Branding Agency vs. Naming Agency: What to Choose for the Business Name Creation?
Naming is one of the primary steps when it comes to starting the business. Some people brainstorm with their co-founders, some use various AI solutions, and many turn to branding agencies for help.
Yet, there is one more option that many founders do not consider: to hire an agency specialized in brand naming.
Does it make sense to hire a naming agency? Is there any difference between the naming agency and a branding agency? And does it make sense for a business to hire a naming specialist?
As you may guess, the answer will depend on the problem.
Branding Goes Beyond the Business Name
Typically, a branding agency focuses on the broader questions: how the business should look, what it stands for, and how to recognize it.
It could include positioning, visual identity development, logo creation, packaging, messaging, etc. Naming is also part of that process.
If you have a business that requires developing all those aspects from scratch, it would be easier to work with one agency that will do all the job. Name, identity, and messaging will be developed simultaneously.
Still, not all branding agencies have the same approach toward naming. Branding agencies generally do not have a dedicated naming team.
Both options could be good for your business; it only depends on the capabilities of the agency and complexity of the brief.
What Changes When You Hire a Naming Agency?
Naming agencies begin by asking themselves a simpler but still complex question: What is the best name for this brand and why?
The answer to such a simple question requires much more effort than one might think.
Let’s consider an example of a company introducing a new branded packaged food in India. The founder wishes to have an elegant, catchy, short, and scalable name.
It is quite possible that an hour or two of brainstorming will give a few very promising ideas. But how about checking if these names sound in other languages, whether they can be pronounced conveniently by people, how competitive they are compared to existing brands, and how they fit future product introductions?
A naming process can become helpful at this point. The process depends on the naming agency but generally includes competitor analysis, linguistic research, word creation, name evaluation, and preliminary trademark investigation.
It is not that branding agencies are incapable of doing all that. The difference is that naming agencies pay more attention to solving these kinds of issues.
The Difference, Without the Jargon
| If you need… | Consider… |
|---|---|
| A name, logo, packaging, and complete visual identity | A branding agency |
| A name for a new company, product, or service | A naming agency |
| A new name for an existing business | Either, but a naming agency will give better output |
| Naming expertise alongside a larger branding project | A branding agency with a dedicated naming team, or separate specialists |
Founders need to understand the exact process and relevant experience, not just the type of agency on a website.
Why Naming in India Requires More Than a List of Names
India becomes an interesting object for specialists in naming as the same name might become familiar and pronounced correctly in one language but unknown in the other. What is clear and easy for one linguistic group of consumers to pronounce might be difficult for the other one.
A name which will suit perfectly the regional company could be needed for the national company in case expansion becomes a plan.
But this does not mean that every Indian company should have a name which works equally well in every language. It just means that founders of companies should clearly define their target markets and test their options appropriately.
Sometimes consultancies in naming do not use only linguistic words which are understandable for everyone or spontaneous brainstorming but also linguistics and word construction.
Tiepograph is the brand naming consultant which operates in India, and when we explored them we found their work to be appropriate for Indian businesses. This consultancy has a method of working into linguistics-led naming. The agency has a library of more than 7,500 morphemes (meaningful elements of words) in order to create names.
It can be seen from the method above that the problem of naming could be considered as the problem of construction and evaluation of linguistic expressions rather than collection of words.
Of course, size of the library cannot be used as the criterion of the quality of the result. What is important is how the agency uses its method, understands the brief, evaluates its options and gives recommendations.
What About Using AI to Come Up with the Name of Your Business?
It has definitely been easier to come up with names thanks to the advent of AI software that enables the founder of a business to come up with many ideas based on a description of the business at no cost.
This is very good. It allows people to explore options and identify possibilities that they had not thought of.
However, the problem comes in ascertaining whether the suggested names are appropriate.
An AI-generated name may seem very good but similar to existing brands. It might also prove difficult to pronounce in the target market or restrictive when the business starts expanding into other markets.
This is not unique to AI. The same challenges can also arise through human brainstorms.
The point of difference is in the generation of names versus the evaluation of the names. No matter how one comes up with the name, whether from human sources, naming agencies or AI, the evaluation is necessary in light of the goals of the business and the relevant legal constraints.
When Do You Need a Naming Specialist?
Begin with the problem.
If you have your name and you just need to build the visual identity around it, then a branding agency would probably be sufficient.
If you’ve been going round in circles trying to come up with names, or you are launching several products at once, or you need a name that would work in different markets, you might want to consider hiring a naming expert.
Before even considering a specialist, try to ask yourself several questions:
- How do you create names other than brainstorming?
- How do you evaluate the pronunciation and language associations?
- What if the initial generation of names fails?
- What research/evaluations are included in the process?
- Are you able to provide some samples of your naming projects and explain your process?
The answer to these simple questions would give you much more information than any fancy services portfolio or technical terms.
The Name Is Only the Beginning
There is no need for a brand name to be a definition of your business. Names can be descriptive, they can point to an idea and some names get their meanings through businesses that they support.
The most important thing is to create a name that fits your brand, works for your target audience and has enough room left for the business development.
Whether the process will take place in a branding agency or separately from the naming expert, is a secondary question.
The main thing is that your name gets the same level of attention as other aspects of the brand.
