Today’s Tip
Best Practice: Legacy product names are often are tied to a founder, geographic area or a product.
American Creates a Geographic Legacy
Today’s Article: Creating a Legacy Product Name
Legacy product names are often are tied to a founder, geographic area or a product. The product brand is tied to the legacy name and adds value to the product.
Pros: Makes a strong connection with the founder, geographic area or a product.
Cons: Product name is tied to the reputation of the person. If the person’s reputation becomes a problem, the company has a problem. (Examples: Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong).
Geographic product name may limit it to a specific area or many times it becomes popular to use the same geographic area name in multiple types of competing products. With a lot of businesses and products with a similar name, it is harder to stand out and be unique.
Geographic Legacy: Arizona Beverages (beverages), Cape Cod Chips (snack foods), Cascadian Farm (organic food products), Dixie Crystals (sugar), Florida’s Natural (juices), Hawaiian Tropic (suntan products), Irish Spring (soap), Maple Grove Farms of Vermont (maple related products), Mt Oliver (pickles/relishes), Near East (boxed grain foods), Old El Paso (Mexican foods), Smithfield (packaged meats), Southern Biscuits (mixes), Synders of Hanover (snack foods), Texas Pete (hot sauces), Tropicana (juices), or Turkey Hill (dairy/drinks).
Founders Legacy: Annies ( food products), Biltmore Estate (wine/foods/accessories), Campbell’s (Soups), Del Monte (fruit), Emerils (restaurants/food products), George Foreman (grill), Gallo Family (wines), Gerber (baby Food), Hershey’s (chocolate), Jimmy Deans (sausage), Kellogg’s (cereals), Kraft (cheese), L.L. Bean (outdoor gear and accessories), Lay’s (snack foods), Martha Stewart Living (home products) , Mrs. Fields (cookies), Nabisco (crackers), Newman’s Own (food products), Ralph Lauren (clothes), Smucker’s (james & jellies), Tropicana (juices), Wolfgang Puck (restaurants/food products) or Vicks (cold products)
Brand Product Name Filter
The brand product name filter below will help you objectively evaluate how available and good a name is.
Number System: 0-poor, 1-fair, 2-good, 3-excellent.
___ Easy to Say and Pronounce
___ Easy to Remember
___ Easy to Spell
___ Name is Web-Ready: Exact Match Domain Name with no hyphen (Domain Search)
___ Trademark is Available (Trademark Search)
___ Available in Your State (Online check with your State Department of Incorporation)
___ Social Media Identity Availability (Example Facebook (B2C), LinkedIn (B2B), etc.)
___ Stands out from the Competition in a Favorable Way
___ Has no Negative Meanings (Example: when translated to a foreign market’s language)
___ Name Allows You to Add New Services or Products in the Future
___ Number of Points
Action Step: Make a list of words to create a product name tied to a founder, geographic area or a product. Take the list of words and start combining them until you come up with 1-3 that you like. Next go to the product name filter above to evaluate them.
Note: If you are having trouble coming up with a name that you like and is rated high by the brand filter, it may be time to look for an outside source to help you i.e. Ask the Expert.
Recommendation: In a branding process, it is important to look at name possibilities in different product name categories: Literal, Attribute, Initials/Numbers, Word Combination, New Invented, Related, Alliteration or Rhyme and Inquiring. This helps you expand the way you look at your product, to find the best name to connect with your target market, that stands out from the competition and reflects your brand position.
Additional Resources
Return to Product Naming Return to Brand Library Return to Brand Yourself
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