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6/2/15 5:52 PM Key Reading 16 – Strategically Desired Brand Name Characteristics Three basic dimensions to judge desirability of a brand name : ● The Inherent ability of the name to be easily encoded into, retained in, and retrieved from memory ● The extent to which the name supports or enhances the planned strategic positioning or image of the product ● The ability to be legally protected (but not reviewed here) Characteristics Related to Memory : 1. The brand name should be simple ● Easy to say, spell, read, understand ● Often customers will simplify a more complex brand name (i.e. Coca-Cola becomes Coke, Chevrolet becomes Chevy) ● Justification for simple brand name is directly related to the basic psychological principle : a simple bit of information is more easily learned and recalled ● The memory advantage is thought to be the result of 2 basic cognitive processes : o Consumer has limited attentional capacity, thus giving higher probability of attracting and maintaining consumer attention o A simple information is more easily encoded into memory; under low involvement conditions, a simple brand name is more likely to be learned ● Often because of legal or brand positioning reason, a “non-word” brand name is desired, but need to pay attention to simplicity ● To be considered simple, a “non-word” should at least match the natural structure of language (and when developing international names, attention must be given to natural linguistic rules) 2. The brand name should be distinctive (i.e. Apple, Mustang, Xerox, Kodak, Exxon) ● Two basic cognitive processes : o Increased attention attraction power of the novel, unusual, unique brand name ▪ Note that the brand name need NOT to be inherently unique, but distinctive within the product category (i.e. Apple for personal computers) o Underlying cause of memory enhancement triggered by curiosity ▪ Provides the conscious motivation for extensive mental elaboration and depth of processing ● To create distinctive brand name → use of linguists called plosives o Plosives are consonants (i.e. b, c, d) which when pronounced, product an explosive popping sound ● Potential danger that an extremely novel stimulus may produce a “response uncertainty”, and can be excluded from the consumer’s brand-choice-set even though it is easily remembered (i.e. most vodka brands have Russian-sounding name Smirnoff, Skol ; a vodka name of T imberland is certainly distinctive in its product category, but consumer may be unsure whether or not it is really vodka) 3. The brand name should be meaningful ● Meaningful words (defined as frequently used) are associated with better recall, whilst non-meaningful words are more easily recognised ● With a non-meaningful, marketers begin with a clean slate
● Marketers should take note of this and determine which one is the objective :
recall or recognition 4. The brand name should be a verbal or sound associate of the product class ● Recall advantage o When thinking about a particular product category, a consumer has more efficient mental access to information already categorized within that product class o A natural verbal associate of the product class, when used as a brand name, has the cognitive advantage of already being stored/learned ● Often stated as the name being logical derivative of, pertinent or appropriate to, or compatible and consistent with the product category ● At times, natural sound association with the product class can also be utilised (i.e. Cap’n Crunch, a cereal brand) o When such sound associates are present, marketers can enhance brand name memory through the use of onomatopeias (words composed of syllables that, when pronounced, generate strongly suggestive of the word meaning i.e. gag, pop, smack) 5. The brand name should elicit a mental image ● Image here refers to the name’s ability to generate a visual referent in the consumer’s mind as opposed to a “positioning image” ● Words rated high in imagery value shows recall advantage over low-imagery ones o An easily imagined name generates a large, more extensive, and more elaborate set of cognitions than an abstract name ● Concrete nouns with tangible and visual referents (i.e. dog) more easily create mental images rather than abstract nouns (i.e. justice) 6. The brand name should be an emotional word ● Memory is enhanced for affective, highly emotional information/words/brand