Have you ever met someone and thought, “he’s not a “Robert – a “Doug” or even a “Brad,” but not a Robert.” It’s an interesting study in human nature in how we assign certain characteristics – physically or personality-wise – to something seemingly subjective as a name. This phenomenon is based, somewhat, in the concepts “semiotics” and “metonymy,” but I’ll leave the linguistics lesson for the classroom. The main point is that we assign “things” certain names and when those names don’t match up with our preconceptions about “thing” and “name,” a little bell goes off in our heads (however, if you are hearing bells all the time, you should really get that checked out). There is perhaps nowhere else this phenomenon is clearer than in branding.

As branding consultants will tell you, the strength of a brand lies in the name and how well it communicates all the unsaid aspects of a business – mission, product, philosophy, etc. – in a single word or phrase. However, the name is only a piece of the overall branding puzzle. The real magic happens when a business embraces the name to its fullest potential, incorporating all of those unspoken nuances into a branding mission. It really is all about naming your brand and embracing your name. Though, it’s easier to see how this works if we can look at the process of naming in practice. For that, I want to turn to a recent client and her personal journey towards creating a new identity for her photography business and how that journey led to a lesson, though indirect, about semiotics.

Allison Parker came to Luxecetera looking for a new way to brand her photography business, Phreckle Nose Photography. Like a lot of our clients, she was happy with her name, but wanted something more from her brand – something that better communicated her business’ mission and her philosophy on photography. Furthermore, Allison was looking for a brand that could carry her business forward.

Initially, we looked at Allison’s business name, “Phreckle Nose,” and her business’ focus, primarily children’s photography, and immediately honed in on the fun, whimsical, kid-centeric aspect of the company. It seemed to be an easy fit. However, as we talked to Allison, we could see that her vision, as she saw it, was something not exactly relatable to the name Phreckle Nose.

Over the next few weeks of consult time, we, along with Allison, struggled with how to keep the name (a name that Allison and her husband developed together), but communicate her particular business perspective. In my interview with Allison, I gave her my theory on changing a name once a business was already established – that if you have a good reputation and are well-known under one moniker, changing midstream runs the risk of affecting relationships with established clients. To a fault, I stretched the boundaries of what we could accomplish with Phreckle Nose and tried to fit a square peg in a round hole. Going over the conversation with Ashley, I started to realize the problem with my advice – that Allison’s vision for her company had outgrown her old name (and, thusly, her old brand).

It wasn’t even my company and I was having trouble with altering the name. Yet, the fact remained; Allison’s revised vision of a company that communicated a refined but playful, vintage, classic product no longer fit with her name. Additionally, Allison had dreams of broadening her scope as a photographer. It wasn’t something she was looking to do immediately, but she wanted the option to photograph more seniors, couples, brides and families in the future. Again, this was a vision not relatable to the semiotics of Phreckle Nose. Our sketches of fairytale frog princes and cartoon-ish blue birds wouldn’t fly (had to get one pun in).

It took Allison some time to get used to the idea too. “It’s so obvious now,” Allison says about her new name and brand. “I didn’t get it until I saw the design concepts. Now, I am so happy.” What Allsion saw in those concepts was the branding manifestation of semiotics. The new name, Feather Nest, is built out of the phrase “feather your nest,” which was a tagline Allison had used for Phreckle Nose. Her perspective on photography is to bring art – the art of moments – into her clients’ homes. To that end, “Feather Nest” works metonymically to represent this idea. Breaking the name down into its parts, “feather” and “nest” we uncover even deeper meaning from the images these words/symbols evoke. In this instance, ambiguity is intentional and important because we want the client to imagine several images and emotions associated with these terms. Too much detail, like Eagle’s Feather Sweetgrass Nest, would be restrictive. As it is, clients may imagine the softness of feathers, downy feathers, beautiful feathers (like those of a peacock), while nest may evoke ideas like homeplace, coziness, and something thoughtfully put together.

And though clear to her now, Allison still remembers why she was initially hesitant, “I just saw it [Phreckle Nose] as something else. I was blinded by love, I guess. It’s like renaming your kid – you know, just waking up one day and having namer’s remorse and calling your child something different. I just didn’t see it.” A big part of her “seeing it” was the time she had to think about her brand during the process. “I am really grateful for the time it took to put this all together. It really forces you think about the business – what we are, where we are going. I got more than just a new brand and a new name, I got a new business plan. I needed that time really see what I wanted and what I needed.” Ultimately, what Allison came to see was that she needed a name that she could fully embrace. If she stuck with the Phreckle Nose brand, she had to embrace what that name represented – its semiotics and metonymy. If she wasn’t able to do that, then she had to accept that her inability to do so said something about her business; what it was and where it was going. That, in turn, translated to the fact that she had to find a name she could embrace – fully and without question.

To borrow a cliché, “what’s in a name?” Well, as you can see, there’s a great deal. Names carry weight. They overflow with ideas and represent different things to different people. In branding, the ability of any business to “embrace the name” lies in understanding what that name communicates about the business. It’s an all or none dynamic. When you look at your company name, ask yourself, “can I embrace these words and the images they evoke as representative of my company and its mission?” If your answer is not a firm “yes,” then it’s time for a change. The ability to embrace your name trumps any history or attachment you may feel towards that moniker. If you can’t embrace your name, then the name is not fulfilling its purpose. It’s not an easy path to walk, however, as Allison says, “it takes time, but it is definitely worth it.”

Tyrie Smith is the copywriter and editor for Luxecetera. He has worked in journalism, public relations and marketing for 10 years and spends his downtime thinking of better names for well-established companies … if only they would listen.

Keep an eye out for a Allison’s brand feature on the blog very soon… it will include some YUMMY letterpress business cards!