Comparison of Easy and Difficult Brand Names - Sometimes LONG Name is Better
There is no doubt that shorter brand name is best but do not trade it on the cost of a name having difficult and complicated pronunciation.
→ Watch Video - Easy but Long Brand is Better than SHort but Difficult Name.
In 2021, Lonza Specialty Ingredients (LSI) changed its name to Arxada. [RD]
In my opinion, it is bad name. Although it is unique and short, but Arxada is difficult to pronounce. Users will confuse whether to pronounce the ‘x’ letter as ‘ex’ or ‘zee’ sound, so most people will shy speaking the name in front of others.
Let’s understand it with some more examples.
Examples of Short but Difficult to Speak Brand Names
Please remember that easily pronounceable long brand name is better than a short but difficult name for business.
Example of Royal Mail to Consignia
Royal Mail was renamed as Consignia in 2001 which was a difficult to pronounce name as compared with that of Royal Mail. The new name Consignia remained only for 15 months and after public pressure and losses of billions reverted back the Royal Mail. Though both Royal Mail and Consignia consist of equal number of letters, but Royal Mail is quite easier and smooth to pronounce. [RD]
Example of Sudelektra to Xstrata
Sudelektra was a Swiss energy company founded in 1926. However, in 1999 it was renamed as Xstrata. In my opinion, the selection of Xstrata was a bad choice as it is difficult to pronounce. Sudelektra though a longer name but was comparatively better than Xstrata. The ‘s’ letter after the ‘X’ in Xstrata is quite confusing for pronunciation.
Later in 2013, Xstrata was acquired by Glencore and interestingly Glencore announced that Xstrata name will not be used in branding and will be phased out. [RD]
Example of Weight Watchers to WW
In 2018 Weight Watchers renamed to WW after 55 years of inception.
However, they made a mistake because WW is difficult to speak having more syllables than the WeightWatchers.
No doubt that the name WeightWatchers was a longer name, but it is easier and smooth to speak than the ‘double you, double you’ of the new name WW.
Amazingly, then CEO of the company Mindy Grossman stated that WW does not stand for Weight Watchers. [RD]
She stated that the purpose of name change was to keep the brand name inclusive of the company’s broader focus on ‘wellness’ rather than just on weight loss.
Interestingly, the owners of the company were wise enough to purchase the ww.com which is among the shortest domain names in 2014 – well before changing the brand name. [RD]
By the way the precious domain name ww.com was registered by someone in 1990. [RD]
Aside from this example, it is hilarious to note that in 1991, world wide web was shortened to www prefix. Maybe pronounceability is the reason that the use of www prefix is fast declining. [RD]
Avoid Adopting Long Business Names
Long business names are not brandable. Even if you decide for a descriptive brand name, users generally do not attempt to speak or write a long name to find your business in online search directories.
For example, ‘Richard’s Motel Studios’ is a beautiful place in Hollywood, Florida, USA but its business name is long and non-brandable. To make it more complex, the owners are using an excessively long website domain for the business.
Another example of a long name is ‘Ocean Falls Blockchain’ which is also uses long domain name.
Notebook Miami Beach is also an example of long business name.
It will be interesting for you that even a single extra letter in a business name makes impact. Maybe this was the reason that the letter ‘s’ was dropped from ‘Bookings.com’ to make it ‘Booking.com’ – a wise decision by the owners.
If mistakenly, you have chosen a long name for your startup, you should change it to a short alternative name as soon as possible, so that you can divert your marketing budgets to a long-term and permanent brand name.
You should avoid a long name for your business from its very inception.
Difficult Words to Avoid while Deciding Brand Names
No need to use long and difficult words such as millennium for brand. It will be terrible to brand your business such as Millennium Hairdresser, Millennium Boutique. Even don’t use boutique (difficult to spell) as such words will kill your marketing efforts.
→ Watch Video.
Therefore, avoid using difficult to pronounce or difficult to write words in brand names such as Logorrhea, rendezvous, colonel, sergeant, rhythm, amateur, cafeteria, liaison. Use short form of such words when available, such as café instead of cafeteria. Though Colonel is a common military word often used by many brands, but it will be difficult for most people to correctly spell it or write it. Interestingly, someone is using business name of ‘Colonel’s Academy’ in my neighborhood. My humble advice will be to avoid using such difficult words for branding.
Examples of Brand Names which are Difficult to Pronounce
There should not be discrepancy or difference between spelling of a name and its pronunciation. Brand name should be spoken and written in same way.
These brand names are actually too difficult to spell. Most people will be unable to correctly spell these famous brands. They become famous and successful due to some other factors including excessive marketing. Examples are Porsche, Hyundai, Del Monte (Wrong: del-mont) (Correct: Del - Mon – Ti), Chevrolet (Wrong: chev-ro-let) (Correct: shev-ro-lay), Huawei (Wrong: hu-ah-wei) (wah-way), TAGHeuer (Wrong: Tag-hew-er) (Correct: TAAG-HOY-YER). Maybe this is the reason that Chevrolet cars are popular with another easy to speak nickname Chevy.
The pronunciation of Swiss brand Roche is not ‘roshay’, rather it is rosh.
ADOBE is a popular example of Short and Unique business name but is difficult to correctly pronounce it. Most of my friends pronounce it as A-DOB, but it is in fact, pronounced as ADO-BEE.
Scion a marque by Toyota but discontinued. When you enter this word in Google Search, you find that the most asked question about this word is ‘how do you pronounce scion?’. In fact, Scion is confusing to pronounce, and most people will shy speaking about such brand names in gatherings. Therefore, never decide to choose a brand name that is difficult to speak.
The brand name of Macdonald’s may be impressive but, in my opinion, you should not use possessive apostrophe comma in brand name as during my research I have seen many examples of failed brands which were using possessive apostrophe.
Qimonda was a difficult to pronounce brand name where ‘Qi’ is pronounced as ‘chee’ or hard ‘ki’, so it was tricky to pronounce. This was German brand which had filed for bankruptcy in 2009.
Psion was a London based computer hardware and its name is confusing and difficult to pronounce. Such names cannot become popular because users shy speaking these in gatherings due to fear of mocking in case the name pronounced incorrectly. Psion had become part of Motorola Solutions. [RD]
These are examples of some restaurants in United States, using difficult names and all of them are now defunct. La Petite Boulangerie, Forum Cafeterias, Britling Cafeterias, Dubrow's Cafeteria, Laughner's Cafeteria, Huyler's, Sholl's Colonial Cafeteria, Moore's Delicatessen, Café Montmartre, Martick's Restaurant Francais, Del Pezzo Restaurant, Paprin's Restaurant, Bailey's Taproom, Horn & Hardart. [RD]
Therefore, avoid words that are difficult to speak or confusing to spell. Brand name should be easy to write and speak.
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