Evocative Product and Corporate Names
One important way that evocative names differ from others is that they evoke the positioning of a company or product, rather than describing a function or a direct experience.
Continuing with more examples of the names of web portal companies:
- InfoSeek, LookSmart = functional
- Explorer, Navigator = experiential
- Yahoo = positioning (Evocative)
Another example – companies from the airline sector:
- Trans World Airlines = functional
- United = experiential
- Virgin = positioning (Evocative)
and finally, from the computer industry:
- Digital Equipment = functional
- Gateway = experiential
- Apple = positioning (Evocative)
The upside:
- A rare type of name, making it a powerful differentiator.
- Nonlinear and multidimensional, making it deeply engaging.
- Helps create a brand image that is bigger than the goods and services a company offers.
- Trademark process is better than average.
- When created in sync with positioning, it is a branding force that can dominate an industry.
The downside:
- When created out of sync with brand positioning, it's an ugly mess.
- Because evocative names for companies and products are created to compliment positioning rather than goods and services, they are the toughest type of names to get corporate approval for, being a bit of an abstraction for those outside the marketing department.
For advice on how to create and secure buy-in for evocative product and company names, see the Evocative Naming Filters page in the Naming Tools section.
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