CHAPTER 4
Your Brand Name Road Map
Before you jump into the fun part, brainstorming names, it’s essential to complete what’s known as a “creative brief,” aka “the brief.”
Do not skip this step. The brief will help you define exactly what your brand is and what you want the name to convey, both in message and personality. Equally important, it will help you stay focused and prevent you from choosing the wrong name.
Think of the brief as the ingredients list of everything you need to cook up the perfect name: goal of the assignment, information on your target audience, consumer insights, desired brand positioning, competitors’ names, words to explore and avoid, and more.
I find that one of the most helpful parts of the creative brief is where you list brand names from your industry that you like and dislike, along with your reasons why. If you have multiple decision makers, be sure to get agreement on this (and on the entire brief) before you dive in to brainstorming.
Keep in mind that you may write hundreds of words in your creative brief, but your name will be only one to three words and can’t say everything.
I’m sharing with you the same brief we give to our clients at Eat My Words. To help you get a better understanding of how to complete it, I’ve sharpened the details from the creative brief of a real project we were tasked with: naming a frozen yogurt franchise. (The next chapter, Brainstorming, will take you through the creative process and reveal the name that was chosen.)
Study the questions and answers here, then re-create a creative brief for yourself with information about your own brand.
Creative Brief
Client: Zenyo
Project: Frozen Yogurt Franchise
GOAL OF THE ASSIGNMENT
What do you want to accomplish?
Develop a brand name for a trendy new chain of frozen yogurt stores, with the first store in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Working name is Zenyo.) The name should be cool enough that kids will want to wear it on a T-shirt.
IN A NUTSHELL
Sum it up in a sentence.
Zenyo: a cool new hangout for teens where they can enjoy delicious frozen yogurt in a fun, contemporary environment.
BRAND POSITIONING
How do you want your brand to be positioned in the marketplace?
Zenyo is the hippest place to enjoy a refreshingly cold treat of frozen yogurt, a healthier alternative to ice cream, at around just 200 skinny calories per cup. Our bright and modern stores are the perfect spot to hang out with friends, go for a date, catch up with your BFF, or gather after a game. We are socially minded and environmentally conscious.
CONSUMER INSIGHTS
Consumer insights reveal people’s behaviors, as opposed to their preferences.
Frozen yogurt is new to this generation—many will have never tried it.
Many Utah teens don’t drink coffee because of religious reasons—so they don’t hang out at Starbucks; therefore, the popularity of ice cream (Utah is in the top 10 in consumption).
Teenage girls go out for frozen yogurt more than their male peers, but boys consume it at a much higher volume.
Utah teens aren’t as square as you might think. 
TARGET AUDIENCE
Who are the customers you want to reach?
Primary: Teenagers
Secondary: Adults and families
COMPETITION
List your competitors to know what you are up against and to help you steer clear of similar names, which could pose trademark conflicts.
Pinkberry |
TCBY |
Red Mango |
ice cream parlors |
DESIRED BRAND EXPERIENCES
The best names evoke a positive brand experience that makes a strong emotional connection, such as “This tastes delicious,” or “I will feel better.” How do you want people to feel when they see or hear the name?
“The name makes me smile.”
“It sounds like a fun place to go”
“I want to buy the T-shirt.”
“I can’t wait to tell my friends about it.”
“This place is so modern compared to ice cream parlors!”
“Sweet!”
“Yum!”
BRAND PERSONALITY
The 5 to 10 adjectives that best describe the tone and personality of your brand. (This exercise is much easier to do if you think of your brand as a person.)
Fun |
lighthearted |
lighthearted |
playful |
modern |
hip |
likeable |
cool |
nice |
Edgy is good, too. |
WORDS TO EXPLORE
List some words you may want to have in your new name.
Zen |
Green |
Yo |
Eco |
Fro |
Hangout |
WORDS TO AVOID
List any words you would not want to have in your new name.
Health/Healthy (doesn’t appeal to teens)
Natural (boring)
Bytes (silly)
THEMES/IDEAS TO EXPLORE
List any areas you may want to explore.
Utah’s uniqueness
Face-to-face interaction
The great outdoors
THEMES/IDEAS TO AVOID
Don’t even think of going here.
Names of fruits, e.g., Berry, Mango Acronyms (TCBY)
Names that sound too young (teens aspire to be older, not younger)
Names that sound too girly (most men wouldn’t wear a Pinkberry T-shirt)
DOMAIN NAME MODIFIERS
List modifiers that will help you secure a domain name if an exact match to your new name is not available or is out of your price range.
Enjoy________.com |
|
Eat__________.com |
Yo__________.com |
NAME STYLE LIKES AND DISLIKES
List 5 brand names in your industry you collectively like the style of (and why).
Hooters (not overtly racy, lighthearted, merchandise galore)
Fatburger (fun, sounds juicy, and appetizing)
Hard Rock Cafe (cool name, unexpected)
It’s a Grind Coffee (clever pun)
Life of Pie (makes everyone smile)
List 5 brand names in your industry you collectively dislike the style of (and why).
Au Bon Pain (impossibly painful for nonlocals to pronounce)
Chick-fil-A (moronic spelling)
Beard Papa’s (what does this have to do with cream puffs?)
Red Mango (rip off of Pinkberry—color + fruit)
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (too long—trim the leaf!)
ACID TEST FOR USING THE NEW NAME
Write how the new name will be used in a sentence.
______________ is the hip hangout for teens where they can eat tasty frozen yogurt in a modern setting.
ANYTHING ELSE WORTH NOTING
We will offer tasty flavors—such as tart yogurt and green tea—and have a limited number of fresh and naturally sweet toppings.
We know Utah is wholesome compared to the rest of the country, but we don’t mind being self-deprecating—we can laugh at ourselves.
After you complete the creative brief, you and your team will have all the information you need to start brainstorming ideas.