names ● Good name characteristics : having strong positive associations or connotations, engendering good feeling (i.e. Joy, Kiss, Opium) ● It seems especially advisable when the product category itself is an emotional one → However, it does not appear that the memory advantage of emotional names is confined only to emotional product categories ● Should note that emotion is a very basic response o Emotional connotations of a product represent the lowest common denominators of cognitive response to the product o Any emotional response generated by a name tends to be highly automatic o This fact implies that emotional reaction to a word can not be suppressed, requires little/no processing → thus recall advantage of emotional names should appear even under low-involvement situation Characteristics Related to Support of the Desired Brand Image : ● The brand name should be reflective of product benefits or desired positioning, should be suggestive of the product’s use or extendable to the company’s other product lines, brand names, and promotional efforts ● Identify the connotative meaning of potential brand names among specified target market, and match this with the desired brand positioning ● Memory characteristics mentioned above also related to desirable image support, for instance : o A distinctive brand name lends support to a unique image
o A meaningful name with existing connotative meaning in consumer’s
mind → would be easier to attain desired image by building upon the base of existing rather than starting with no such perceptual base o But, with a non-meaningful name, marketers begin with a clean slate and can generate product images without interference from existing perceptions o An emotional name also provides perceptual base for desired product image (i.e. the mental images of Mustang support a product image of strength, power) o Note than even when then name is “non-word”, individuals are capable of extracting some meaning that is already stored in their minds → but general linguistic characteristics of the name contribute heavily to the overall meaning generated 1. The brand name should make use of repetitive sounds ● The sound of repetitive sounds is usually pleasing to the ear and helps to generate pleasant feelings ● Linguistic characteristics of repetitive sounds : o Alliteration : repetition of consonants (i.e. Coleco) o Assonance : repetition of vowel sounds (i.e. Ramada Inn) o Consonance : repetition of consonants with an intervening vowel change (i.e. Hamburger Helper) o Rhyme o Rhythm : repetition of a pattern of syllable stress (i.e. Better Business Bureau) ● Examples : Cascade, Solo, Crispy Critters, Rolls-Royce, Pampers, Deep Dish Danish, Max-Pax, Lean Cuisine, Gloss ‘n Toss, Shake ‘n Bake 2. The brand name should make use of morphemes ● Morphemes : smallest linguistic unit that has consistent meaning, ranging from full words (i.e. ‘man’) to small parts of words including suffixes, prefixes, roots ● A brand name could be created that naturally supports the desired brand image by connecting morphemes whose combined meaning matches that image ● Examples : Compaq, Sentra, Lucite, Nike (Greek root, means victory) ● It is important to establish the target market’s perceived meaning of the new name, BUT no guarantee that consumers will incorporate this concept into their perceptions 3. The brand name should make use of phonemes ● Phonemes : smaller in size than morphemes, i.e. individual letter ● Evidence suggests that there is low correlation between phoenetic structures and their meaning ● BUT if presented with ‘non-word’ and semantic dimension i.e. ‘mal’ and ‘mil’ → 80% of subject agrees that ‘mal’ represents larger object than ‘mil’ ● Thus, phoenetic meaning is more likely to be present and consistent when : ‘non-word’ brand is used & consumers are given a semantic dimension to generate meaning ● Phoneme meanings : o Size ▪ (i, e) → a small size ▪ (a, o, u) → a large size o Movement ▪ high, front vowel sounds → dynamic
▪
back vowel sounds → heavy/slow ; ‘sl’ indicates slipping/gliding
o Shape ▪ high, front vowel → sharp/angular ▪ low, back vowel → flat/roundish o Luminosity ▪ high, front vowel and consonants k, l, s → light ▪ low, back vowel and consonants d, m, gr, br → darkness o Youth ▪ consonants j, g, ch & semi-vowels y, w → youthfulness & joy o Gender ▪ plosive, guttural, low & back vowel → masculine (i.e. Tiger)
