WEEKEND TODAY Singapore. English., © 2008 MediaCorp Press Limited

When Tekka Mall became The Verge, several people asked me if that is a good name.  It is a valid question because what remains in the long-run to differentiate you is just the name as competitors can copy everything else you do.  At first, Xerox was the only plain-paper photocopier.  Now, all photocopiers are plain-paper.  What differentiates Xerox now is the name. 

A strong brand must own an idea in customers’ minds and that requires you to define the idea, be the first to claim it and have a great name to wrap around the idea.  If you have a bad name like Sum Tim Wong or Ralph Lifshitz, your brand will fail.  That’s why Ralph Lifshitz changed his name to Ralph Lauren and I would suggest that that Sum Tim Wong change its name to Wang Der Foo.

A bad name may not be obvious at a glance.  Xerox is a great name but when it was line-extended into computers, it became a bad name as Xerox equals photocopiers.  One name to one idea, that’s the way to build a brand.

Change the name only if it has a very bad association or if the brand needs to get into a new category.  When Kodak ventured into digital cameras, it should have used a different name as Kodak equals film.  If you need to change the name, The 10 Rules Of Naming my colleagues and I developed for client naming projects must be applied.

Easy-To-Pronounce

If customers can’t pronounce the name, they will buy from your competitors.  The Verge might be difficult for some of its customers to pronounce.

Memorable 

If they can’t remember the name, they will also shop elsewhere.  The Verge is a memorable name but not in a good way. When you are on the verge of something, it means that you have not succeeded yet.

Romanisable 

English is the international language of commerce but it doesn’t have to be an English word.  Nokia is Finnish.  Eu Yan Sang is Chinese.  The Verge is English but an Indian name might be better given the mall’s location in Little India.

Short 

No more than four syllables.  Close to half of the world’s 100 most valuable brands use two-syllable names.  The Verge is a two-syllable name so no problems there.

Unique

This means nobody else has that name, at least nobody in your industry.  The Verge is probably the only shopping mall in Singapore with that name so that’s all right.

Non-Generic

Words that can be found in the dictionary don’t make for good brand names as anyone can use them and they are hard to trademark.  The Verge is made up of two generic words.

Devoid of Acronyms

Names that use acronyms such as ABC, XYZ, ETC are not good names as they can stand for anything or nothing at all.  The Verge is OK in this respect.

Categorisable

A brand name needs to be attached to a category name.  What is The Verge’s category?  According to the August 6 edition of TODAY, it’s positioned as an “IT, lifestyle and F&B hub”.  IT, lifestyle and F&B?  That’s too broad a category for The Verge to own.  Plus, Funan is The IT Mall.  Sim Lim Square is the IT mall for the mass market.  Mustafa is the traditional Indian mall.  The Verge (or Tekka Mall) could be the modern Indian mall.

Internet-Ready

Having the dot.com suffix makes you look bigger and better than you are.  The Verge doesn’t own www.theverge.com. Be careful how your name looks on the Internet.  Who Represents is a site that lists the agents for Hollywood celebrities.  Their URL looks like this: www.whorepresents.com.  See the problem?

Culturally Neutral

Make sure the name doesn’t mean anything bad in the languages and religions of your key customers.

So how does your brand name fare according to the rules of naming?

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