A short three part guide to developing a brand. Part 1: Marketing Research & Defining your audience Part 2: Developing your brand DNA and vision Part 3: Brand name development

1. Creating your Brand
Three Part Guide
1

2. Before you start.
When starting a new company, many people often want to jump straight into the naming
of a company and then delve into the design elements, i.e the logo / look and feel.
!
There is much more involved in developing a brand from scratch than the name and
look and feel. Think of these elements as individual parts of a jigsaw puzzle, that if put
together create a bigger picture. It’s difficult to put the jigsaw puzzle together, if you
don’t know what the bigger picture is.
!
So using this analogy, this presentation is a guide to helping you define the bigger
picture first, and then work putting the jigsaw together with this picture in mind. I have
created it to a be a help guide to the many friends that ask me to help them create a
brand name, as such it has been written as simply as possible.
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The guide is split into three parts:
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Part One is about understanding your marketplace, the opportunity, the risks and
your audience(s).
Part Two is focused on defining your Brands DNA - that is what your brand
represents
Part Three is about the development of the brand name itself
The action points throughout are in red.
2

3. Before you start.
Caveats:
Step by step:
The order of things within this presentation doesn’t necessarily need to be fixed or
rigid, there are times where one element can be done before another, however for
the purpose of ‘A Guide’, it helps to have a step by step process in place.
Who this guide is for:
This guide is not meant to be a definitive and ultimate guide to creating a brand.
There are many different and more complex methods depending on your time and
budget. It is a simplistic lean guide created for people that are new to marketing and
branding and want to understand how they create their brand for their startup.
I believe this guide has all of the key ingredients to help these people develop their
understanding of all the elements that make up a brand, which will enable them to
create a solid and appealing brand that reflects their product/service to their defined
audience in the best possible way.
3

4. What is a Brand?
To begin and to clarify things it is worth
starting with the basics.
What is a brand?
Formally: Proprietary trademark for a
specific product or service.
Conceptually: A contract from a company
to its customers, a promise of specific
benefits, quality, and value. A relationship.
In reality: It is the above, but it also can be
simplified to this - It is whatever the
customer thinks it is, and what customers
tell each other it is.
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5. What is a Brand?
!
!
A brand in it’s entirety is the sum total of the
customers overall perception and experience
of all of the elements as shown on the left.
It is not just the logo, the name, the strap
line - It is the customer perception of the
personality, the essence, the values, the
touch, the feel, the products, the experience.
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6. Guide Summary.
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PART 1: RESEARCH
1. Know your market:
Includes: Market research, opportunities & threats,
competitor analysis, POP & POD, & Porters Five Forces
2. Audience:
Includes: Segmentation, targeting, & positioning statement
!
PART 2: BRAND DNA & GOAL
Includes: Brand Essence, Brand Values, Brand Personality, Mission Statement,
Vision, Brand Promise, Brand Mantra, Goals, Brand Promise
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PART 3: BRAND DEVELOPMENT & VERBAL LANGUAGE
Includes: Brainstorming 101, developing a name (pt 1 & 2)

7. Part One: Research
7

8. 1. Know your market
Before you start developing a brand, it is essential that you truly understand your marketplace and audience.
The fact that you are now focusing on the brand itself would suggest you have already done the necessary research detailed within
this section, however if you haven’t - you need to as understanding these elements is fundamental to the creation and success of
your business plan.
Action Required: Create a document that answers all of the points below
Market Research - Size and potential scalability of industry, trends in technology /
customer service / media - this research can and should be extended to look at the
global marketplace as valuable insights may be found.
Opportunities & Threats - What are they?
Competitor Analysis - The point of this exercise is to paint a very detailed picture
of your competitors.
Competitor analysis includes but is not limited to: who they are, where are they
based/operate, what is their market-share, what are their strengths / weaknesses,
what do you think they are doing well/badly, what are their customers saying about
them (look on social media), what is your perception/experience of them, what
marketing are they doing and where, how are the brands positioned, what is their
story, their vision, their mission. What are their price-points?
Points of Parity & Points of difference
List what they are.
Perceptual mapping is also a very useful way of graphically demonstrating
competitor positioning for specific parameters. An example is on the right.
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9. Porters Five Forces
In addition to the action points mentioned on the previous page, you
may also want to complete this popular business strategy exercise of
competitive analysis called ‘Porters five forces analysis’. Action points
and explanation are on the following slide.
What is Porters five forces analysis?
Porters five forces analysis has become an essential tool and
framework for industry analysis and business strategy development.
This tool helps you:
Understand where power lies in a business situation
Identify and qualitatively access the profitability, opportunity and risk
based upon five factors within an industry - Supplier Power, Buyer
power, Threat of New Entry, Threat of Substitution and Competitive
Rivalry
Understand the strength of a position you are considering moving
into - useful if you are starting/launching a new business
Understand the strength of your current competitive position - useful
if you are an existing business
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9

