When should we reconsider a product name?

Reconsider a product name when audience research shows that the name itself obstructs understanding of the product and its value. Even when the brief covers only visual identity and messaging, confusion among customers or employees is a reason to revisit the name.

Distinguish a naming problem from an identity problem

Before changing a product's design or messaging, establish whether its name is causing confusion. Visiativ, a supplier of specialist software and services for manufacturers, had introduced a new product and commissioned a visual identity and value proposition for its target audience. Research found that the product name confused both customers and employees. Although renaming was outside the brief, the problem was raised with Visiativ, which agreed to reconsider the name. A new name was developed, providing the basis for a stronger identity and value proposition. The practical lesson is to let audience understanding guide the scope of the work: clearer design and messaging should not be assumed to resolve confusion caused by the name itself.

Sources: How to Avoid Perfectionism Paralysis and Make It Your Greatest Strength

How The Frameworks helps

Grounding your product naming decisions

You need a sound basis for deciding whether to retain or change your product name. The Frameworks focuses on the relationship between the name, the product's positioning and the way its value is expressed through language and design. It uses audience and stakeholder research to examine what people understand the name to mean, rather than treating it as an isolated creative choice. Working with you, it helps resolve competing interpretations of what the product stands for and establishes the strategic basis for naming decisions.

The Frameworks delivers brand strategy to guide the decision, naming development where a change is needed, and messaging and identity work that connect the name to the product's value. These give you a coherent basis for explaining the decision internally and expressing the product consistently. Your teams can make subsequent language and design choices against an agreed direction, rather than reopening the naming debate with each application.

Let’s talk about reconsidering your product name 

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