Business Accent

What's in a brand name? Plenty!

Gauri Chaudhari enumerates the task of giving the right name to a brand

When he asked the question "What's in a name?" Shakespeare obviously didn't have brand names in mind. Look around the marketing landscape and one would figure out that a rose by any other name in the market, may not smell as sweet.

When given a choice to pick up a name for a big ice cream, a round sauce pan and a pain relieving pill, majority of consumers worldwide chose Frosh, Mal and Cilis amongst others. How can people attach character to made-up words like Frosh and Mal? How can the same results pan out across languages and cultures?

The answer is with the phonetic experts. Each sound has connotations (overtones of a particular word and what it suggests). They not only indicate the attributes of a name as in the case of Frosh and Mal but they also attach a character to a brand. They even denote the gender of the brand. Most words ending with the 'a' sound suggest feminine gender. This is true even in the Indian context. Some examples of this phenomenon are Devika, Sushma, Diana, Brinda and so on.

However, the bigger questions are—What if the attributes of the brand name do not match the brand? What if a company unwittingly calls its creamy ice cream Frish instead of Frosh? The result would be millions of money going in for advertising!

A brand name is a composition of individual sounds called phonemes, which represent attributes. If these attributes are desired by consumers, they would want to try it instantly. And if the brand delivers the attributes, there could be a repeat purchase. The research done by several experts show that the phonemes, vowels and consonants convey different attributes. For example, the sound 'b' connotes slowness and also reliability. The consonants 'f', 'v','s' and 'z' connote speed. 'Z' is the fastest of them all. It's also considered the most powerful. No wonder international pharma brands go Zantac, Zoloft, Zofran, Zocor and Zyprexa. Obviously, a brand name has immense potential to build a relationship with the customer.

How to arrive at a brand name? What are the processes involved? Where to begin? At FCB-Ulka Healthcare, we have designed a three step process to arrive at the most suitable brand name for a pharma product.

Step 1: Market research

Market research is the key to a brand name decision. A brand name is one of the most important decisions. After all, it is an element of brand mix that remains constant throughout the brand's lifetime. While other elements like packaging, price and promotion can change, the brand name stays unchanged. Hence, it warrants a lot of deliberation. Well structured and professionally administered research is an important step in arriving at a brand name that works. And as the words of caution go—do not decide on a name unless the brand's positioning is arrived at. If not, the brand name and the positioning statement end up communicating two different things!

Understanding the drug and its formulation: When it comes to pharma brands, the game changes slightly. The critical step here is to understand the drug. What attributes can the brand name throw up? Is the brand going to be more effective? Is it faster? Is it safer? What are the attributes offered by the formulation? Higher bioavailability? Lesser GI irritability? Though essentially desk research, even clinicians involved in the early trial can also help.

Understanding competitor claims: Which attributes are they talking about? What are the views of physicians and the patients on the competition?

Understanding customers and consumers: What are their expectations? Which attributes do they value the most? Do they prefer a faster acting pain reliever to the GI safe one? Is it the power of the medicine or the convenience of the dosage? Once these answers are obtained, the key proposition statement can be worked out. The brand name has to live up to it.

Step 2: Generate as many brand names as possible

There are three broad methods to generate a brand name.

Abstract method: An abstract name is an artificial name formed by combination of phonemes which generally have no meaning. Examples: Zofran, Zantac.

Associative method: An associative method is one where meaningful words (or phonemes) come together and form a new word to signal a meaningful attribute of the brand. Example: Augmentin (augment-to enhance). In India, brand names are often associated with the molecule. But this can work best only for the first brand in the category. Second or third brands with molecule-associated names fail to create distinctiveness for the brand.

Descriptive method: Descriptive names communicate the nature of the product clearly. The advantage here is the ease of comprehension. Example: Thyronorm (normalisation of thyroid hormones).

Step 3: Evaluation and selection

Evaluation should begin after ensuring that the names under consideration are available for registration. Not more than three to four brands should be evaluated at any given time. Any more would confuse the consumers.

Some of the evaluation parameteres are:

• Distinctiveness: Only distinctive brands get attention, which is directly related to brand recall
• Ease of pronunciation: In India, where English is not the mother tongue, ease of pronunciation is extremely critical
• Scriptability is very important in pharma where often the brand names are written
• Evaluation by connotation is the most important part of the evaluation. Use concept cards to judge connotations. Is the connotation of the word matching the proposition of the brand?

We, at FCB-Ulka Healthcare have developed various methods to evaluate the names by connotation. Gone are the days when the brand names were decided on gut feel. Today there are well defined processes to do it scientifically. Who says a brand name should be just a noun. In today's competitive world, it has to be transformed into an action word, a word that demands action from consumers. Instantly!

(The writer is Brand Consultant at FCB-Ulka Advertising)