Thanks to the internet and a growing raft of online, AI-powered tools, it’s easier than ever to start a business. The downside of this entrepreneurial free-for-all? It’s harder than ever to make that business stand out. 90% of businesses say their industry has gotten more competitive in recent years.
Every new business should be aiming for a strong brand name, but in saturated markets such as beauty, fashion, food, and tech it’s even more important to build your brand on a powerful, memorable name. Still, these markets offer subtle opportunities for brands too, which can be capitalized on with the right name — one which differentiates you from established competitors, and emotionally resonates with an underserved niche market.
We live in a noisy world. Here’s how to name your new brand to be heard.
How Your Name Eases Entry into a Competitive Market
Your name is your first connection to your customers, and your first point of differentiation from your competitors. Here’s how a great name is a platform for success in a saturated market.
Your Name Gains Instant Recognition
A memorable name contributes to top-of-mind awareness, or brand recall: the ability of customers to remember your brand, without being offered options. This makes you the first choice for customers, like how the feeling of thirst is accompanied by a craving for Coca-Cola in many individuals. In crowded markets, top-of-mind awareness is key to breaking through.
Your Name Emphasizes Differentiation
With many similar products or services available in busy markets, differentiating your offering becomes increasingly important. Your name is your first opportunity to highlight how you’re different from your competitors. It could exude cutting-edge innovation with metaphor or visual imagery, or highlight your unique selling proposition.
Your Name Counters Consumer Skepticism
In saturated markets, consumers are skeptical of new entrants, questioning the need for another option in an already crowded space. A strong name makes an emotional connection with consumers by hinting at your values and mission. This builds trust and the perception of authenticity, bringing consumers on board with your brand.
Naming Strategies for Saturated Markets
So how do you craft a name that not only stands out but signals to your audience that you’re different from all the rest? Here are some naming strategies for brands entering highly competitive markets.
1. Create a Unique Word
Inventing a unique word for your brand name can make it instantly memorable and distinct. Consider using linguistic techniques such as blending words, altering spellings, or creating portmanteaus to develop a name that doesn’t exist in the dictionary. This approach allows you to establish a strong brand identity while ensuring domain availability and trademark protection.
Challenger soda brand Olipop is now outperforming Pepsi in some retailers, an extraordinary achievement in the highly competitive carbonated beverage market. Olipop is a clean-sounding and memorable unique name, around which this up-and-coming business is building a strong brand.
2. Use Metaphors
Metaphors can infuse your brand name with deeper meaning and emotional resonance. They evoke imagery and associations that align with your brand’s values and purpose and form connections in the minds of customers that reinforce memorability.
Brands entering into crowded markets can particularly benefit from metaphors that emphasize their innovation, and help differentiate them from pre-existing options. Tesla, as a leading electric vehicle manufacturer, has leaned on innovation and technology in its brand positioning. The name, which recalls inventor Nikolai Tesla is a powerful metaphor for these attributes.
3. Incorporate Visual Imagery
A name that conjures vivid imagery can captivate consumer attention and enhance brand recognition. Consider names that evoke a specific visual concept or a scene related to your product or service. This technique creates a mental picture that sticks in the consumer’s mind.
Red Bull is a great example of a brand name utilizing the power of imagery. What’s more, when they launched in 1987, the carbonated drink had two players, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, so they really had to stand out. With powerful visual imagery that evokes energy, daring, and even aggression, Red Bull has grown into the third most valuable soft drink brand in the world.
4. Create an Emotional Connection
Names that invoke positive emotions activate a part of the brain called the amygdala. This enhances the memorability of a name as it becomes hard-coded in consumers’ minds. Focus on how your offering makes consumers feel rather than solely highlighting functional attributes, and choose a name that taps into consumer aspirations and desires.
D2C kitchenware brand Our Place creates an immediate sense of home and community for anyone hearing their name. When consumers purchase a frying pan or chopping board, they’re not simply buying a practical item, but they’re buying into the idea that cooking is an exercise in building connections with family and friends. By emphasizing emotion in your name, you can create a more personalized and engaging brand experience.
5. Raise an Eyebrow
In competitive markets, bucking trends is one way to be noticed. A name that courts controversy or emphasizes your difference will have an immediate impact on your customers and, if you back up the words with action, create a powerful brand that instantly challenges the traditional industry leaders.
Who Gives a Crap, the ethical toilet paper brand, is flush with success on this point. The (mildly) blue language, the very literal translation and the hint at an underlying mission have helped it grow to become the third-largest toilet roll brand in the UK, taking on the likes of Charmin and Kleenex.
Leveraging Name for Opportunity in Saturated Markets
Saturated or highly competitive markets present obvious challenges for new brands, but there are also opportunities for new brands to make a big impact. You might be entering a saturated market based on your personal passion for the product or service you can offer — or maybe you’ve got a game-changing innovation that helps you stand out. Whatever the reason, choose your name strategically.
- Reaching Underserved Segments
Saturated markets often have underserved niches or segments that established brands overlook. By identifying, analyzing and targeting these niches, entrepreneurs can name their brands to resonate with and reach this audience.
- Leveraging Innovation
Saturated markets are by no means static markets. Innovations, particularly in the age of AI, can allow brands to engage in ‘challenger mode’ and outmaneuver existing brands. Nor does innovation always have to mean new technology — it could be updated sustainable practices, or offering personalized experiences that set the brand apart. 77% of consumers associate creative brand names with innovative offerings, so choose a name that emphasizes your innovative brand position when entering new markets with an updated offering.
- Building Authentic Connections
While existing brands have a headstart in brand equity, they’re often slow to react to changed consumer expectations. In today’s world, consumers, particularly younger audiences, value authenticity and transparency and 88% of consumers say authenticity guides their brand choices. If the big hitters in your industry are positioning themselves as traditional, reliable and dull, then new and upcoming brands like yours can connect with their audience on a personal level. Choose a name that builds relationships based on shared values and relatable storytelling.
Layers of Meaning: The Best Names Combine Strategies
The best names work on multiple levels. Who Gives a Crap combines literal and metaphorical meanings and Feeld, a dating app taking on the big three of Bumble, Hinge and Tinder, created a unique word that hints at ‘playing the field’ as well as ‘feelings’.
Any brand entering a saturated market needs to go to extra lengths to make themselves heard. Understanding your overall strategy — whether it’s your customer segmentation, innovative offering or authentic approach that customers will love — can guide you to an impactful business name.
Featured image by l ch on Unsplash
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