The Pollywog Blog

A trademark can be a company’s most valuable asset. But too often, brand development and trademarking are not at the top of the entrepreneur’s to-do list when he or she is ramping up. It’s time-consuming, and often entrepreneurs don’t understand the value of intellectual property. How could a name, for example, cost more than the furniture for their office?

And then there’s the Bootstrapper’s Dilemma: The cost of creating and protecting a brand comes at a time when the fledgling company can least afford it.

But brand creation mistakes can be costly. Going to market with a brand you don’t completely own can come back to haunt you months later, as small business owners like the Oatmeal learned the hard way, and Apple seems to discover over and over and over and over.

Going to market with a completely protected weak name isn’t the answer either. Several years after starting SimulScribe, his voicemail transcription business, the founder realized his weak brand name was hindering growth, so he renamed the company to PhoneTag. Rebranding paid off immediately, with sales doubling in 18 months. But it came at a cost. Not only did the company have to pay significantly for rebranding, it also suffered considerable lost opportunity costs by operating for so long with a weak brand.

Today’s Forbes provides a valuable primer on naming a startup, including helpful information like this for aspiring global marketers:

As it turns out, a little-known rule about trademarking names is this: there is a six month window after applying for a domestic (U.S.) trademark during which you can safely apply for a trademark in another country and it will be backdated to the date of the U.S. registration.

See Trademarking 101 — 9 Red Flags Before Naming Your Startup

In 2007, Mary Pokluda was an aspiring entrepreneur with the self-named personal assistant business, “The PA4U.” Recognizing the weakness of her brand name, though, Mary asked Pollywog to help.

So we created a new brand for her—Bumblebee—a friendly, approachable  name connoting task-driven efficiency.

Mary instantly loved her brand (and even tattooed the logo on her ankle!) and proceeded to leverage the strength of the name and visual identity in her marketing and networking. With its many evocative connotations, the Bumblebee brand has enabled Mary to link it to her services in memorable ways. From her home office—the Hive—she manages her “worker bee” subcontractors as they buzz around town from task to task.

“The aspect of association is huge,” Mary says. “Having a strong brand has allowed me to be memorable and stay top of mind.”

Combined with the strength of her brand, Mary’s determination, skills and “sweet-as-honey” personality have created a small business force of nature, and Bumblebee has enjoyed remarkable growth during the toughest economic climate since the Great Depression.

Today we learned that Bumblebee has been named one of the 100 best in American business and has received the 2013 Blue Ribbon Small Business Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

We’re very proud of Mary and her commitment to her brand. Congratulations, Mary!

An estimated 3-4 million animals die in America’s shelters every year—the tragic result of pet overpopulation. Our client, Animal Humane Society, launched a bold initiative this year to help change the world for homeless pets by asking people to live by a code of honor called the “Law of the Paw.”

Everyone has what it takes to live by the Law of the Paw. When you commit to live by the Law of the Paw you’re not only helping your pet—you’re helping thousands of other animals by reducing homelessness and saving lives.

Do these three simple things for your animal, and you’ll help create a better world for all animals. And you and your pet will sleep better knowing the good deed you have done.

Pollywog provided brand positioning services and the program’s inspirational name. Our friends at Sussner Design created the brand identity.

I have always adopted my pets and had them spayed or neutered. But working with AHS on the Law of the Paw also made me realize how important it is to ID my housecats. (Stray, unidentified animals can account for 50%-75% of the animals in shelters.) So now, Rupert and Bixby are not only microchipped, they’re also wearing a collar with an ID tag in the event that they ever manage to sneak through an open door and out into the world.

If you own a pet or plan to get one, please promise that you’ll do these three things:  Adopt. Spay. ID.  And please add your name to the growing list of responsible pet owners committed to reducing euthanasia by living by the Law of the Paw. Sign here:  Law of the Paw

I’m always fascinated by the background story behind iconic brand names. Like  Apple Computer’s re-imagined personal computer, introduced in 1998, which would ultimately be called the “iMac.”

What would Apple look like today if its agency hadn’t talked Steve Jobs out of his pet name for it–the “MacMan?” Would we have had the “iPod” or the “PodMan?” The “iPhone” or the “PhoneMan?” The “iPad” or the “PadMan?”

Let’s all give TBWA/Chiat/Day props for steering Jobs away from that naming disaster. And let’s be thankful that Jobs was man enough to recognize an idea better than his own. Ken Segall tells the story here.

The first time I saw a 3D printer in action, I was amazed. It takes a CAD drawing and turns it into a physical object made of plastic. Even intricate designs with moving parts–a bicycle chain or adjustable wrench, for example–can be transformed from a digital file to an actual working model.

It’s like magic.