10. Porters Five Forces
Action Required:
1. Create a document using the five forces listed below and brainstorm your observations on each factor - a template of
questions to follow is on the diagram on the left, and there is a real life business example on the right.
2. Mark each of the five key forces with either a ‘-‘, ‘+’, or ‘0’ to demonstrate the size and scale of the force; ‘negative’, ‘positive’,
or neutral. This can be seen on the real life example on the right.
3. Think about how this analysis affects your business plan and things you can/need to do to strengthen it.
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Template questions by category ! Example of a real business !
10

11. 2. Audience - STP
Now that you have an understanding of the marketplace and competitors, you now need to
understand and decide on your target audience. A popular way of doing this is using the
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) strategic approach.
This model is a useful audience focused approach (as opposed to a product focused one) to
creating a marketing communications plans because:
It helps Marketers prioritise propositions
It enables the development and delivery of relevant messaging to engage and resonate
with specific and different audiences
This exercise will lead you to develop a positioning statement for your brand that appeals to
your specific audience and starts the ball rolling on the development of your brand.
Marketing Segmentation
!
- Identify bases for
segmentation
- Determine important
characteristics of each
market segment
Marketing Targeting
!
- Evaluate potential &
commercial attractiveness
of each segment
- Select one or more
segments
Positioning Statement
!
- Develop a detailed
positioning statement for
selected segments
- Develop a marketing mix
for each segment
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12. Marketing Segmentation
The are many ways to segment your potential audience and discover niche’s with specific needs, grow new audiences, and ensure
marketing messaging is differentiated based upon the segment - it’s rarely a one hat fits all.
Below are a few methods to do so.
Demographics: Age, gender, income, education, ethnicity, marital status, education, household etc
Psychographics: Refers to personality and emotions based on behaviours linked to purchase choices including attitudes, lifestyle,
hobbies,risk aversion, personality and leadership traits
Lifestyle: Relates to hobbies, recreational pursuits, entertainment, vacations, and other non-work time activities
Beliefs and values: Refers to religious, political, nationalistic, and cultural beliefs and values
Life stages: The chronological benchmarking of people’s lives at different stages - think Saga aimed at people 50+
Geography: Breakdown by country, region, area, metropolitan or rural location, population density, or even climate.
Behaviour: Refers to there nature of the purchase, brand loyalty, usage level, benefits sought, distribution channels used, reaction
to marketing factors.
Benefit: Is the use and satisfaction gained by the consumer.
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Action Required:
Using one, some or many of the approaches above, create a list of your intended audience segments. The next step
‘Targeting’ is the evaluation step.
Marketing Segmentation
!
- Identify bases for
segmentation
- Determine important
characteristics of each market
segment
12

13. Marketing Targeting
Now that you have a list of potential segments, it’s time to evaluate the potential commercial
attractiveness of each segment.
Below are some criteria to help you evaluate your segments.
Criteria Size: Is the market large enough to justify segmenting? If the market is small it
may make it smaller
Difference: The segments must have measurable differences between each other
Money: Anticipated profits must exceed the costs of additional marketing plans and other
changes
Accessible: Each segment must be accessible to your team and the segment must be
able to receive your marketing messages
Marketing Targeting
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- Evaluate potential &
commercial attractiveness of
each segment
- Select one or more segments
Action Required:
Evaluate your segments using the points above.
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14. Positioning Statement
A positioning statement is a corporate declaration which clearly defines your brands place in
the market. It helps brings clarity and focus to your marketing strategy and gives a you a
point of reference from which to make a decisions regarding everything about your image.
Below are two templates which will help you create your positioning statement.
Template #1:
For (target audience ), (brand) is the (frame of reference) that delivers (benefit / point of
difference) because only (brand name) is (reason to believe).
Template #2:
For (your target) who wants / needs (reason to buy your product / service), the (your product
or service) is a (category) that provides (your key benefit). Unlike (your main competitor),
the (your product/service) (your key differentiator)
The source of these templates and further reading on this can be found here
Action Required:
Using one of the templates above, create your brand positioning statement.
Positioning Statement
!
- Develop detailed positioning
statement for selected
segments
- Develop a marketing mix for
each segment segments
14

