Company Re-Branding: Finding a New Company Name

Software Testing Solutions (STS) is a company with a brand identity complex. The name describes the company’s mission, and identifies the company’s software products -- which help hospitals’ computer systems meet compliance and safety standards -- but it doesn't convey a distinctive brand identity, and this will limit the company’s ability to grow and compete in the market.

A good brand name is one of the most powerful marketing tools a company has, since it helps define and build a company’s position in the market, says Elizabeth Kanna, a consultant who is working with STS on their re-branding project. Companies such as Apple and Yahoo! have created brand names that convey a host of associated ideas while establishing a unique product niche. However, many small companies don’t invest the time, energy, or money to find a brand name that will help establish their company and build market presence.

As happens with a lot of startups, STS was named quickly – and, after nine years in business, the company needs an image makeover to carry it through its expansion and growth. As Kanna explains, “A unique name with meaning encourages your future clients and customers to create a space in their brain for your company name.”

STS’s descriptive name was more of a default choice than a well-thought-out brand, admits STS owner Jennifer Lyle. Lyle came up with the name while transitioning her consulting business that had a similar name, Software Testing Consultants, into a full-fledged company.

“There’s so much going on when starting a new business that the name takes a back seat,” Lyle said. “Could a better name help us more? I think so.”

Now, STS is undergoing a brand transformation that will change the name of the company and create a new brand identity that will help it further establish its place in its market. When a company re-brands or renames itself, it is often more difficult than naming a startup company, Kanna says, yet re-branding is an opportunity for a company to align itself with customers' current perceptions of the business.

There are several different types of brand names: descriptive names that identify a function, as with Lucas Arts, TK Media, and United Airlines; invented names, like Firefox, that are typically unrelated to the company's products or services; evocative names that call up the feeling or position of the company but don’t describe services, like Monster.com and Nike; experiential names that have a direct connection with a feeling or phenomenon connected to the product or service, like Magellan, Navigator, or Safari; and such evocative names as Apple (evoking familiar associations of education and knowledge), that also create a distinct brand identity.

Evocative names are often the most successful, Kanna said, but for STS, which is a business-to-business company, an experiential name will most likely be the best choice. In order to come up with an experiential name, she gave Lyle the task of first coming up with a “positioning statement,” which is a short explanation of what STS does, how they do it, and how they see themselves in the market. Next, Kanna had Lyle think about her company from a mythological standpoint and identify archetypes that could be associated with it.

“I defined what the company archetype is and looked at our company that way and imagined we should be portrayed as a protector or guardian,” Lyle said.

She chose the protector archetype to portray STS’s primary product, QualityAdvantage, which helps hospitals ensure the safety of their computer systems.

From there, Kanna will collaborate with Lyle to create a brand story that gives a history and future of the company. In the next phase of re-branding, Kanna will begin the brand name development, gathering key words about the company from the positioning statement. Using the archetype as a guide, she will research possible names from history and world mythologies. She looks for key words that could create a one- or two-word name, and works toward an intuitive moment where the name will be revealed to her.

“It’s a bit like a scene from the movie National Treasure. There you are looking at a myriad of words on a board and two or three will standout from the rest,” says Kanna.

Yet even that brand name she initially picks may not be the final choice. The name must be checked for trademark and double-checked for available Internet domain names. It must also be investigated for different language references that might have a negative connotation. If the new name passes all these tests, it will then be enhanced by a visual design, images, and tagline.

While successful company names may seem like common sense after a company is established, brand name development is a time-consuming and highly creative and intuitive science, Kanna says. Over the next month she will delve into names associated with protection and look for those two or three words from STS’s positioning statement that will help further establish STS’s position in their market.

What’s Kanna’s advice for companies like STS that are ready to overhaul their brand? Sometimes, it’s best to work with a consultant.

“There’s a process to creating great names, but just knowing the process doesn’t make you good at naming,” Kanna said. “Some people have it and some don’t.”