Many trademark lawyers will tell you that the strongest trademarks are marks that don’t “mean” anything. The US Patent and Trademark Office calls these fanciful marks. May this not be also true of business names?
Often, a fanciful mark is a completely made up name with no inherent meaning. Examples are Kodak, Xerox, Verizon, Nike and many others. Names that fall into a similar category are names that are made of letters or abbreviations that are, essentially, meaningless, such as IBM and PPG.
The late Paul Rand, creator of the IBM logo said that the IBM mark has no obvious connection to computers or technology—but that it did not need to.
The job of a mark, or a name for that matter, is to IDENTIFY, not advertise or communicate. A name or logo CAN contain a hint of what a business does for a living, but that is not its essential purpose.
Author and designer John McWade once said that advertising is not the job of a logo—he said that’s the job of a marketing department.
The Nike logo communicated nothing when it was first created, nor did the name Nike. Nike’s success did not depend on an outstanding logo design nor a meaningful name. A name does not need to “explain” a company. Nor does a logo need to make a company “look good.” In both cases, it’s the other way around. The company makes a logo (or name) look good.
Rob Janoff, the Apple logo creator once said that many logo designers try too hard “to put too much in there,” resulting in an ineffective logo design.
The purpose of a business logo or name is not to function as a “customer magnet” or to increase sales. It is an identifier. It should be easy to remember and pronounce. It should highly legible and recognizable. It helps if it’s attractive. It can be “clever” or a play on words—no rule against that. It CAN tell what a business does—but it does not need to. It does not need to “tell a story” or convey the company mission. It does not need to “resonate” with its audience, as some say who pretend to be design authorities. What does that even mean?
Neither a name nor a logo can be a magic wand that somehow increases market share. This is a fallacy that has helped produce design work that is overly complicated.
A name can be tied to a geographical location, or a descriptive feature, or a surname, or it can mean nothing at all.
Whatever it is, advertise it, advertise it. And if you offer a quality product or service, word of mouth with become an even greater marketing force.
Brad in Kansas City