15. Part 1 - Checklist
To quickly recap this section before you move onto Part 2, you should now have a detailed
understanding and written documentation of each of the following. If you haven’t, you need
to.
Market Research
Opportunities & Threats
Competitor Analysis
Points of parity / points of difference
Porters five forces analysis
Audience (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning)
!
!
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16. Part Two: Brand DNA
16

17. Brand DNA - Methods
CORPORATE MISSION
BRAND ATTRIBUTES
CONSUMER BENEFITS
BRAND VALUES
BRAND
PERSONALITY
BRAND
CORE
First and foremost, there are tons of different methods, models, and terminologies around the subject of ‘Brand DNA’, which often have
different or even contradicting meanings. The Marketing industry likes displaying information within shapes; pyramids, onions, circles,
combined circles squares, rectangles, etc. There are different and compelling rationales for the shape of choice that is used, normally
with equally valid arguments to flip the shape inside out or upside down - all of which can often leave the viewer thoroughly confused
at the unnecessary over complication.
Two popular models of showing and developing your brand DNA is 1. The Pyramid and 2. The brand Wheel. I have created both
above with the elements that I believe are important. Whilst the Pyramid and the Brand Wheel examples above essentially contain the
same information, they convey this information in slightly different ways. For the purpose of simplicity, meaning and mutual
understanding, I favour the wheel methodology so use this within this section.
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18. Brand DNA overview
HEADS & HEARTS -
INTERNAL DRIVERS
What the brand wants to
achieve and stands for, how the
brand will achieve it, and the
single minded reason why
Vision
Mission
Core Purpose
Values
Goals
PROOF & PUDDING -
EXTERNAL DRIVERS
Key brand attributes that
distinguish the brand most
strongly, tangible or
intangible
Key benefits the customer
receives from experiencing
your brand, typically
emotional to allow the
strongest connection to
the target
Positioning
Brand Attributes
Consumer benefits
External Proposition
WALKING & TALKING -
BRAND PERSONALITY
Key traits an audience will
experience from your brand
Brand personality
Brand Mantra
CORE OF THE
BRAND - BRAND
ESSENCE
Single most
important quality or
principle that makes
the brand most
valuable, your point
of difference
18

19. Brand DNA overview
The brand DNA wheel on the left and in more detail on the
previous slide gives you an overview of all of the components
that make up the brand DNA.
Keep coming back to this wheel, as by the end of this section
you will have a clear and considered brand DNA with a
definitive core ‘essence’.
Action required: Read through the entire brand DNA section
once before making a start so that you have overall
understanding of the process and then come back to each of
the action points detailed in red on the following slides.
19

