Branding expert: “CU names long, complicated, generic”
“It’s very difficult to build a brand unless you have a good name.” – Laura Reis
Laura Reis, a co-author of “The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding,” says, “Many credit unions are saddled with long, complicated, generic-sounding names. That makes it hard to compete with Bank of Americas.”
This advice and other naming insights appeared in the January 2008 edition of Credit Union Business.
“Powerful names are short and unique, easy to spell, easy to say and easy to pronounce.” – Laura Reis
Reis says credit unions should work to simplify their names if possible.
Also in the article Rico Bautista, SVP of Altier Credit Union (formerly SRP Credit Union) says his organization went through an extensive name-selection process to find something unique, memorable and trademarkable.
“You just don’t pick a name that you can’t trademark,” he says. “You have to go through that process to make sure you can protect the brand.”
The name Bautista’s credit union selected, ‘Altier,’ is what he calls “an empty vessel,” meaning it is non-descriptive. He says it’s “a combination of ‘altitude’ and ‘tier,’ and represents a commitment to move forward.”
Bottom Line: Great advice from both Bautista and Ries.
This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.
My opinion of Laura Ries quickly went south when she started predicting the iPhone would never take off, and kept harping on the issue. I give her credit for not deleting all of the nay-saying posts she made on the iPhone subject, which you can view here: http://ries.typepad.com/ries_blog/apple/index.html She really got that call wrong, and continued to write negatively about it at every opportunity. She seems to have stopped writing on the subject at last.
Laura Ries doesn’t have the same authority as her father, Al Ries, the well-revered author of many books on branding and marketing, including “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing.”