soft sibilants s, c, weak f, high & front vowel → feminine (i.e. Silk-Ease, Zepher)
Key Reading 17 – Branding Consumer Goods High Worth of Brand Names ● Reasons : o New product introductions are expensive (costs reaching $100 million with 75% failure rates) o Marketplace is crowded, with customers reluctant to try new products o Successful brands have a long life span over which they provide higher returns ● Brands can be strengthen over time with advertising, any image can be created for any brand (i.e. Marlboro name doesn’t mean much, but now conveys a rugged country outdoor image) ● Image creation is expensive and time consuming Importance of Brand Names ● Brand names are source of differentiation o Branding influences customer’s choice ▪ We do not buy jeans, we buy Levi’s; we do not buy sunglasses, we buy Ray Ban etc. ▪ In BBDO Worldwide study, consumers believed that there were greater differences between brands in product categories that emphasized in image in comparison (i.e. mineral water) to product categories where physical attributes were emphasized (i.e. paper towel) → in reality this need not be true o It is difficulty now to differentiate purely on physical attributes ▪ The only strong differentiation is based on the brand image ▪ Examples : ▫ Toyota Corolla is viewed more favorably than Geo Prizm because it is Toyota, though they are essentially the same cars ▫ Volkswagen Fox receives favorable evaluations because it is Volkswagen, a brand image based on its German origins → only 8 percent of people knew it was manufactured in Brazil o Differentiation on physical attributes alone is almost impossible to maintain → duplicating is not difficult ▪ Have to create a strong and distinctive image o It is a misconception that branding only offers advantages to “soft” consumer goods → applies to industrial goods as well i.e. Caterpillar The Branding Process Once you have some ideas as to what to call your product, it shouldn’t rest there. You need to involve some real consumers in order for their views to count. In the end it’s consumers who will buy the product rather than your research manager. Once chosen, it cannot be changed without losing the equity built into the brand name Naming Strategy ● Type of name should be used o There are 5 categories of names specified by the Patent and Trademark Office ▪ Generic (soap for soap) → do not offer any trademark protection and can not be used as a brand name
▪
●
Descriptive (Laser Jet for laser printers) → inherently strong, immediate image ▪ Suggestive (Eveready for batteries) → inherently strong, immediate image ▪ Arbitrary (Camel for cigarettes) → inherently weak, requires significant advertising, do not tie to any particular product ▪ Coined (Exxon for gas) → inherently weak, requires significant advertising, do not tie to any particular product ▫ Maybe suitable if products are sold worldwide because it is hard to create a name with some meaning and no negative connotations in various language ▫ Has lowest evaluation among categories Specific branding objectives for the product o In decreasing order of importance ▪ Convey intended positioning ▪ Establish product differentiation ▪ Establish a distinct segment ▪ Establish a unique image ▪ Identification only ▪ Ease of trademark registration o Managers sometimes fail to clearly specify this because : ▪ Fail to realise that brand name is the basis of brand image and thus choice of an appropriate name is critical ▪ Fail to realise that brand name is limited to one or two words thus put a constraint on the amount of information that can be conveyed in a brand name
Creation of Brand Names ● Efficacy of various brand names o Consumers have preconceived notions about brand names o Words with similar linguistic characteristics may elicit dramatically different responses, based on the existing market and consumer perceptions ▪ Consumers associated each brand name with a specific product category ▪ Consumers preferred products with ‘typical’ brand names over products with names that were ‘atypical’ for the product category ▪ Consumers even have preconceived notions about seemingly nonsensical alpha-numeric names → they are more acceptable for technical products ▪ Established branding norms (i.e. since Amex uses classification scheme of regular, gold, platinum → have become anchor points in consumers’ minds for the entire credit card industry ▪ Consumers subconsciously draw other inferences from brand names ▪ When names were pronounced using French pronunciation, consumers rated them as more hedonic ● Participants in the name creation process o Having a cross-functional team breaks any barriers created by logical thinking and thus greatly enhances creativity
