| priced branding consultants who huddle together for | | | | sounds and names for hammers (dull) or SUVs (large) |
| months to concoct a new company name would like | | | | with the back vowel sounds. |
| the public to think that effective naming involves | | | | Lesson: If you have something you want to be |
| secrets revealed only to those who earned a Ph.D. in | | | | perceived as cute or quick, call it Picalilly or |
| linguistics, speak 17 languages or learned advertising | | | | Anna’s Attic rather than Paula’s or |
| through working their way up the ranks at a | | | | BooKoo Books. On the other hand, if you have |
| famous-brand agency. | | | | something whose excellence lies in bulk or power, |
| If you turn away from the idea of naming as a black | | | | names like Bumball or Under it All will perform better |
| art, however, you can find some secrets of branding in | | | | for you than names like Packadermy or Let Me At It. |
| scientific studies that have been published after having | | | | 3. Jazzier names spur consumption. Cornell University |
| been reviewed by academic authorities as reliable. | | | | researchers who did nothing but change the names of |
| Here are four points on which researchers have given | | | | the foods four-year-olds were served for lunch |
| us all insights that help guide the creation of effective | | | | discovered that snazzy names made a profound |
| business names. | | | | difference. On the days the preschoolers were fed |
| 1. Pronounceability matters. A 2009 study by University | | | | “carrots,” they ate just half as many as |
| of Michigan researchers revealed that if we have | | | | they did on the days the vegetables were called |
| difficulty pronouncing a product name, we consider it | | | | “X-ray Vision Carrots.” Researchers |
| risky. This builds on a 2006 study from Princeton | | | | found the same kind of boost, though not quite as |
| University psychologists who discovered that people | | | | much of an increase, for adults when |
| shied away from buying newly offered stocks from | | | | “Seafood Filet” was billed on the menu |
| companies with hard-to-pronounce names and | | | | instead as “Succulent Italian Seafood |
| hard-to-say stock ticker symbols, compared to | | | | Filet.” The adults also rated the taste of the |
| companies with easier-to-pronounce company names | | | | latter dish more highly than the taste of the plainly |
| and symbols. | | | | labeled dish. |
| Lesson: Before settling on your final choice of a | | | | Lesson: Just as kids become more well-disposed to |
| company name, score the candidates according to | | | | “Power Peas” and “Dinosaur |
| how easy they are to pronounce. This doesn’t | | | | Broccoli Trees” than to plain old vegetables, |
| mean simply whether or not there are combinations of | | | | shoppers find creatively named stores, restaurants, |
| sounds that may be unfamiliar to many people, as in | | | | companies and products more interesting and more |
| the proposed restaurant name, Hsizienchi, but also | | | | worth patronizing or purchasing than generic ones. |
| whether there are likely to be uncertainties about how | | | | 4. Names do influence us. Inc. magazine columnist |
| to pronounce something, as with Café Cachet | | | | Norm Brodsky once wrote, “Your company's |
| (is the second word pronounced in the French style, | | | | name plays little, if any, role in determining your |
| like “cash-ay,” or like | | | | success.” In case you’re inclined to |
| “catch-it”?). | | | | agree with him, consider the study at McMaster |
| 2. Vowel sounds have associations. Consumer | | | | University where researchers presented patients trying |
| researchers from the University of Texas at San | | | | to decide on their own medical treatment with |
| Antonio published a fascinating study in 2007 | | | | graphical depictions of three treatment options that |
| distinguishing the impressions fostered by two different | | | | were simply labeled as option A, B or C. To the |
| sorts of vowel sounds: those made with the tongue | | | | surprise of the researchers, who were actually |
| forward in the mouth, such as the short | | | | studying something else, when they showed |
| “i” in “milk” and those | | | | participants the names of the three treatment options, |
| made with the tongue farther back in the mouth, such | | | | more than a third changed their choice of treatment on |
| as the broad “a” in “mall.” | | | | account of the names. |
| Internationally, the front vowel sounds convey small, | | | | Lesson: Business names do have an impact, Norm |
| fast or sharp qualities, while the back vowel sounds | | | | Brodsky. Words, sounds and spellings influence our |
| convey large, slow or dull qualities. By a margin of 2 to | | | | decisions. And that’s why it’s essential |
| 1, people in this study preferred names for knives | | | | to give our new company a stand-out name that |
| (sharp) or convertibles (small) with the front vowel | | | | makes a positive impression. |