A major goal of all business owners is to develop strong bonds with their customers in order to obtain repeat and referral business. One method of developing such a lasting relationship is to have an easy way for your customer to call you to mind.
What Is Your Brand?
It goes without saying that you have invested in the quality of the goods and services you offer your customers. However, in all likelihood, so have your competitors. Businesses must find ways to differentiate themselves from their competition. One important question to ask is: "What image am I presenting of my business which will make it easier for my customers to think of me when a particular need arises?" In general this is called "branding."
Some ways of creating your brand are to have distinctive advertising literature; a catchy slogan; and a strong trademark. All three of these vehicles can be used to set you apart from your competition. I shall focus my remarks on what factors you can consider in order to select a strong trademark.
Use Your Creative Juices!
The starting point for identifying a strong mark is a willingness to use your creative energies. Based on your own experience, when you think of successful companies, probably their distinctive trademarks come to your mind.
How Do Major Companies Select Their Trademarks?
Prior to their adoption, much time, thought, and money were invested by the owners of the "Apple," "Kodak," "Gilette," and "Travelers" marks. But what makes such marks powerful? It is that they do not directly describe the product or service being offered. In fact, as words, they have nothing to do with the product or service being referenced. However, it is for that very reason, when a consumer sees or hears such a mark, she instinctively knows it is referring to the originator of the product or service.
Strongest Marks Are Made-Up Words.
Strong marks can be identified in a number of ways. This is where your creativity comes into play. At one end of the continuum of strength are marks that are formed from made-up words. If you really develop an effective made-up word, it would be hard for anyone else to claim that they too came up with the same word. That being the case, you have more ammunition when going after a competitor, who just so happened to be applying your word in her advertising.
Other kinds of strong marks are those that are "arbitrary," "fanciful" or "suggestive." What is more arbitrary than making people think of computers before they think of a piece of fruit, when you say the word "Apple?" I would not be surprised if "Blackberry" did not take a page out of "Apple's" play book when it decided to choose a different piece of fruit to create its brand.
Suggestive and fanciful marks are the kinds of marks that give the consumer a gentle nudge to think of some quality or attribute of the service or product you are offering. Examples of such marks are: "Joy" and "Dove" for soap or "Sunrise" in connection with assisted living. In each case, the owner of the mark is suggesting, sometimes in a playful way, a special quality that they want the consumer to ascribe to their products.
Descriptive Marks Are Not Strong Marks.
The least powerful mark is a descriptive mark. It is understandable that owners of new businesses want to make it easy for their prospective customer to know what they offer. However, even, if you are able to get the mark registered by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), it will provide more limited protection, because likely they may make you disclaim some of the words in your mark or there will be many other applicants with overlapping marks.
By way of example of how crowded the field could be, suppose you are involved in the cosmetic industry, there are over 5,000 records listed with the USPTO incorporating the word "beauty." Another such overused word is "original." There are over 7,600 USPTO records where applicants thought to incorporate that word into their mark.
Concluding Thoughts.
By taking the time and looking beyond the first few ideas that come to mind when you are deciding on your trademark, you can select a more powerful symbol which will not only help to set you apart from your competitors but also will create more underlying value for your business.
