Go Ahead, Judge That Book By Its Cover

In this age of myriad financial products, voluminous communications and fierce competition, naming a new venture, product or service can be one of an organization’s most important marketing decisions. A name, the initial impression made on the prospect’s mind, is the first step in the branding process. With marginal differences in financial product and service categories, a better name can mean a significant difference in acceptance and, hence, in sales. Conversely, a bad name can turn away prospects before they learn anything about the product or service. We examine just a few of the approaches companies use to find the right name. A current fad is contrived names. For example, Verizon combines the Latin word veritas (truth) with horizon, while Lucent means “m View the rest of this article