Great brands are like interesting people. They arrive in our lives with a personality that grabs our attention, and a story that captures our imagination.
How do they do it? It's in the way they look and behave – and it's certainly in the way they speak. As Senior Creative Writer Melinda Flores discusses in our latest paper, great brands speak in a distinctive voice, unique to them. And they use every aspect of verbal identity to convey the kind of information their audiences long to know about them: the intriguing insights, the fun facts, the sexy secrets. In fact, every place where a brand's customers interact with the brand is another opportunity to tell a story. How you lead an email, the wording on your error page, and what customers read when they look at your napkin – all prime spots for storytelling.
Naming is, of course, no exception. Most organizations may not view names as the place for personality to come shining through. But, increasingly, names can tell your story in vivid style.
Cosmetics and beauty companies, by their very nature, tell stories about emboldening you to live the way you want to – empowering you to play with your identity, and inspiring you to become who you really are. The names of beauty product lines have long evoked all this and more – especially in shades and color varieties. It's in these names that brands often reveal crucial, enticing details.
Where we once were satisfied with bland color names – red, nude, off white – brands like Urban Decay are telling stories in every shade. Smog and Flash eye shadow communicates the urban grit and glamour that lies at the sexy rock n' roll heart of the brand. As does Skyscraper mascara and Midnight Cowboy body shimmer lotion.
But it's not just beauty brands that can color their personality. Painting your bedroom this weekend? Will it be the rich brown of Death By Chocolate from C2 Paints, or Going to the Chapel (a bright shiny white with a tasteful hint of silvery gray, by Benjamin Moore)? Maybe roll on some Emotional – a brick orange color from Sherwin Williams. These brands, like their beauty business colleagues, are leading the field in a targeted approach to naming that seeks, above all else, to draw us in – to make a connection.
And playing up your personality is not just for the realm of flavors and colors. Although we may not want to buy a financial product called Smog and Flash, both consumer and B2B brands can take a cue and infuse their offerings with some distinctive personality. Consider Ally, a bank with a decidedly un-bank-like name. To differentiate itself in an industry plagued by scandal, Ally decided to tell a story about honesty and partnership that rings truer because they staked their very name on it. As they explain on their website: "Being upfront means having nothing to hide."
Or take Thomson Reuters, who recently launched Eikon, a cutting-edge platform delivering customers the most accurate market data, analysis and collaboration tools. By reaching back to the Greek word from which our "icon" is derived, Thomson Reuters ditched the literal to communicate to customers a sense of empowerment to aspire and achieve. Capturing your distinctive personality means playing up who you are.
Now it's your turn: What can you tell your audience about your worldview, your offering – your personality – in the names you choose? Learn from these leaders and answer this simple question: What's your story?
Paola Norambuena
Head of Verbal Identity
Head of Verbal Identity
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