How to come up with a name and corporate identity for your business

1. Research the market

Who are your competitors

First, study the opponents, their services and presentation. So you will find a place in the market, you will understand who to learn from and how to stand out in order to overtake everyone.

Step 1. Make a list of opponents

Include companies in your industry that you consider to be competitors.

Step 2. Divide into two groups

In one, write down your current rivals, in the other - giants with whom you dream of competing in the future. For example, if you produce yoghurts, list local dairies and global brands (such as Danon, Valio, Ehrmann, and others).

Step 3. Compare point by point

Determine the depth of analysis yourself. Take the most common points or disassemble other people's approaches to the bone. The main thing is to find similarities and differences.

For example, compare product, price, packaging design, attitude towards customers, advertising platforms, places of sale, social networks, promoted values, mission, slogan, strengths and weaknesses.

Step 4. Take note of what you liked

Take inspiration from the approach of the companies you look up to. Avoid the decisions of those competitors that you do not like. Let's say you like one of the local producers. He makes yoghurt from natural ingredients, and you decide to compete with him for quality. Another company uses artificial additives and preservatives and competes with others for cheapness. You think this is not suitable for yourself and do not follow her example.

Step 5. Find your niche

Sketch your place in the market relative to other market participants. To do this, take the two points on which you compared the companies in step 3 and plot them on the axis. Try different combinations. For example, price / quality, traditional / modern and others.

How to come up with a company name and corporate identity: find your niche

Who is your buyer

A business idea might be brilliant, but it doesn't matter if you don't understand what your customers want. They can be a heterogeneous group with different needs and interests. Compose portraits of at least three different people who might be interested in your product.

Step 1: ask the right questions

The more detailed you describe your customers, the better. Add or shorten the list below at your discretion.

Pay attention to the points about work, as they perfectly reflect the daily worries of people. Age, interests, and hobbies come in handy in choosing the tone of communication with customers and designing designs.

Age;
floor;
marital status;
place of residence;
the salary;
enemies: who or what threatens your clients with the loss of their jobs (technically advanced youth, harsh bosses);
heroes: whom do they look up to at work and in life;
career goals;
preferred drink;
favorite movie;
inspirational music;
favorite books;
the clothes your customers are wearing;
mode of travel (car or public transport);
interests and hobbies;
frequently visited sites;
political position;
fears (personal and professional);
regrets (personal and professional);
desires (what your customers dream about, how they want to look in the eyes of others);
problems (difficulties encountered at work and in life).

Answer the questions:

Why would people contact your company?
How is your product different from others?
How do people know about you?
What is the use of your product for them?
What could be preventing them from deciding to use your product?

Step 2. Talk to people

Your task is to find out as much as possible about the customers. First, ask your acquaintances, friends and relatives who might be interested in your product. Conduct surveys on social networks and order research.

Once you have a customer base, you can collect feedback by email, phone, website and social media. It will take time to compose portraits, and you will complement them throughout your career.

Step 3. Combine the data

Get together as a team and look for similar answers among the answers: common desires, hopes and concerns of people. Decide how many customer portraits to create. For example, your yoghurt may appeal to schoolgirls and students, girls from 14 to 21 years old, who are looking after their figure and want to eat right; working youth from 21 to 35 years old in search of a healthy snack; mothers buying food for children.

Conduct a brainstorm and fill out the questionnaire from step 1 for each portrait, taking into account the answers from the people. Name the questionnaires and save them in Google Doc or Excel.

2. Think over a strategy

When proposing ideas, check to see if they are consistent with the aspirations of the buyers.

Step 1. State your goal

What is your company aiming to become in the future and how does it want to change the lives of consumers? The goal is to guide and inspire the team.

"We strive to make people healthy and to give a good mood every day."

Step 2. Outline the mission

How does the company help people now? If the goal is inspiration, the mission is action.

“Our company makes dairy products from natural ingredients, talks about good nutrition and helps maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

Step 3. Think about your values

How do you approach work?

To understand where to start, ask the team to name several qualities that are associated with your company. For example:

Openness

The workshop in which we produce yoghurt is located behind a glass wall in our store. From time to time, we conduct an excursion around it for everyone.
We collect feedback on the website and in social networks to improve our offer.

