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Two: When a Name is too old to convey today's dynamics.
Established as a great icon of a period, sometimes a Name crawls out of history, reflecting the great human toil of its founding fathers, but is somehow not suitable for
the current agile and digital-savvy customer base of today. Evaluate the possible makeover and modifications.

Three: When spelling or remembering a Name requires a high IQ.
A large majority of brand Names are spelled creatively to fit a logo or to avoid a serious trademark problem. Some Names are extremely twisted, complicated and counterintuitive, hurting its image in the long run while losing sales while customers are unable to recall its Name at the time of a purchase decision. Evaluate the alternatives.

Four: When more money is spent explaining the origin of a Name. When a Name carries weird and strange origins, the company takes the burden of explaining its cuteness to the public. The busy public is not interested in your emotional attachment to these superficial gimmicks. Evaluate the confusion.

Five: When a corporation does not own a trademark with a dotcom. When a corporation cannot legally call a brand Name its own, and does not have a matching dotcom, what's the point of all the promotional exercise? Evaluate the intellectual property assets.

Six: When a Name is problematic or embarrassing in certain countries. Globalization is a fact of life. A Name must work like a marketing weapon. Not only in its own country, but around the globe. Names that can travel freely always carry a corporate advantage and enjoy success in the long run as they are welcomed throughout the globe. Evaluate the global issues.

Seven: When a Name is too complicated, confusing and long. When a Name is too long, it gets initialized. This unwanted process often changes the entire meaning of the original Name, and leads to customer confusion. Evaluate the crisis of initials and acronyms.

The above seven reasons are very critical for your marketing plans to go forward in 2008 and beyond, and the sooner you have a deeper understanding and a professional Name Evaluation, the faster you may apply the outcome.

Don't shoot in the dark, awaken the giants and slay the dragons.

Concluded.

Naseem Javed, recognized as a world authority on corporate image and global name identities, is a harsh critic of casual and accidental naming. He is a dynamic speaker on corporate image and branding issues, and is also the author of Naming for Power. He founded ABC Namebank International, an image and branding consultancy over 25 years ago.
Website: www.abcnamebank.com