20. Internal drivers
‘Heads & Hearts’
20

21. Corporate Mission
The first element you will focus on is your brands Corporate
Mission, and that consists of the following elements as
summarised in the pyramid on the right that was created by
Marty Neumeier.
Goals
Mission
Vision
Purpose
Action Required:
Read through the following Mission, Vision, Goals, and
Purpose slides to fully understand their role, meanings and
differences before you create them for your brand.
What the pyramid is trying to demonstrate is that the vision (the what) and the mission (the
how) support the purpose (the why). You can have a ‘why’ without the ‘what’ and the
‘how’, but there is little common sense in having a ‘what’ and ‘how’ without a ‘why’. The
why, the ‘Purpose’, determines everything in the pyramid (your brand) and should be the
sole work related reason you get out of bed in the morning. As in life, purpose is
everything.
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22. To consider
In this section of creating a Vision, Mission and Purpose statement it is worth noting the following:
As per Simon Sinek’s very popular ‘Golden Circle’ philosophy. always start with the why, i.e the Brand Purpose. Brand Purpose
can be a stand alone brand element or it can be a statement that is found within the Mission or Vision statement. What matters is
that you have identified what your brands single minded purpose is and convey it within your brand DNA.
Some popular brands just have a Mission, or a Vision - not both, or they have their Mission and Vision Statements around the
wrong way. This obviously hasn’t impeded their success but is just worth noting if you are looking at examples.
Some brands keep their Mission Statements internal and not public facing.
When researching Mission, Vision and Purpose statements, it’s not unusual to find commentators labelling examples the wrong
way around or incorrectly. I.e A ‘Purpose’ could actually be part of a brand Mission or Vision Statement.
What is important for the purpose of this guide:
Accept there are different opinions and methods in creating these statements.
What is important is the outcome of completing the methodology stated in this guide - that is the thinking, consideration, and single
minded focus and direction which leaves you with clear answers as to your brands ‘What’, ‘How’, and ‘Why’.
For the purpose of this guide
Purpose is the sole motivator for the existence of the brand (The why)
Vision is the snapshot of the destination (The what)
The Mission is the path to get to that destination (The how)
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23. Reference Matrix
It is the ‘why’ your brand exists. It should be
the sole defining driver and motivator for
every action your brand makes. !
Purpose transcends business and product
(the what) and delivers on human principles
(the why).!
Some brands do not have a standalone
brand purpose and rather include it within
their Mission or Vision. What is important is
that your brand has a defined single minded
purpose regardless of where it is found. "
Some of these examples come from the
brands Mission or Vision statements!
Johnson & Johnson - Caring for the World
(one person at a time)!
Nintendo - Put smiles on the faces of
everyone we touch!
Coke Cola - To refresh the World, to inspire
moments of optimism and happiness, to create
value and make a difference"
What is Brand Purpose?"
Visioning is a picture of what success will be
at a particular time in the future.!
A vision statement makes business planning
effective and provides the destination for the
journey you are on. !
A vision statement is a brief and succinct
sentence that clearly focuses on the
potential inherent in the companies future
and states what they intend to be. !
Whilst some Vision Statements may
reference how they intend to make ‘the
what’ happen, ‘the how’ is really part of the
Mission Statement.!
Generic example: ”To become the number
one produce store in Bondi by selling the
highest quality, freshest farm produce, from
farm to customer in under 24 hours on 75% of
our range and with 98% customer satisfaction.”!
Red Bull: ““Our mission is to be the premier
marketer and supplier of Red Bull in
Asia,Europe, and other parts of the globe. We
will achieve this mission by building long-term
relationships with the people who can make it
become a reality.”!
Amazon example: ”Our [Amazon's] vision is to
be earth's most customer centric company; to
build a place where people can come to find
and discover anything they might want to buy
online.”!
Nike: To bring inspiration and innovation to
every athlete (they actually call this their
Mission but by definition it is their vision)!
Generic example: To help people be healthy"
What is a Mission Statement?" What is Visioning & Vision Statement?"
Mission Statement Examples" Vision Statement Examples"Brand Purpose Examples"
A company’s Mission Statement acts as the
company’s compass. The mission is the
path. (The vision is the end point)
A short, sharp and concise sentence or
paragraph that helps clarify what business
you are in, your goals and your objectives.
It defines the key measures of the
organisations success and can be used
both internally and publicly.
!
!
23

24. Brand Purpose (The Why)
Action Required: Define your Brand Purpose, that is the single minded reason WHY your brand exists.
What is Brand Purpose?
It is the ‘why’ your brand exists. It should be the sole defining driver and motivator for every action your brand
makes.
Purpose transcends business and product (the what) and delivers on human principles (the why).
Examples:
As you can see below, some brands’ Purposes’ are found and defined in their Mission or Vision Statements.
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24

25. Visioning (The What)
There is a lot of contradictory corporate dribble about what a Vision statement ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’ be rather
than the important stuff like what it actually represents and its practical application. In my opinion there are two
important elements around developing a company vision, that is Visioning and your Vision Statement..
What is Visioning?
Visioning can be used for almost anything, from a single project, business unit, specific meeting to a holistic view of
an entire brand in the future. What Visioning is and should answer is described in the diagram below.
Visioning
Is a picture of what success looks
like at a particular time in the future
What does your
company look
like?
A goal everyone is
working towards
How big is your
company?
What is your
company known /
famous for?
Why does anyone
care about what
your company
does?
What’s your role in
the future of the
company?
Inspiring Exciting
Motivating (for you
and your team)
Strategically sound
but not a strategic
plan
Something that
won't change
every time the
market or your
Ambitious but
achievable
25