Caring for people

We produce healthy products, including dietary ones, that improve the well-being of our customers.
We provide our employees with a decent salary, a comfortable workplace and a social package.

Environmental friendliness

We introduce new technologies to reduce the cost of natural resources.
We accept our packaging and hand it over for recycling.

Step 4. Choose a communication style with customers

How do your customers speak? How do they want to be contacted? What is their sense of humor? How do they express themselves and what do they read?

For example, yoghurt is made for young women who are slimming and eat right. Such a company will choose the tone of the best friend and will urge on social networks to "have breakfast like a queen" and "sometimes pamper yourself with something." A yogurt maker for the whole family will appeal to the audience on you and offer to give joyful moments to loved ones.

How to create a corporate identity for a company: focus on the needs of the buyer

How to create a corporate identity for a company: it is important to choose the right communication style with a customer

Step 5. Find your flavor

How are you different from your competitors?

Think about the strengths and weaknesses of other companies. The same yoghurts can only be made from local milk, seasonal berries and fruits, or you can come up with unusual combinations of flavors.

3. Select a title

Oskar Hartmann, serial entrepreneur and founder of KupiVIP, CarPrice, Aktivo and FactoryMarket.com, distinguishes two types of naming conventions. Technical names describe services - for example, "Kinopoisk" and "KupiDom". Emotionals refer to imagery and fantasy - for example, the dating site Teamo (from the Spanish for "I love you"). Both are good in their own way.

Step 1. Have a brainstorm

Build on purpose, mission and values. Name as many words as possible that are associated with your case, and combine them by meaning in groups.

Step 2. Compare the best deals

Pick out the best names you've come up with during your brainstorming session. Oskar Hartmann advises to draw up a table and compare them point by point: meaning, euphoniousness, spelling, originality, brevity and longevity. The latter is important in case someone calls the company “Yoghurts of Volgograd”, and then wants to open in other cities or decides to also produce glazed curds.

Add your points. For example, does the word evoke unfortunate associations, is it consonant with curses in other languages, is it understandable.

Step 3. Check if the title is free

Find out if the name you like is registered as a trademark. If you accidentally steal someone else's idea, copyright holders can sue you.

You can defend your name too. The service is paid, so if you are taking your first steps in business, it is better to wait and see how successful the strategy and image of your company are.

How to register a trademark and check if the name is free, read here.

Step 4. Find out if the domain is busy

To launch a website, you need an address that people will use to open your page in a browser. Check if the domain is available on the sites REG. RU, NIC. RU, WebNames, Go Daddy.

4. Develop a corporate identity

Entrust this business to professionals. Designers will offer you different services and ultimately create a brand book - a guide that includes a description of your style and tips on how to use the individual elements. For example, how to place a logo on branded T-shirts and notebooks.

If you're on a tight budget, stick to the essentials. For example, the development of a logo, packaging, corporate colors, fonts, icons for social networks.

Pass all your wishes to the designer. The more you explain your style strategy and vision, the more likely you are to get what you want. Remember that in the future, all advertising materials, points of sale and social media profiles should be kept in the same style.

Logo

The image of the company begins with it. Before going to the designer, figure out how you represent the logo yourself. Try sketching out its shapes with a simple pencil with your team. The logo should be strong, unadorned, in black and white.

Colors

Designers will offer you up to three main brand shades and up to five additional ones. When choosing colors, keep in mind that they can be associated with emotions.

Pay attention to your opponent's palette to figure out how to stand out or, conversely, emulate those you admire. Companies from the same industry often choose the same colors. For example, blue logos for yoghurts and yoghurt products from Fruttis, Danon, Ermigurt. Netflix and YouTube have red. Blue - for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Skype, VKontakte, Telegram.

Fonts

If you are offered a font just because it’s in vogue, refuse. Such trends quickly become obsolete. Better make sure that the typeface is in harmony with the shapes of the logo. Two or three different types are enough.

Photo

Match pictures in the same style and treat them the same way.

Drawings

There should be no difference here either. Make sure that the pictures are also combined with the rest of the design.

Other

Pay attention to the design of other elements:

icons;
charts and tablets;
animations;
video.

5. Explore again

Get feedback to fix bugs and rebrand if needed. Collect customer reviews. Ask employees if their vision of your company's image and strategy has changed and if they have any suggestions.