o Where possible, personnel from marketing, design, production
●
engineering, and a few customers should be included o While the use of cross-functional teams is recommended, it is rarely advisable to use an employee competition → only one employee is a winner, not a pleasant experience Name creation techniques and approaches o Old fashioned techniques like individual creative thinking and brainstorming are still the most effective than using software ▪ Why? Software need a fair amount of familiarity to get their maximum potential o Sources to help creativity : ▪ Dictionaries, thesauri, books on street jargon, yellow pages, trade publications, directories of brand names o Not advisable to copy and modify names of major competitors : ▪ Run the risk of trademark infringement even if it is modified ▪ Not distinctive enough
Testing on Brand Names ● Should be tested on several criteria (in decreasing order of importance) o Relevance to product category o Connotation o Overall liking o Memorability (ease of recognition & recall) ▪ Recognition : requires matching the stimulus with information stored in memory (easier if name is uncommon and distinctive) ▪ Recall : requires reconstruction of the target stimulus (easier to recall common words) ▪ To test this, day-after survey may be used o Distinctiveness o Consistency with company and existing product line ● The approach to be used (in order) o Qualitative ▪ Shortlisting (i.e. discussion with colleagues) ▪ Test name using focus groups (but sometimes focus group is subjective) o Quantitative (at this point, the names should only be 8 – 10 to avoid overload) ▪ Survey ● The right size of sample Choosing Candidate Brand Names ● Note that objectives should not be lost sight of ● Sometimes choosing names can be subjective and companies fail to use branding objectives ● Can not use the same group used in ‘creation of brand name’ because of the existence of ‘mere ownership effect’ → people develop liking for products they own/create Trademark Registration ● Approximately 120,000 application is filed p.a. ● For descriptive or suggestive name → trademark is more difficult
● In USA, trademark need not be registered to obtain legal protection for the ● ●
● ●
trademark; trademarks are protected by common law Registration with the Patent and Trademark Office (P&T) is still helpful → prima facie evidence against infringement ‘likelihood of confusion’ is the basic principle used by the courts in deciding trademark infringement, 7 criteria to identify the possible confusion : o degree of similarity between the marks in appearance and suggestion o the similarity of the products o the area and manner of use o the degree of care likely to be exercised o the strength of the plaintiff’s remark o actual confusion o intent of the alleged infringer If a company’s trademark application has a potential for infringement on another company, Gazette (P&T office use this company) may communicate their concern to you it is advisable to start with a wider product category, and then narrow it down if requested by the P&T office
Overall : 1. Decide from the outset what type of name you want and what it is intended the name should achieve. Remember about the advantages of descriptive and suggestive names over arbitrary and coined names. 2. Involve a wide range of people including outside advisors. Don’t invent the name within the new product team. 3. Check names against existing brands in the market. Remember that trademark problems can come with very similar names as well as identical ones. 4. Research plenty of names with the product’s target audience and be prepared to have your favoured name rejected. Remember the Volkswagen Sharan in the UK (To the British public the girl’s name Sharon is associated with single mums living on welfare). Check for memorability and recall as well as appeal. Consumers may like a name but find it is hard to recall. 5. Make sure you see the brand name in situ – on advertising, on the product, in promotional literature – before making the final decision. It may sound great on paper but look awful on the back of a car or on the cereal box.