26. Visioning (The What)
How to create your Visioning story"
The eight steps below are taken from an article written by Ari Weinzweig, which is itself an adaption of his book, ‘Zingerman's Guide to
Good Leading, Part 1: A Lapsed Anarchist's Approach to Building a Great Business.’ !
Ari is the successful co-founder and CEO of Zingerman's Community of Businesses in Michigan, which currently has over 500
employees and revenue of $37 million a year.!
Ari’s article brilliantly articulates what visioning is. For a more detailed explanation of the eight steps below I recommend you read his
article here !
Eight steps to creating a Visioning Story"
1. Pick your topic - in this case the topic is your entire brand!
2. Pick your time frame - Far out enough to get beyond present-day problems but not so far out that you have no sense at all of
actually getting there. 5-10 years is the standard. !
3. Put together a list of “prouds” - Spend about ten minutes creating a list of positive and relevant achievements including past
successes, skills, techniques, and resources that could be assets in achieving your vision. !
4. Write the first draft - Go for something great - Write from the heart - Step into the future - Go quickly - Get personal"
5. Review and redraft"
6. More redrafts"
7. Solicit Input - Get input from people you trust and respect"
8. Share the vision - Share it with everyone who will be involved with implementing or who will be affected by it"
26

27. Vision (The What)
Action Required: Create your Vision Statement. For examples look at the ‘Reference Matrix’
What is a Vision Statement?
A Vision Statement makes business planning effective and provides the destination for the journey
you are on.
A Vision Statement is a brief and succinct sentence that clearly focuses on the potential inherent
in the companies future and states what they intend to be. Whilst some Vision Statements may
reference how they intend to make ‘the what’ happen, ‘the how’ is really part of the Mission
Statement.
!
!
27

28. Mission Statement (The How)
Action Required: Create a short and succinct Mission Statement following the four points listed below. For examples look at the
‘Reference Matrix’
What is a Mission Statement?
A company’s Mission Statement acts as the company’s compass. The mission is the path. (The vision is the end point)
A short, sharp and concise sentence or paragraph that helps clarify what business you are in, your goals and your objectives.
It defines the key measures of the organisations success and can be used both internally and publicly.
How to create your mission statement
1. First identify your organisation's "winning idea”, that is your USP that was discovered within the competitor research phase.
2. Next identify the key measures of your success. Make sure you choose the most important measures (and not too many of
them!)
3. Combine your winning idea and success measures into a tangible and measurable goal.
4. Refine the words until you have a concise and precise statement of your mission, which expresses your ideas, measures and
desired result.
“(Time-scale in years) from now, my company will…………….by…………………..:
Interesting further reading here
!
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29. Brand Values
Action Required: Define your core brand values, and also brand drivers - that is the application of the core
values.
What are ‘Brand Values’?
Your brand values define who you are.
They are key behaviours, attitudes or virtues that need to be expressed all of the time.
These values work together cohesively - each complimenting the other.
They are a call to action and doctrine for everyone responsible for the brand.
Brand drivers are the application of the brand values
Examples and application:
Optus core values are: Customer Focus, Challenger Spirit, Teamwork, Integrity, Personal Excellence
Other Examples:
Quality before quantity
We put the customer first
We work as one team
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30. Goals
This is not necessarily an essential step for your branding development, however I have
added it as it’s quite a natural and important step for your overall business development
following the creation of your Vision and Mission statements.
Action Required:
List short-term (1-5 years) objectives that support your Mission and Vision
Goals should be SMART that is:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-based
Further reading on Goal Setting using this SMART model -
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31. Rational & Emotional
Attributes, personality & essence
31

32. Rational & Emotional
The diagram on the left is a brand
essence wheel and it is a useful
reference tool to help map out the rational
and emotional attributes and
characteristics of your brand.
It covers the ‘External Drivers’ aka ‘Proof
& Pudding’, ‘Brand Personality’ aka
‘Walking and Talking’, and the core
essence of your brand as shown in the
original Brand Wheel diagram at the
beginning of the brand DNA section.
!
Action Required:
The following slides will go through each
element as per this wheel.
32

33. External drivers
‘Proof & Pudding’
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34. Rational
This is the rational half of the wheel
Action Required: Brainstorm and answer the following points.
What the product does for me
How I would describe the product
Facts about the product / service
!
!
!
!
!
This is the rational half of the wheel
Action Required: Brainstorm and
answer the following points.
What the product does for me
How I would describe the product
Facts about the product / service
34

