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How to name your product comparative with your competition

how-to-name-your-product-comparative-with-your-competition

When you are planning to name your future product, the names used by your competitors for the same category of products are very important. In many cases, some potential clients request to us to find “similar” product names with the ones used by the competitors. In other cases, we are requested to find truly innovative and very different solutions (this case is rarer, tough).

From this article you will discover more about:

  • The optimum naming solution compared with your competitors
  • Why “too similar” is not so good
  • Why “too different” is not so good either
  1. Comparative analysis of the product names used by your competitors

The steps for making this comparative analysis are the following:

  • Identifying the type of names used by your most important 10 competitors. You can read more about the type of names in this very useful article.
  • Making a table with this categorization of product names (descriptive, suggestive, metaphorical and invented)
  • Identifying the naming category which has the largest number of competitors
  • Identifying the naming category which has the smallest number of competitors or even maybe none of them

Now…ask yourself the following questions:

Why your competitors have chosen more one type of product names than the others?

Why one of the categories is not chosen at all?

  1. Why “too similar” is not so good?

If your competitors have chosen, for example, the descriptive naming type (is the most encountered case in all the technological fields), if you will come with a very similar descriptive product name, the most important disadvantage will be that you will not differentiate your product name by your competition. The target audience will not memorize and remember your product name. Practically, it will be simply lost in the large crowd of descriptive names.

Your biggest competitors have the advantage of already being trusted by your target audience. Their product names, even if they are descriptive, they are already familiar for your potential customers. Having too similar product names may cause you a lot of problems.

  1. Why “too different” is not so good either?

If you are planning to launch a new fragrance, for example, you may see the fact that almost all the fragrances on the market are using mostly metaphorical names. If you want to be very different and you will choose a descriptive name, like: Sweet Fragrance, Long-Lasting Fragrance, you will not be different in the good way. You risk becoming really embarrassing…for your target audience.

When your potential customers are used with a certain type of product names, they tend to see the disruptive options as: awkward, stupid, dull or not trustworthy.

  1. Which is the best naming decision?

As naming specialists, our advice would be the following:

It’s good to be different than your competitors, but not quite different. So, if your competitors are choosing descriptive product names, our suggestion would be to find a suggestive name. If they are using suggestive names, you can try a metaphorical name. If they are using metaphorical names, you may find some good naming options in the suggestive naming category or the invented naming category. So, basically, you must have a look on the next category after the one chosen by them.

For certain, to choose an invented name when all your competitors are choosing descriptive product names, it may be a risky and even bad decision for your future launch.

If you need help with your next product naming project, we are here for you. Just drop us a line!

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