GAZETA MERCANTIL
MARCH, 2001

MODERN BRANDS RESURRECT LATIN

Developing Brands

Words taken from the Ancient Roman language can assure the success of brand name products or companies

There was a time when companies were named Fiscal Oilfields or National Iron and Steel Works Company. Could there be a more unmistakable brand name strategy than National Chocolate Factory? What about Brazilian Telecommunications Company?

That no longer exists. Descriptive marks are out of fashion. Even though they explain themselves and don't have any legal problems with registration, as do other brand names, they were abandoned by the corporate world because they are long and become obsolete when the company changes their commercial focus. "Markets move very quickly and brand names should adapt to these changes. Imagine if Amazon.com were called Books.com. With that brand name, how could they sell toys and electronics?"

The trend is to use made-up words with specific meanings, that don't have negative connotations and that can be pronounced in several languages. If they come from Latin, even better. They are everywhere: Novartis, Aventis, Inceptor, Vastera, Spherion, Vaultus, Aspecta, Terra, Venator, Derivium, Abilizer, Equilon, Agilent, Meritor, Emergia, Metris, Visteon. "Using Latin as a root to create pharmaceutical brand names or consumer brand names has been in style for a long time. Not only is it understandable in various languages, but it also transmits a sense of durability.

The proliferation of firms whose proprietary names contain words that don't exist is not an invention of image consultants. It is the result of a decade-long prosperity in the economy of the United States that initiated the launching of millions of new companies and propelled the merger or growth of many others with which the need for brand names increased.

During the past two years, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has received an unprecedented increase in patent applications for a similar time period. The same was revealed in a survey conducted by Rivkin & Associates, in which 85% of the 600 interviewed companies created a new brand name for a product, a service, a subsidiary or a division between 1998 and 2000. Two-thirds of the companies stated that finding an adequate brand name development strategy proved more difficult than what it once was.
Developing Brands

THE IMPACT OF WORDS

Image consultants agree: the biggest challenge at the time of creating a brand name is the possibility of registering it in all the countries where the corporation is active or expects to be so in the future.

The availability of proprietary brands that are not registered decreased dramatically at the hands of the Internet since many "dot.com" companies not only registered their domain names on the Web, but went so far as to make it a brand name. Because of that, brand-naming experts have dedicated themselves to look to ancient languages such as Latin or Greek for words that are available and that can have a positive effect on consumers. In addition to making up neologisms, name creators have taken to tricks such as word shortening, with which they resolve any legal problems at the time they manage to transmit a definition to the consumer. Such is the case of names like Genuity, which evokes the idea of authenticity or Intelig and Teligent, which suggests the notion of intelligence.

Inventing brand names is not the only en vogue trend among brand consultants. Other used resources include adding an "e" or an "i" as a prefix to link the corporation to virtual economy and utilizing colors: Red Envelope, Blue Martini. Another in-fashion resource: semi-descriptive brand names that come as a result of combining two words with hopes that they can have specific meaning.

Famous examples: Nutrasweet, Dreamworks, Priceline. The reasoning? "Real words aren't available, but the union of two real words full of meaning is," says James Dettore, CEO of the consulting firm The BRAND INSTITUTE, inc.
Developing Brands

MODIFYING BRAND NAMES CAN COST MILLIONS

As a result of their separation from Andersen Worldwide, it will cost Accenture, formerly known as Andersen Consulting, an initial investment of 175 million dollars to market their new brand name.

Primetime commercials, advertisements in important publications and event sponsorship are among initiatives to spread the new brand name that interpret the idea of "emphasis on the future."

"Changing our name brand has allowed us to inform our clients and to much of the world that we are a brand name company that does much more than just consulting," explains Teresa Poppengohl, director of the Trademark and Advertising division of Accenture.

Even though promoting the new proprietary brand name will cost the company a significant amount, the invention in itself has resulted inexpensive given the fact that Accenture was created by one of the company's consultants in Norway through an internal contest that yielded more then 2,000 suggestions. The prize for the winner was two round-trip tickets to Australia.

WHAT TO NAME IT?

Developing Brands

Experts recommend:

Short brand names - a maximum of four syllables.

Avoid acronyms - Real or created words are easier to remember than a name such as BZW.

Avoid descriptive brand names - In the case that the company changes its services, the name could lose meaning.

Try the union of two words - It's in fashion and more likely to be available. Examples: Newsweek, Nutrasweet.

Use parts of words - Also in fashion. Intuit, Novation or Intelig are good examples.

Don't believe in myths - Even though several companies would like their names to start with an "A" so as to be first in directories, that is not relevant. What is important is a good name. Besides, there are several out already: Aspecta, Advanta, Arcadis, Avaya, Agilent, Accenture, Abilizer, Advantra, Ascentia.

Make use of Latin - But don't exaggerate. Consultants use and abuse Latin because it works in various languages. Examples: Spherion, Derivium, Equilon, Meritor, Metris, Visteon, Vastera, Vaultus, Inceptor, Novartis, Aentis, Venator, Connetics, Medicis, Solaris.

Few words, Several meanings

Some marks can induce laughter or headaches in Latin America.

COLGATE: In some Spanish-speaking countries it is equivalent to "cuélgate" (hang yourself).
NIVEA: Latin Americans read it "Ni vea" (literally, "don't look").
CHEVY NOVA: In Portuguese "nova" means "new", but in Spanish it means "doesn't go" or "no go".
FORD PINTO: In Brazil, the company had to change the name to Ford Corcel.
MITSUBISHI PAJERO: A name that didn't do well in Argentina.
Developing Brands