Naming a new business may not seem to have a huge impact, but today, a brand name can spell life or death for fledgling companies in the tech industry.
“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories, and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”
Seth Godin, Marketing and Leadership expert
Poor business names can have an enormous impact on consumer interaction with a brand. In fact, mishandled names seem to lack self-awareness, miss attention to detail, and neglect their due diligence in regards to sensitivity and cultural care.
Beyond simple consumer sentiment, the cost of altering an older brand name is enormous.
- It costs small businesses $180,000 over a period of 8 months to rebrand.
- Attorney fees will take a significant chunk of savings.
- Websites, flyers, and marketing collateral will need refreshing.
- All trademarks, patents, and copyrights must be updated.
- Name changes require additional filing with the IRS, state governments, and local authorities.
Several tech branding failures have been seen in recent years, all with similar results. Vending machine replacement company Bodega came under fire for using an insensitive moniker. Juicero’s brand became associated with poor products, and ruthlessly mocked with ‘Juicebro.’
However, not all stories have sad endings.
In 2006, mega-tech company Twttr decided to rebrand their previous name from vowel-dropping trends to a more palatable term: “Twitter.” In the span of less than 15 years, Twitter has maximized profits to a whopping $3.459 billion dollars, which is a 3.71% increase from the previous two years. Part of this success could be attributed to the switching of brand names.
When choosing to name your tech company, it would be wise to develop a strong brand using the five conventional steps of business naming.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter or Facebook. You can also comment on our MeWe page by joining the MeWe social network.
Last Updated on February 3, 2021.
