Before launching its grocery-store-within-a-store concept in 1998, Target Corporation needed a killer name for its private-label brand. Enter Mollie Young and Bridget Levin, founding principals of Nametag International, Inc., a Minneapolis-based brand-strategy and naming firm. Their proposal? Archer Farms.
Bull’s-eye. Every “target” needs an “archer,” and “farms” conveys freshness. “‘Archer Farms’ does the two things a good name has to do—it reinforces the brand and delivers the right image,” Young says. “The name had to be linked to Target’s business strategy and resonate with its end users.”
The most creative names are the most unexpected—and also the riskiest.
The right name is a company’s calling card and projects its personality and values to the world. It can even mean the difference between business success and failure. “A good name is engaging, memorable, and reinforces the company’s or product’s positioning in the marketplace,” says Nathalie Wilson, vice president of account strategy for Yamamoto Moss, a Minneapolis-based creative services agency that also performs naming work. “It’s all about creating the right impression, differentiating yourself, and forging a positive relationship with the target audience.”
So how is a good name for a business discovered? Seems like it should be pretty simple. It’s not.
