Brand Naming

The first step involves a discovery phase where we understand your company’s goals, target audience, competitors, and market positioning and establish what work we want the name to do. From there we create a naming brief outlining the criteria for naming.

By rating each name against a set of standard—and project specific--criteria, we’re able to ensure that the name meets our practical objectives (e.g. is it familiar? Likable? Memorable? Easy to pronounce? Does it have an available URL? Is it trademarkable?) as well as our creative objectives (is it original? Exciting? Does it align with our brand objectives?).

A lot of research goes into corporate rebrands, including in-depth interviews with stakeholders, competitive analysis, and naming workshops that align name recommendations with your company culture and values and the expectations of your B2B clients.

During the discovery phase of our naming and branding process, we make sure to understand the full brand eco-system, including sub-brands, product brands, or property brands that will require a cohesive naming convention.

Typically, we recommend developing—and finalizing--the primary brand name first and aligning the sub-brands to the name you’ve selected. In some cases, however, we’ll work to establish a thematic direction or naming convention for the full brand eco-system (a nature theme, for example) and settle on that direction before embarking on formal naming of the whole system.

Yes, Phase 3’s naming process is designed to capture each community’s unique characteristics and brand essence, so the brand name will be distinctive yet memorable.

We conduct cultural and linguistic research to ensure names resonate with your target demographic and avoid potential cultural insensitivity. Research may include surveys or focus groups with members of the target audience.

Yes, we conduct a preliminary trademark search and look at domain name availability to ensure the names we propose are legally viable. We are not trademark attorneys, however, so we recommend that you engage your own legal counsel to identify any conflicts or challenges to securing a trademark.

If you are trademarking your new brand name, we recommend you engage a trademark attorney to conduct a thorough review and file the necessary paperwork. Phase 3 will perform a preliminary trademark search to uncover any obvious conflicts, so you can narrow down your list of preferred names prior to engaging professional legal help.

When developing property names, we consider a variety of factors in addition to our naming criteria. These include local and national market trends, target audience preferences, competitor names, and the known preferences of investors and stakeholders we gather during discovery.

Absolutely. Rebranding is a major undertaking, particularly for brands that have significant brand equity. Once a new name is chosen and the new brand identity has been developed, we typically recommend a phased approach to launching a rebrand. This allows for measured and thoughtful storytelling—and a methodical phasing out of the old brand name.

We can develop a brand launch plan for you that generates excitement about the new name and explains the rationale for the transition, bringing customers and team members along on the journey.

Absolutely. We have a large portfolio of case studies and examples that showcase multifamily brands we’ve named for clients across the United States. Here's one: Marchon