Last year, Stratasys, a leading manufacturer of 3D printers, contracted Pollywog to help them brand their important new product–the first professional-grade desktop 3D printer priced under $10,000. At this size and price point, 3D printing is now within reach of small product design companies and high schools who need rapid prototyping for commercial and educational uses. This quick, relatively inexpensive physical confirmation of a design’s actual shape and functionality enables product engineers and designers to be more creative.

Pollywog provided positioning, naming and brand identity services, along with consultation on product color and logo placement. In addition to a strong power name for the printer, we provided an appropriately descriptive name for the consumable–a pack of ABS plastic that makes material replacement fast and easy.

Introducing the Mojo™ 3D printer with QuickPack replacements.

News of this disruptive new product spread like wildfire across the blogosphere. And as has happened with other Pollywog power names, reporters picked up on the idea behind the brand promise and echoed it in headlines:

As more designers and engineers experience the magic of Mojo, we expect the name will be informally integrated into their workflow vocabulary:  “I’m going to Mojo this and see how it looks.” “Did you Mojo that yet?” “It’s in the Mojo.”

We’re excited about this brand/product and what we expect it will do for the company’s profitability and stock prices. It’s a winning combination. As The Street remarked, “There’s Mojo in the making at Stratasys,” and we’re pleased to have played a part in it.

In a land of plenty, one in five American families can’t regularly afford to eat. Hunger lurks in the most surprising places in Minnesota–not only in depressed urban neighborhoods in the Twin Cities, but also in Duluth, Mankato and even Minnetonka.

For the next year, General Mills is helping to address the hunger crisis with a program to secure up to 15.6 million meals for needy families. It’s the corporation’s biggest charitable initiative since Box Tops for Education launched in 1996.

Here’s how it works: Consumers find a code printed on packages of more than 25 General Mills brands, including Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Totinos pizza, Bisquick and Betty Crocker muffin mixes. Each code entered at the program’s Web site provides five meals through Feeding America.

Working in tandem with Imagination Publishing, Pollywog led more than 30 General Mills team members through a process to name this important new program, Outnumber Hunger.

Look for it on specially marked packages of your favorite General Mills products. Then please do visit the site, enter the code and transform your purchase of one product into five meals to help Outnumber Hunger.

Ever since I adopted my first dog a few years ago, I’ve been an avid supporter and volunteer for the local Golden Retriever rescue organization, Retrieve a Golden of Minnesota (RAGOM). And whenever RAGOM needs help with branding, I gladly raise my hand.

A few years ago, Pollywog branded RAGOM’s annual fundraiser, Goldzilla. It has since grown into what may be the largest Golden Retriever event in the nation–the self-fulfilling prophecy behind its audacious name.

Recently, RAGOM asked us to brand another smaller fundraiser, a craft beer tasting and silent auction at Summit Brewery, with proceeds benefiting Golden Retriever rescue. For this project, I teamed up with freelance graphic designer Jennifer O’Brien, also a RAGOM volunteer, and together we created Stouts for Snouts.

When RAGOM introduced the brand and began promoting the event in social media, there was an immediate demand for tee shirts. Between tee shirt sales, the silent auction and admission fees, Stouts for Snouts raised almost $5,000 for needy Golden Retrievers in Minnesota.

With Stouts for Snouts, I was once again fortunate to work in that gratifying place where professional skills are committed to a personal cause.

Why yes, I do have a photo of my dogs. Thanks for asking! Chaz (left) is a purebred Golden Retriever I adopted from the Animal Humane Society. And Pippin, who was rescued by RAGOM, doesn’t have a drop of Golden in him. He’s a mix of Dachshund/Chow/Shar-Pei/Rat Terrier and many other breeds–a survivor of a hoarding situation, who had the good fortune of looking like a “mini-Golden.”

Small businesses and nonprofits need all the free PR they can get.

Fortunately, any size business can have a powerful brand name, and powerful brand names attract the media. That’s because reporters are only human. Their brains work like everyone else’s, and they’ll notice and remember a name that’s distinctive, emotionally compelling and relevant to a meaningful brand promise.

And like everyone else, reporters are more likely to talk about a powerful brand name than a weak one.

Recently, the Star Tribune published a story on local nonprofits that have rebranded. Although the article mentioned a number of organizations, the name that led the story was Think Small, a Power Name from Pollywog.

Minnesota do-gooders, not exactly known for their creative pizazz, are spiffing up their public images — and shedding some well-known nonprofit names in the process.

Resources for Child Caring, a 40-year-old St. Paul nonprofit, told its supporters last month that “the RCC brand didn’t feel bold or innovative to many important stakeholders.” It will now be known as “Think Small.”

Think Small?