35. Brand Personality
‘Walking & Talking’
35

36. Emotional
This is the emotional half of the
wheel
Action Required: Brainstorm and
answer the following points.
How the brand makes me look
How the brand makes me feel
Read the next slide for how to
define your brand personality
!
36

37. Brand Personality
Action Required: List your key brand personalities. Use your competitor analysis to identify how your brand personality is different to
your competitors.
What is Brand Personality?
It can be defined as the brand's values, beliefs, gender, age, and numerous other qualities that associate the brand with a “person”
using human personality personality traits, e.g friendly, intelligent, innovative etc
Personality is how the brand behaves and is represented all of the time. Customers are more likely to purchase from your brand/use
your service if its personality is similar to theirs.
It is an expression of the relationship between the consumer and the brand, and is another way to differentiate yourself from
competition.
We associate brands with personalities by how positive or negative our experiences with the brand are. If it has solid customer
service, is family friendly and has good value for the product then it is more likely to receive a positive brand personality.
Examples:
Most brand personality traits fall within one of five main categories (in bold below). Examples of the actual brand personalities after.
Excitement: carefree, spirited, youthful
Sincerity: genuine, kind, family-oriented, thoughtful
Ruggedness: rough, tough, outdoors, athletic
Competence: successful, accomplished, influential, a leader
Sophistication: elegant, prestigious, pretentious
!
Malboro is “masculine’, while Virginia is ‘slim’
IBM is ‘older’, while Apple is ‘younger’
Coke is classic and mature, while Pepsi is younger, hipper (than coke)
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38. Core of the brand
‘Brand Essence’
38

39. Brand Essence
Action Required: Define your brand essence - this is a single minded word(s) (one or two words max).
What is ‘Brand Essence’?
Brand essence sums up how your brand connects emotionally with your customers and is the emotional heart of a
brand. A brand essence is intangible and encapsulates the soul of the brand. It should be enduring, and provide
differentiation from competitors.
Examples: Nike is inspirational - Walt Disney is magical.
Brand essence needs to be:
Unique: The essence of a brand is how it is different from competitors in the same category. e.g., if Apple (and its
products) is friendly and approachable, then it is claiming that its competitors are not.
Experiential: The essence captures what the consumer feels during an encounter with the brand. e.g., “Driving a
Volvo makes me feel that my family is safe.”
Consistently delivered: If the proposed essence is not consistently experienced (e.g, if a trip to Walt Disney World
isn’t magical), then it isn’t the essence. Can your organisation deliver?
Authentic: The essence must be credible or the brand will be rejected. To find out what consumers believe about
your brand, ask them. It’s okay for the brand essence to be aspirational, but only if your customers believe you can
39

40. Part 2 - Recap & Checklist
To quickly recap this section before you move onto Part 3, you should now have a detailed
understanding and written documentation of each of the following. If you haven’t, you need to.
Corporate Mission: Internal Drivers ‘Heads & Hearts’ - Visioning & Vision Statement, Mission
Statement, Brand Purpose, Brand Values, and a list of short-term goals,
Rational: External drivers ‘Proof & Pudding’ - What the product does for me, how I would
describe the product, facts about the product/service
Emotional: Brand Personality ‘Walking & Talking’ - How the brand makes me look, how the
brand makes me feel = Brand Personality
Core of the Brand: Brand Core Essence
!
!
!
!
40

41. Part Three:
Coming up with a name
41

42. Brainstorming 101
Different brands - different methods/rationale of creation:
There is the family name (Heinz), the descriptive name (FastCompany), the acronym (QANTAS), the contraction
(FedEx), the fantasy name (Google), names from mythology (Nike), and there is the symbolic name (Red Cross).
They are all excellent descriptions of various types of names and I think they make excellent starting points to
generate great names. Here is a short article and infographic showing the hidden meaning of 40 famous logo’s.
Rules of brainstorming:
Rule #1: Quality comes from Quantity – You will be writing down a LOT of names. Most of them will probably
suck. Some of them will be mediocre and only a few of them will be good or even brilliant. Do not hesitate to write
down any idea that pops to mind. Aim to build a list of at least 30 names - the last few will be the hardest to think of.
Rule #2: Postpone Judgment or Selection Mechanisms - During a brainstorm a lot of ideas that simply suck or
make no sense at all will be brought to the table. Hear something idiotic, wrong or impossible? Don’t comment or
critique but retaliate creatively – by coming up with a different idea.
Rule #3: Associate, Associate, Associate – Use any previous ideas (even the ones that suck) or other stimuli at
your disposal (you did bring a few dictionaries and a stack of magazine did you?) to freely associate and come up
with new ones.
42

