Question

Topic: Branding

Process For Naming And Branding A Product

Posted by Anonymous on 250 Points
I work for a company that has a MARCOM group to implement ads and brochures, but has no product marketing people or processes per se. No individual or group has creative or product requirement responsiblity!

The product is selling into an industrial environment that badly needs a name, tag lines, value proposition, packaging etc. We looked at consultants but the cost far outweighs the return. The various executives have their favorite names, but none describe or communicate the product features, benefits, etc. Conventional wisdom here says, "We can come up with a name" but haven't.

This is a big problem, in that opinion drives the market plan, and products end up duds.

The product is a metrology data collection system. The company has excellent name recognition.

Any ideas on how to proceed? Name suggestions? Therapy?

Many Thanks!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by wnelson on Accepted
    Gee, if the cost of hiring a consultant is more expensive than the return, then I have two conclusions:

    1) You talked to very high priced consultants and need to put a proposal together and get more quotes

    or

    2) It's not worth a lot to the company so pick any name - the CEO's favorite suggestion, and that way it will get you brownie points. If it doesn't matter, any name will due!

    Seriously, this sounds like you need more help than "find a cleaver name." I would suggest you look at some of the profiles of contributors here, put together a brief description of what you want, with suggestions of what the mgt thinks is reasonable for the scope of work you need, and send out some RFPs. If the resultant quotations are too high, then you are still no further off. But, maybe you will find us to be reasonable given the work you need done. We can probably put together a picture of the value we deliver for the price too!

    Wayde
  • Posted on Accepted
    Wayde is right. You clearly need an outside consultant ... or the project isn't worth the time it's taken you to post the question, and any solution will be fine.

    May I suggest you post a project on the "Hire an Expert" board. There are several of us here who can help you deal with the issues you're facing, and we won't take the project if we don't think we can bring value in excess of our fee. Just click on "Post a Project" in the column at the right.

    I have had a few clients over the years -- mostly smaller companies -- that have tried to deal with positioning and branding issues on their own, only to realize that this is highly specialized work and not something that can usually be done well by first-timers, no matter how knowledgeable they are in other areas.

    I'd try to convince management that you need some outside help on this. The project is too important to be left to "amateurs." (No offense intended. I think you get the point.)

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