Success through eye-catching brand names

This was explained by Bernd M. Samland, lecturer for brand topics at the University of Cologne and Managing Director of Endmark, at the opening event of the Corporate Communications competence group at Eco - Association of the German Internet Industry

Credo of brand communication: "Distinguish yourself!"

Neither "smart" nor "digital" nor "solutions" have unique selling points, while the credo of brand communication is "Stand out!". Incidentally, the majority of "solutions companies" come from Germany because the company founders are under the misconception that their customers are looking for "solutions". "Solutions is a rather unpopular company name in the USA because only someone who has problems needs solutions - and American companies don't want to have problems," says Bernd Samland, countering a widespread misconception.

The expert also advises against technical brand names. "Cloud is a buzzword today that will be outdated in just a few years," predicts Samland. Apart from their inflationary use, general technical terms cannot be protected and will be assigned to specific eras in the long term. The expert considers abbreviations that do not form an acronym (such as Haribo for "Hans Riegel Bonn") to be generally unsuitable as trademarks because they are difficult to remember, lead to mass output in search engines and can mean something different in every technical and national language. The success of traditional brands from a different era, such as BMW, BASF or IBM, cannot be repeated today.

Apple doesn't sell apples, diesel doesn't sell gasoline

The so-called "semantic predisposition" is generally overestimated in its effect. It is therefore by no means necessary to be able to deduce the offer from the brand name. "Apple doesn't sell apples, Diesel doesn't sell petrol and Red Bull doesn't sell animals or papal decrees," says Samland, giving vivid examples of successful brands without a content description. "International names can also convey a cultural home," he says, dispelling another prejudice. "Häagen-Dazs" and "Volkswagen. The car." give clear signals of origin (even if Häagen-Dazs is a US company), while neo-Latins and pseudo-Anglicisms such as "Aventis", "Acandor" or "Lanxess" require a great deal of framing communication to avoid appearing homeless and culture-less.

The brand name often has to be changed again

The importance of choosing the right brand name is demonstrated, among other things, by the fact that around a quarter of all start-ups have to change or at least modify their name within the first year. Therefore, every new brand should be carefully checked in advance to see whether the name is simple, unique and protectable. It is not only the legal protection that is important here, but also the availability of the corresponding domains. In addition to the brand, Bernd Samland advises companies to develop rules for corporate naming and corporate wording. "Over 87 percent of all companies have clear guidelines for their corporate identity. But not even one percent of companies have rules for names and language," says the expert, pointing out the need to catch up in terms of corporate communications.