43. Developing a name - Step 1 of 2
Step 1: Association Matrix
There are many methods to actually creating a brand name. One
method that I like to get the ball rolling is called ‘Association Matrix’
and is inspired by a post by Hurricane and is explained below.
This element is step 1 of a 2 step process and is a task to get the
creative juices working - the outcome of this step is not to have a
finalised brand name.
On the right is a table that lists 12 categories along its 12 rows. At
the top are labels for five to eight columns. You have to label these
with the five to eight most important attributes of the brand: these
could be its core values, its unique selling points, a single word that
describes your brand promise or any other characteristics that you
want to emphasize.
There is no wrong input.
Keep it short (preferably one word) and preferably use use nouns,
name, verbs, adjectives.
If you have to chose between two words (i.e. library and
scriptorium) chose the most inspiring sounding one.
If you get stuck, skip a rectangle and get back to it later.
You’re not done until you fill in ALL the blanks.
!
Blank PDF download can be found here - !
http://vandewerk.nl/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Association-
Matrix-Empty.pdf
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44. Developing a name - Step 2 of 2
Step 2: Mind Mapping
Following on from step 1, get a big sheet of paper and a pen and pick a
word from step 1 that you find most inspiring and start writing out
associations around it; these could be variations of the word, homonyms,
synonyms etc. Connect relating words using lines and arrows.
You will end up with a mind map - see image on the right.
Again the goal here is quantity not quality and quality is derived from
quantity so keep writing. Combinations will start to be found that you like -
when this happens circle them and repeat the process.
To allow creativity to continue you can also play and modify the word
suggestions that you created in step 1.
Common ways of doing this are to:
Add - take a word and add something to it
Subtract - Take a word and subtract something from it (I.E pegasus
becomes Pega, Pegsus)
Combine - Can you combine two words together?
Translate - Look at foreign translations for your word (Reebok is an African
antelope in Afrikaans). Greek & latin are popular.
Modify - Slightly change the spelling of a word (Think Googol - Google)
Exaggerate - Exaggerating adjectives - Green Giant, Pepsi Max,
Megablocks
Reverse - Reverse the meaning of a word
Rhyme and rhythm
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45. About the Author
Overview:
Over ten years experience as a digital marketing professional
working both client and digital agency side.
From new business development, working up the ranks in account
services to account director, Digital Marketing Manager to Head of
Marketing at a major international sports broadcaster, to a
freelance senior digital strategist across major brands, and
presently heading up Digital at a leading not for profit. !
!
Performance focused digital strategy across the full customer
lifecycle, leadership, a thirst for continued personal development,
and a genuine passion for all things digital are my driving forces.!
!
Blog:"
For interesting things in digital, marketing, TED Talks, life-coaching
and personal developmentI check out my blog!
!
Connect:"
It’s always great to network with like-minded people so please
connect with me on the following:!
!
!
!
!
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46. Appendix
www.ampagency.com/whats-your-brand-essence/
https://www.udemy.com/blog/positioning-statement-example/
www.optus.com.au/aboutoptus/About+Optus/Careers/Working+at+Optus/Optus+Values/Optus+Values
http://www.slideshare.net/jlincoln/developing-a-brand-essence
http://www.substance151.com/news-insights/articles-presentations/article/five-steps-creating-winning-brand
http://redburnmonsters.wordpress.com/2013/10/12/red-bull-brand-image-the-cbbe-pyramid/
http://granitefallsoutfitters.com/GFC/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/BrandPyramid.png
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/brand-pyramid.htm
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_08.htm
http://www.mplans.com/articles/using-porters-five-forces-when-creating-your-marketing-plan/
Mission Statement - http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/65230
http://topnotchquotes.com/?page_id=706
http://communicatingasiapacific.com/2012/06/15/mission-statements-worlds-top-10-brands/
http://www.salterbaxter.com/what-do-you-stand-for/
http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/customer-segmentation-targeting/segmentation-targeting-positioning-model/
!
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