alpha bet” for investors.

Five imperatives:

1. Share knowledge openly to raise industry standards.
2. Use technology as a creative boost, not a threat.
3. Step away from work to recharge creativity.
4. Switch modalities, from whiteboards to pen and paper to walks.
5. Explore attributes from unexpected categories to spark originality.

Why is Naming Different from Other Creative Services?Constraints include trademark law, linguistic checks, and cultural viability.

The system of language that defines a brand, including naming, tone, and messaging.

Names that state what a business does (e.g., General Motors).

Names that hint at benefits or qualities (e.g., LinkedIn).

Invented or borrowed words with no inherent meaning (e.g., Kodak).

What is an Acronym Name?A name made from initials (e.g., IBM).

A name based on a founder (e.g., Disney).

A short phrase that expresses a brand’s promise or positioning.

The design system including logos, colors, type, and imagery.

Rules that govern consistent use of identity.

Maintaining high standards across visuals and language to ensure trust.

The value a brand holds through recognition, trust, and loyalty.

Brands accelerate cash flow by attracting more people, more often, at higher prices.

Sowing is investing in relationships to create future cash flows. Harvesting is reaping the return.

A measure of how advanced a firm’s branding is. Levels: Nascent, Emerging, Differentiating, Amplifying.

90% of B2B buyers choose brands they already know at the start of the process.

B2B buyers typically consider three providers, and nine out of ten pick from that shortlist.

In B2B, reputation is central to a supplier’s value proposition.

Purchases are complex, costly, and risky, so buyers rely on trust and emotional connection.

How Does Branding Impact Talent?Strong brands attract and motivate employees, improving productivity and reducing hiring costs.

1. Creative – fuels differentiation and memorability.
2. Courageous – takes risks and adapts.
3. Consistent – builds trust and reliability.
4. Captivating – inspires loyalty through storytelling and design.
5. Cohesive – aligns elements for a unified experience.
6. Controlled – maintains standards across every touchpoint.