● Marketers should take note of this and determine which one is the objective :
recall or recognition 4. The brand name should be a verbal or sound associate of the product class ● Recall advantage o When thinking about a particular product category, a consumer has more efficient mental access to information already categorized within that product class o A natural verbal associate of the product class, when used as a brand name, has the cognitive advantage of already being stored/learned ● Often stated as the name being logical derivative of, pertinent or appropriate to, or compatible and consistent with the product category ● At times, natural sound association with the product class can also be utilised (i.e. Cap’n Crunch, a cereal brand) o When such sound associates are present, marketers can enhance brand name memory through the use of onomatopeias (words composed of syllables that, when pronounced, generate strongly suggestive of the word meaning i.e. gag, pop, smack) 5. The brand name should elicit a mental image ● Image here refers to the name’s ability to generate a visual referent in the consumer’s mind as opposed to a “positioning image” ● Words rated high in imagery value shows recall advantage over low-imagery ones o An easily imagined name generates a large, more extensive, and more elaborate set of cognitions than an abstract name ● Concrete nouns with tangible and visual referents (i.e. dog) more easily create mental images rather than abstract nouns (i.e. justice) 6. The brand name should be an emotional word ● Memory is enhanced for affective, highly emotional information/words/brand names ● Good name characteristics : having strong positive associations or connotations, engendering good feeling (i.e. Joy, Kiss, Opium) ● It seems especially advisable when the product category itself is an emotional one → However, it does not appear that the memory advantage of emotional names is confined only to emotional product categories ● Should note that emotion is a very basic response o Emotional connotations of a product represent the lowest common denominators of cognitive response to the product o Any emotional response generated by a name tends to be highly automatic o This fact implies that emotional reaction to a word can not be suppressed, requires little/no processing → thus recall advantage of emotional names should appear even under low-involvement situation Characteristics Related to Support of the Desired Brand Image : ● The brand name should be reflective of product benefits or desired positioning, should be suggestive of the product’s use or extendable to the company’s other product lines, brand names, and promotional efforts ● Identify the connotative meaning of potential brand names among specified target market, and match this with the desired brand positioning ● Memory characteristics mentioned above also related to desirable image support, for instance : o A distinctive brand name lends support to a unique image
o A meaningful name with existing connotative meaning in consumer’s
mind → would be easier to attain desired image by building upon the base of existing rather than starting with no such perceptual base o But, with a non-meaningful name, marketers begin with a clean slate and can generate product images without interference from existing perceptions o An emotional name also provides perceptual base for desired product image (i.e. the mental images of Mustang support a product image of strength, power) o Note than even when then name is “non-word”, individuals are capable of extracting some meaning that is already stored in their minds → but general linguistic characteristics of the name contribute heavily to the overall meaning generated 1. The brand name should make use of repetitive sounds ● The sound of repetitive sounds is usually pleasing to the ear and helps to generate pleasant feelings ● Linguistic characteristics of repetitive sounds : o Alliteration : repetition of consonants (i.e. Coleco) o Assonance : repetition of vowel sounds (i.e. Ramada Inn) o Consonance : repetition of consonants with an intervening vowel change (i.e. Hamburger Helper) o Rhyme o Rhythm : repetition of a pattern of syllable stress (i.e. Better Business Bureau) ● Examples : Cascade, Solo, Crispy Critters, Rolls-Royce, Pampers, Deep Dish Danish, Max-Pax, Lean Cuisine, Gloss ‘n Toss, Shake ‘n Bake 2. The brand name should make use of morphemes ● Morphemes : smallest linguistic unit that has consistent meaning, ranging from full words (i.e. ‘man’) to small parts of words including suffixes, prefixes, roots ● A brand name could be created that naturally supports the desired brand image by connecting morphemes whose combined meaning matches that image ● Examples : Compaq, Sentra, Lucite, Nike (Greek root, means victory) ● It is important to establish the target market’s perceived meaning of the new name, BUT no guarantee that consumers will incorporate this concept into their perceptions 3. The brand name should make use of phonemes ● Phonemes : smaller in size than morphemes, i.e. individual letter ● Evidence suggests that there is low correlation between phoenetic structures and their meaning ● BUT if presented with ‘non-word’ and semantic dimension i.e. ‘mal’ and ‘mil’ → 80% of subject agrees that ‘mal’ represents larger object than ‘mil’ ● Thus, phoenetic meaning is more likely to be present and consistent when : ‘non-word’ brand is used & consumers are given a semantic dimension to generate meaning ● Phoneme meanings : o Size ▪ (i, e) → a small size ▪ (a, o, u) → a large size o Movement ▪ high, front vowel sounds → dynamic