“There are a few people scratching their heads,” chuckled Barb Yates, executive director of the newly named nonprofit. “But mostly what I hear is positive. People are talking about it and I don’t know if they talked about our other name.”

The story’s print edition featured a chart of nonprofits that had rebranded. Two of the ten brands–Think Small and Headway–were Pollywog-created.

And here’s the best thing yet. Reporters, who naturally seek to clarify and illuminate, may feel the need to “explain” evocative names. In doing so, they’ll link the brand name to the brand promise.

This Tails Magazine reporter understood that Kindest Cut referred not only to saving animal lives, but also to the kindness of a reduced rate offered to low-income pet-owners. That message was elevated and summarized in a headline tying directly to the brand name.

So when you’re creating a brand name or rebranding your business or organization, remember that reporters are all about the story. A powerful brand name–one that’s unusual, has emotional trigger and alludes to a relevant benefit–is not only more likely to be noticed and remembered by reporters, it also gives them an easy hook.

More than a year ago, Pollywog was approached by a Minnesota nonprofit organization with the generic and unwieldy name, Resources for Child Caring (RCC). Over its forty year history, RCC had grown from an agency that trained child care providers into Minnesota’s leading voice for early learning, but their brand had not kept up.

According to RCC, “Too many didn’t recognize our name, or confused us with others. In short, our brand was not working hard enough to help us achieve our mission, and that was not okay with us.”

For the next year, Pollywog worked closely with RCC management and key team leaders in every stage of the rebranding process: brand positioning, naming, tagline creation, domain name search and brokering, brand identity design, brand standards development, Web site design and top-level copywriting and brand voice.

We’re happy to announce that Resources for Child Caring is now:

“We chose a thought-provoking and provocative name that will call attention to the needs of Minnesota’s smallest children,” Executive Director Barb Yates said at the brand’s unveiling event. “Think Small captures our mindset, our passion, our call to action.”

Added Janet Bisbee, Director of Development, “It’s been a pleasure working with Pollywog. Our new agency name is powerful and unexpected. The genius of it is that it makes people want to know more. It opens an exciting conversation about ways we all can be more and do more for children.”

Back in the olden days, when I was getting my Masters of Advertising at Northwestern University, I had a professor named Don E. Schultz. He was the guy who literally wrote the book on advertising strategy. A tall, balding, round-shouldered man (he reminded me of the harmonica player in the Country Bear Jamboree), Dr. Schultz was known for demanding rigor from his students–in analytical thinking, creative innovation and, especially, the art of creative brief writing.

We were writing briefs for ad campaigns, which would theoretically be executed in print ads, TV spots, radio, etc. But even though the campaign might produce a full-page newspaper ad or a :60 spot, the creative brief–particularly the brand promise–absolutely, positively had to be concise and laser-focused.

One customer benefit.

But– but– but– Sometimes the assignments were for products that had a multitude of benefits. It saves time! It’s convenient! It tastes good! It’s healthy! It’s 100% natural!

We quickly learned, though, that we had to choose.

“One benefit!” Schultz would bellow in his Oklahoma drawl. “Not TWO benefits! Not THREE benefits! ONE benefit!!” Schultz understood that it didn’t matter if an advertiser had ten seconds on the radio or two pages in a magazine spread to sell someone on their products.

Because it’s not about the advertiser and how much they want to say. It’s about what people can comprehend in the split second of attention they may privilege you with.

What mattered then, as now, is that people need simplicity. And an advertising message can’t hope to be simple if it tries to convey more than one benefit.

Fast forward from grad school to Pollywog.

Brand creation requires the same level of rigor. But unlike an advertising campaign, which you can change if it’s not working, a brand needs to last a lifetime. It’s critical to get it right from the beginning.

At Pollywog, we take clients through a Power Positioning session to gather the information we need to proceed into name generation. Sometimes it starts as an info dump. Clients want to include every possible facet of a product in order to make it more attractive to their customer. And that’s when we have to prioritize, whittle away, consolidate, soul-search and then eliminate even more.

While the Power Positioning brief will contain helpful background information, as well as an articulation of a brand differentiator, ultimately the brand promise that remains is one sentence.

ONE sentence.

If you can’t fit your brand promise into one sentence, you’re probably trying to say too much. Saddling a new offering with a brand that’s overly broad, complex or ambiguous will doom it to failure, or at best, a lifetime of anemia.

So here’s a test. Write your brand promise in the form of a customer benefit, then send it as a tweet. You’ll start with 140 characters, but leave room to spare so that it can be retweeted. (See How To Determine Your Personal ReTweet Character Count)

Here’s Pollywog’s. Be looking for it on Twitter:

Your Pollywog-created brand will be a business-building asset from launch through the long term.

Now show us yours.