It is common knowledge in higher education that the naming process is incredibly easy or incredibly difficult. There is rarely a middle ground. If you receive a large endowment for anything from the Smitten Family, then there is very little debate. Is it the Harry Smitten Lab, the June Smitten Lab or the Smitten Lab? They decide, and the job is done.
What we are discussing here is when there is no benefactor factor. How do you go about the naming process. You will find the right name is incredibly hard to find. Schools rarely change their names but sometimes change their extenders. For instance, Iliff Seminary might change to Iliff School of Theology. Some lackluster names can be fixed with a slogan. You will be spending a lot of effort, time and money over the course of an important entity’s life getting the name in front of prospects, students, graduates or sponsors so naming and name changing is serious work.
We believe in hard working names and logos. It is important that your name or naming unit (with slogan and trademark in tow) tells who you are, what you do and points towards (not explains, not spells out) your Branding Promise. If your name has history, momentum or is beloved in your market space, only change it with great caution.
Force yourself to decide between:
- A) The name is fine. Even if it isn’t fine, it is too recognizable to abandon.
- B) The name may need changing or we must name something new. Let’s brainstorm.
And it is very important to name your Flagship. If you don’t there will be no handle to use in talking about it, no sharing information, and no marketing buzz.
>10 Name Game Rules
Naming a school, product or service can be a tough process. Usually there are too many stakeholders involved. Even if there is a good team, the critics will come out of nowhere. Here are 10 guidelines:
- Use your Branding Promise to determine your brand name– Your Branding Promise is True North for your marketing. It’s where you “plant your flag” as a school. So your name must fall in line if you want to have a cohesive, congruent brand name.
- Your handle must not exceed three syllables– Out of Inc. Magazine’s Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies – the average “handle” (what people really call your company) has 2.4 syllables. For example: Orbit Design™ is four syllables but most people just use our handle and say “get Orbit (two syllables) on the phone.” Go beyond three syllables and your branding will be reduced to an acronym.
- Avoid acronyms at all costs– Again out of the Inc. Top 50, the only acronyms used are by holding companies or parent companies that go to market with a properly branded product. Acronyms are only acceptable in the high tech arena where all the good names are saved for playing Dungeons and Dragons (we kid the ones we love). Acronyms are difficult to remember, rarely have a visual association, and impart no meaning.
- Suggestive names are great — But are extremely hard to find. Names that suggest your Branding Promise, flagship, a benefit, a core competency, or pain solution – in that order – are termed “suggestive” as opposed to “fanciful” (as in Yahoo, Google) names.
- Feels and sounds good– Names that are easy and fun to say, with just one or two crisp, crunchy syllables in the mouth are desirable. Sometimes if the name is enhanced with alliteration, rhyme or double meaning, the name becomes easier to say and remember.
- Memory is everything– If a name has traction, and people say, “Well I won’t be forgetting that name will I?” then you have a winner – sometimes even if there are negative connotations (as in Pandora Jewelry). Graphic names – ones that call up a visual image (Apple® or JetBlue® for instance) are effective. For schools, working with the mascot’s name or type are very effective.
- Fanciful names are fine– The trademark office refers to names that don’t suggest a benefit as “fanciful.” The name of your musical group or interior design firm must be fanciful. In a higher education setting there may not be room for a name that is too wild or doesn’t show the proper decorum. In an effective logo there are four parts: the name itself, the core competency (or extension), the slogan and the logo mark (icon or symbol). Of the four, the name can be the most fanciful and enable you to find an appropriate URL (web name) more easily.
- Naming Means Money – Universities in particular sell naming rights to everything from bricks, to programs, to buildings to entire schools. Before naming anything, including your proposed Flagship, be sure to check with your school’s foundation managers for restrictions as well as opportunities.
- Simple is better– Okay, the drug companies pay tens of thousands of dollars for “pieces parts”– simulated product names like Paxil, Zantac, and Prozac. Simulated names can work if the pieces parts are suggestive as in rule number 3. Easy to say, spell and sell endears your name to others. Difficult names, in these days, are almost an insult to time-starved students and educators.
- Do not let www.GoDaddy.com determine your name– Web address availability should not determine your trade name. Only 1 percent of surfers find you by typing in your name. They will use a search engine or a link. If you qualify for an .edu extension, you will have a much greater chance (by a factor of a thousand) in securing your URL. Attaching to the core URL may be advantageous. Patterson.edu/your name is often viable. If you are forced out into the .com world, however it will be a much different story. Inevitably your name will be taken. Just because your URL is gone, does not mean the name is taken. You may be in an entirely different industry than the holder of the URL. Instead of Go Daddy, the U.S. Office of Patents and Trademarks database (www.uspto.gov) and the advice of an intellectual property lawyer are better guides in finalizing a name.
Of course, all rules are made to be broken and in the name game this is especially true. Many people get the disease Paralysis by Analysis because every name will have its detractors. So leadership should make a strategic decision based on positives for the school’s over all brand. If there is anything special about your school: a program, process, philosophy, service, formula etc. be sure to name it.
“If you name it…you own it!””