▪
back vowel sounds → heavy/slow ; ‘sl’ indicates slipping/gliding
o Shape ▪ high, front vowel → sharp/angular ▪ low, back vowel → flat/roundish o Luminosity ▪ high, front vowel and consonants k, l, s → light ▪ low, back vowel and consonants d, m, gr, br → darkness o Youth ▪ consonants j, g, ch & semi-vowels y, w → youthfulness & joy o Gender ▪ plosive, guttural, low & back vowel → masculine (i.e. Tiger)
soft sibilants s, c, weak f, high & front vowel → feminine (i.e. Silk-Ease, Zepher)
Key Reading 17 – Branding Consumer Goods High Worth of Brand Names ● Reasons : o New product introductions are expensive (costs reaching $100 million with 75% failure rates) o Marketplace is crowded, with customers reluctant to try new products o Successful brands have a long life span over which they provide higher returns ● Brands can be strengthen over time with advertising, any image can be created for any brand (i.e. Marlboro name doesn’t mean much, but now conveys a rugged country outdoor image) ● Image creation is expensive and time consuming Importance of Brand Names ● Brand names are source of differentiation o Branding influences customer’s choice ▪ We do not buy jeans, we buy Levi’s; we do not buy sunglasses, we buy Ray Ban etc. ▪ In BBDO Worldwide study, consumers believed that there were greater differences between brands in product categories that emphasized in image in comparison (i.e. mineral water) to product categories where physical attributes were emphasized (i.e. paper towel) → in reality this need not be true o It is difficulty now to differentiate purely on physical attributes ▪ The only strong differentiation is based on the brand image ▪ Examples : ▫ Toyota Corolla is viewed more favorably than Geo Prizm because it is Toyota, though they are essentially the same cars ▫ Volkswagen Fox receives favorable evaluations because it is Volkswagen, a brand image based on its German origins → only 8 percent of people knew it was manufactured in Brazil o Differentiation on physical attributes alone is almost impossible to maintain → duplicating is not difficult ▪ Have to create a strong and distinctive image o It is a misconception that branding only offers advantages to “soft” consumer goods → applies to industrial goods as well i.e. Caterpillar The Branding Process Once you have some ideas as to what to call your product, it shouldn’t rest there. You need to involve some real consumers in order for their views to count. In the end it’s consumers who will buy the product rather than your research manager. Once chosen, it cannot be changed without losing the equity built into the brand name Naming Strategy ● Type of name should be used o There are 5 categories of names specified by the Patent and Trademark Office ▪ Generic (soap for soap) → do not offer any trademark protection and can not be used as a brand name
▪
●
Descriptive (Laser Jet for laser printers) → inherently strong, immediate image ▪ Suggestive (Eveready for batteries) → inherently strong, immediate image ▪ Arbitrary (Camel for cigarettes) → inherently weak, requires significant advertising, do not tie to any particular product ▪ Coined (Exxon for gas) → inherently weak, requires significant advertising, do not tie to any particular product ▫ Maybe suitable if products are sold worldwide because it is hard to create a name with some meaning and no negative connotations in various language ▫ Has lowest evaluation among categories Specific branding objectives for the product o In decreasing order of importance ▪ Convey intended positioning ▪ Establish product differentiation ▪ Establish a distinct segment ▪ Establish a unique image ▪ Identification only ▪ Ease of trademark registration o Managers sometimes fail to clearly specify this because : ▪ Fail to realise that brand name is the basis of brand image and thus choice of an appropriate name is critical ▪ Fail to realise that brand name is limited to one or two words thus put a constraint on the amount of information that can be conveyed in a brand name
