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CATEGORIES OF NAMING STRATEGIES:
Source: Heckler & Associates
"What's in a name? The power to cut thru the noise of any competitive market
& speed brand development." Tye Heckler
| 1. |
Proper Names:
Names in which a proper name is the primary source of identity.
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Companies
Ford
Phillip Morris
Sears, Roebuck
Oscar Mayer
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Products
Baby Ruth
Dr. Pepper
Lea & Perrins Sauce
Jim Beam
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Services
E.F. Hutton
John L. Scott
Hyatt
Chase
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| 2. |
Acronyms/Initialisms:
Names consisting primarily of a string of capital letters. Acronyms have letters in which each stands for a word. Initialisms are pronounced as words.
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Companies
AT&T
QFC
IBM
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Products
STP
ESB
RC
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Services
ABC
TDD
ACT
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| 3. |
Morpheme Jointures:
Names in which a composite of parts of words form a new word without strong literal associations.
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Companies
Texaco
Citicorp
Amoco
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Products
Band-Aid
Bisquick
Topol
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Services
Viacom
FedEx
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Note: This category can be further broken down into a frequently-seen combination category called a Morpheme Jointures/Direct Descriptor (like Microsoft).
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| 4. |
Direct Descriptions:
Names which convey functional information about an entity in direct descriptive language.
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Companies
Digital Equipment
General Electric
National Semiconductor
General Motors
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Products
Shredded Wheat
Oat Squares
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Services
General Cinema
Realty World
\Check Express
Integrated Resources
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| 5. |
Emotive-Associative Literals:
Names which use words that are not coined, nor explicitly descriptive, yet convey an intuitive feeling about a company, product or service through the emotional associations that the words hold.
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Companies
Chevron
Greyhound
Lucky Stores
Jaguar
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Products
Champion
Lucky Strike
Red Barron
Taurus
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Services
Red Robin
Fleetfoot
Prodigy
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| 6. |
Coined Literals:
Names consisting of invented words, joined words, or unique word spellings which maintain strong literal associations.
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Companies
Eveready
Safeway
Hotpoint
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Products
Lifesaver
Wheathook
DieHard
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Services
Farwest
EasySource
ScanText
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| 7. |
Coined Non-Literals:
Names consisting of invented words which do not appear to have dictionary meaning. They may or may not connote or empathize with the entity they're naming.
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Companies
Exxon
Xerox
Kodak
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Products
Sanka
Noxema
Rayon
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Services
Remax
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| 8. |
Foreign/Foreign-like:
Names which are in a language besides English or which are intended to sound non-English.
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Companies
Taco Bell
Budweiser
Toyota
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Products
Drambui
Carrado
Samurai
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Services
House of Hong
Azteca
Mikado
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| 9. |
Numeric or Letter Jointures:
Names which are in a language besides English or which are intended to sound non-English.
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Companies
3M
7-Eleven
K Mart
Circle K
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Products
WD-40
CHeinz 57
Special K
Product 19
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Services
HCentury 21
Group W
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| 10. |
Geographic:
Names which designate a geographic location, whether totally invented, man-made or natural.
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Companies
Southwestern Bell
US West
New York Life
Rockport
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Products
Idaho Spud
New York Seltzer
Rainier Beer
Texas Air
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Services
Alaskan Airlines
Island Real Estate
Thai Airways
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Note: This category can be further broken-down into a frequently-seen combination category called a Geographic/Direct Descriptor (like Pacific Gas & Electric).
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