Naming products and services is key to improved profitability and marketshare

Giving something a name doesn't sound that important but it can be the difference between failure and success.

Here's a classic example.

A company invented a spray that displaced water and coated what was sprayed with a film that gave some protection against damp. It also penetrated rusted components and freed them up.  It was extremely effective and ideal if you owned any UK built car in the 1970's!

Now how would you name it?

The market was primarily male.The product offered immediate benefits to amateur and professional mechanically minded people. Some challenge. You could have named it after the inventor, or perhaps related to it's primary function - so Damp Away Spray.

But no  - it was called WD40 and became instantly a product associated with many solutions.

Another example was a soap called Life Buoy. Washing with any soap eliminates the smell associated with stale sweat. But the manufacturers named the problem for the first time in a way which enabled it to be identified. So for the first time you could say that someone had BO. Which they created from body odour. They  named the problem and their soap was touted as the answer - when in reality any soap would have solved the problem.

Services need names as well as problems and products. The classic Bronze, Silver and Gold for car services is well understood. Another similar set which can be used to name professional services is Essential, Intermediate and Professional.

If you are developing a new product or service you are in a perfect position to create a name that helps you rather than hinders. I'm still amused by the number of incorporated businesses that have the owners name as the primary brand. So much easier if the name you bless your business or organisation with has something to do with what you do or make.

If you have an existing set of products or services that are struggling for an identity in a crowded marketplace than why not rethink their names. Group them together under the umbrella of a new brand perhaps, or better still create a value added identity that gives you scope for easier positioning.