Creation of Brand Names ● Efficacy of various brand names o Consumers have preconceived notions about brand names o Words with similar linguistic characteristics may elicit dramatically different responses, based on the existing market and consumer perceptions ▪ Consumers associated each brand name with a specific product category ▪ Consumers preferred products with ‘typical’ brand names over products with names that were ‘atypical’ for the product category ▪ Consumers even have preconceived notions about seemingly nonsensical alpha-numeric names → they are more acceptable for technical products ▪ Established branding norms (i.e. since Amex uses classification scheme of regular, gold, platinum → have become anchor points in consumers’ minds for the entire credit card industry ▪ Consumers subconsciously draw other inferences from brand names ▪ When names were pronounced using French pronunciation, consumers rated them as more hedonic ● Participants in the name creation process o Having a cross-functional team breaks any barriers created by logical thinking and thus greatly enhances creativity
o Where possible, personnel from marketing, design, production
●
engineering, and a few customers should be included o While the use of cross-functional teams is recommended, it is rarely advisable to use an employee competition → only one employee is a winner, not a pleasant experience Name creation techniques and approaches o Old fashioned techniques like individual creative thinking and brainstorming are still the most effective than using software ▪ Why? Software need a fair amount of familiarity to get their maximum potential o Sources to help creativity : ▪ Dictionaries, thesauri, books on street jargon, yellow pages, trade publications, directories of brand names o Not advisable to copy and modify names of major competitors : ▪ Run the risk of trademark infringement even if it is modified ▪ Not distinctive enough
Testing on Brand Names ● Should be tested on several criteria (in decreasing order of importance) o Relevance to product category o Connotation o Overall liking o Memorability (ease of recognition & recall) ▪ Recognition : requires matching the stimulus with information stored in memory (easier if name is uncommon and distinctive) ▪ Recall : requires reconstruction of the target stimulus (easier to recall common words) ▪ To test this, day-after survey may be used o Distinctiveness o Consistency with company and existing product line ● The approach to be used (in order) o Qualitative ▪ Shortlisting (i.e. discussion with colleagues) ▪ Test name using focus groups (but sometimes focus group is subjective) o Quantitative (at this point, the names should only be 8 – 10 to avoid overload) ▪ Survey ● The right size of sample Choosing Candidate Brand Names ● Note that objectives should not be lost sight of ● Sometimes choosing names can be subjective and companies fail to use branding objectives ● Can not use the same group used in ‘creation of brand name’ because of the existence of ‘mere ownership effect’ → people develop liking for products they own/create Trademark Registration ● Approximately 120,000 application is filed p.a. ● For descriptive or suggestive name → trademark is more difficult
● In USA, trademark need not be registered to obtain legal protection for the ● ●
● ●
trademark; trademarks are protected by common law Registration with the Patent and Trademark Office (P&T) is still helpful → prima facie evidence against infringement ‘likelihood of confusion’ is the basic principle used by the courts in deciding trademark infringement, 7 criteria to identify the possible confusion : o degree of similarity between the marks in appearance and suggestion o the similarity of the products o the area and manner of use o the degree of care likely to be exercised o the strength of the plaintiff’s remark o actual confusion o intent of the alleged infringer If a company’s trademark application has a potential for infringement on another company, Gazette (P&T office use this company) may communicate their concern to you it is advisable to start with a wider product category, and then narrow it down if requested by the P&T office
Overall : 1. Decide from the outset what type of name you want and what it is intended the name should achieve. Remember about the advantages of descriptive and suggestive names over arbitrary and coined names. 2. Involve a wide range of people including outside advisors. Don’t invent the name within the new product team. 3. Check names against existing brands in the market. Remember that trademark problems can come with very similar names as well as identical ones. 4. Research plenty of names with the product’s target audience and be prepared to have your favoured name rejected. Remember the Volkswagen Sharan in the UK (To the British public the girl’s name Sharon is associated with single mums living on welfare). Check for memorability and recall as well as appeal. Consumers may like a name but find it is hard to recall. 5. Make sure you see the brand name in situ – on advertising, on the product, in promotional literature – before making the final decision. It may sound great on paper but look awful on the back of a car or on the cereal box.
