Ad Agencies and Marketing Firms
In a recent blog post on Forbes.com, branding guru Jack Trout wrote, "We're running out of brands... The availability of names is today's #1 problem."
These days, it's unlikely that a couple of brainstorming sessions will result in a brand name that's powerful and available to trademark. You need a focused, carefully crafted process if you're going to succeed every time.
That's why, when their clients ask them for a new brand name, creative agencies turn to Pollywog.
We work with design firms, advertising agencies, public relations firms and marketing communications companies as a strategic partner, so they can offer a strong naming capability to their clients. Our agency clients recognize that their core capability is design, PR, marketing and advertising, not naming, and they choose to stay focused on what they like doing best.
On the other hand, naming and branding is all that we do. We have overhauled the process and have developed the world's first patent-pending methodology, making naming and brand creation projects go smoother for everybody involved.
So. Suppose you had a naming project you wanted Pollywog involved in. What would that be like? Here are the important things to know:
When you have Pollywog handle the naming part of your project, there are a lot of things you won't have to worry about. Barring client-side delays, the naming project will stay on schedule — our process makes sure of it. And it will stay on budget — we stick to our estimates. We'll also handle all the trademarking issues, language and cultural issues, and research necessary to make sure the name is cleared for takeoff.
We know what a name needs in order to provide fertile ground for creative brand communications, and we make sure all the names we create are easy and fun to work with for ongoing creative executions.
We do naming and brand creation, not ongoing advertising, marketing and graphic design. So you don't have to worry about us stealing your client or competing with you for work.
Many agencies have told us that securing client approval for their name options is the biggest challenge they have. We can help with that. Our process fosters client consensus from Day One of the project, when we discuss the goals for the new name and begin to educate clients on what kinds of brand names will do the most for their business. Setting expections early helps avoid unpleasant surprises later.
Because a clear, sharp positioning is crucial to a successful naming project, we ask to be brought into a project early, while positioning is being developed. Or, if you already have a focused positioning in hand, we simply use it to inform our customized Power Positioning Brief—a document that expresses the brand positioning in ways that make name generation more efficient.
Whether the positioning is created by your agency or Pollywog, it should be done with high involvement by the client. Positioning exercises force clients to agree among themselves on the seminal aspects of a brand, while engagement with your agency and/or Pollywog encourages them to whittle the new brand's positioning to its simplest, most compelling expression. With clarity of direction and a client-approved positioning brief, we can move forward knowing that the client understands the areas in which our name generation will focus. Again, no unpleasant surprises later.
Pollywog generates name ideas based on the approved positioning and a review of competitive names. If you want your own creative staff involved, we'll add them as a supplemental team(s) and provide creative direction for their concepting sessions.
Instead of showing name options and asking for feedback on the name as a whole, Pollywog takes clients through our proprietary evaluation tool which identifies the 17 characteristics that combine to form a strong brand name. We ask that all decision-makers be present for this exercise, because it enables every client to have input into the final decision.
The next steps—translation, trademark search/registration and market research—confirm the viability of the final selected names. We can lead the translation and trademark search stages, if you like, or you can hand those responsibilities to the provider of your choice.
However, if a client decides to test the name, we ask to be involved. Pollywog's proprietary research methodology provides more accurate insights into consumer response to a name, unlike traditional testing which injects artificiality into the process and usually skews the results. Like you, we'd hate to see a good name killed because of outdated, inadequate research practices.
As you can see, the Pollywog process is thorough and requires a great deal of involvement from the client. But it's no less than any naming project deserves. As Trout wrote in his industry-changing book, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, "In the positioning era, the single most important decision you can make is what to name the product."
Once a name has been selected and vetted, Pollywog's work is done. Although we have design capabilities and are well-versed in brand identity, we expect that our agency clients will want to handle the brand's visual identity themselves.
And that's fine. We're more than happy to provide naming as a stand-alone service.
Also, you can rest assured that we have no interest in pursuing further advertising or marketing projects with your clients. Our focus is on brands in their formative stages, and we're more than content to leave the ongoing work to our agency friends.
Need to know more? Contact us, and we'll be happy to meet with you.