Insights & Tips on Company & Product Naming

Naming a business is a lot like laying the cornerstone of a new building. Once it’s in place, the entire foundation and structure is aligned to that original stone. If it’s off, even in the slightest, the misalignment becomes amplified.

The tougher it gets out there, the more important it is to put your marketing money where it will do the most good. Coming up with the right name for a company or a product can make a huge difference in building a brand and even in determining it’s future success. Too often companies jump straight into designing a logo and then spend the rest of the marketing budget trying to explain to people what they actually do and what their difference is.

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Comments (1) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by: Jon

Tags: 10 tips on company naming, @ThinkTank_, Advertising, Big Idea, Brand Positioning, Brand Strategy, Branding, Company Naming, Cork, differentiation, Fishy Fishy, Innovation, Ireland, Irish Patents Office, Jonathan Amm, Kinsale, Logo Design, Marketing, Product Development, Product Naming, Start-ups, Strategy, Trade Mark Agents, Trademarks, Twitter

Demanding inclusion in the boys’ club is a long and arduous path. Nowadays, smart women are building their own instead……

Get your sunglasses, grab your beach towel and imagine the following scene of children playing in the sand:

Seven boys, ages five to eight, are engineering an intricate series of dams and rivers by the water’s edge. They even build a small hot tub and are enjoying their time in this mini spa when along come the girls – first one, then two. As the third attempts to find a seat in the tub, two boys protest. “No girls allowed.” The girls argue but eventually move along. Minutes later the mothers arrive and demand equal rights for the girls. The boys protest, but the mothers stand guard as the girls are begrudgingly allowed in the tub.

Clearly everyone is having less fun. As soon as the guards leave, the chanting begins anew, “No girls allowed.” The scene repeats several times. Eventually, the mothers become distracted and the girls grow tired of trying. Then one lone girl starts to dig a short distance from the boys. She is far enough to maintain respect for the rule of separation but close enough for the engineers and construction workers to see her. Other girls join in. They build elaborate scenes creatively using beach flora, fauna and debris to make bridges, houses, trees and people.

A curious boy inches his digging project closer to the girls’ scene. Within minutes he connects his trench to their landscape. Other boys take note and edge closer. They build connecting roads as well. Soon the groups’ combined engineering and creative talents result in a complex and ingenious landscape filled with people, cars, pets, trenches, dams and a bigger coed hot tub!

This thought provoking story of boys and girls at play on a summer’s day is an excerpt from an article written by Dr. Anne Perschel which features in the Huffington Post. Anne is the founder and president of Boston based Germane Consulting and is a highly respected leadership and organizational psychologist.

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Comments (5) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by: Lisa

Tags: @TTStrategy, CIT, Cork, Dr. Anne Perschel, Enterprise Ireland, Entrepreneurs, Femtrepreneur, Going for Growth, Ireland, Leadership, Lisa Murphy, Management Consulting, MBA, Start-ups, Twitter, Women in business, www.irishwomeninbusiness.ie, www.networkcork.com, www.networkireland.ie, www.nwed.ie, www.sceb.ie, www.think-tank.ie

Let’s say you’re at a networking event and someone steps in the elevator with you, notices your nametag, and asks, “So what do you guys do?” Quick–what’s your answer? You’ve got just 30 seconds before the doors open so you’d better think fast.

In many ways an Elevator Pitch is shorthand for what your brand stands for. It’s your one-shot opportunity to be different and present yourself in a compelling and memorable way. For most business owners, getting to the crux of what you really do is the hardest, yet potentially most rewarding, one-minute conversation you could ever have.

So what is an Elevator Pitch?

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Comments (4) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by: Jon

Tags: @ThinkTank_, Advertising, Brand Positioning, Branding, Cork, differentiation, Elevator Pitch, Entrepreneurs, Ireland, Jonathan Amm, Marketing, Start-ups, Strategy, ThinkTank, Twitter, Value Proposition, www.think-tank.ie

“Out there in some garage is an entrepreneur who’s forging a bullet with your company’s name on it,” Gary Hamel, a leading business strategy writer and consultant, has written. “You’ve got one option now — to shoot first. You’ve got to out-innovate the innovators.”

Unfortunately most organizations have an in built defence mechanism against new ideas. People don’t like change so immediately find reasons why ideas should not be considered. The problem is that if you don’t start anticipating the future you could be run over by it.

Many SME’s would acknowledge that they need to become more innovative but just don’t know how to start or where to begin. ThinkTank sat down to map out 4 practical ways SME’s  can generate ideas, capture insights and successfully implement a game changing innovation strategy.

1. Make innovation a priority

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Comments (1) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by: Jon

Tags: @ThinkTank_, Business Consulting, Creativity, Design Thinking, Entrepreneurs, Innovation, Jonathan Amm, Marketing, Organizational Change, Start-ups, Strategy, ThinkTank

You don’t go on holiday without finding out about your destination.

You don’t accept a new job without checking the stability of the employer.

You don’t invest in a new car without checking it’s right for your needs.

You don’t develop your business without trying to discover your market size, value, potential and competitiveness… do you?

An essential element of any business strategy should be early stage secondary market research.

In order to analyse your market and make decisions on growing and developing your business, you must understand the business context you’re operating in:

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Comments (0) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by: Lisa

Tags: Branding, Entrepreneurs, Marketing, Research, Roisin Markham, Start-ups, Strategy, ThinkTank, Twitter