In collaboration with graphic designer Janice Antley of Mighty Mouse Productions, Bickley Creative was awarded our favorite type of project: a brand identity opportunity to name and develop a tagline and logo for a new product.
Our client, an engineering mastermind and gun enthusiast, had developed a “better mousetrap” in the revolver category of gun accessory products known as speedloaders. Speedloaders are handy little tools utilized by revolver owners to make it easier to load and reload bullets. Tom’s invention worked more efficiently, was easier to load, and less expensive than that of the major competition.
When reviewing our final execution for QuickLoad Revolver Speedloader Systems, one might assume…”That’s an obvious solution. How hard could that have been?” Ahh…well…sometimes the end result belies the effort it takes to get to that place.
Naming a product or company is always a creative challenge of the greatest kind, one we embrace and love, yet take very seriously. Here’s why:
1) The product or company is the client’s “baby.” It’s difficult enough coming up with a name for your own children, much less naming somebody else’s, right? Whether its a conscious realization or not, most stakeholders have preconceived notions of what they personally like (and dislike) or expect a name to be. Sometimes this is good. Sometimes not.
2) Then there’s the research that’s involved in developing a name (and tagline.) What competitive products are out there and what are their names? Which is considered a trademarked name and what words or phrases are off limits? If the product is a commodity as it was in this case, then the task becomes that much more challenging as the creative team faces more limitations.
To help us get past hurdles 1) and 2) Bickley Creative conducts an in-depth discovery meeting with the client to gain insight on the overall market, details on the product itself and its competition, the products benefits, unique selling points, and who the potential buyers are and their expectations.
Then, we’l develop a list of names that typically can take many creative directions. We’ll explore names that are descriptive….names that convey a benefit…names that imply better performance…or evoke a personality…all the while checking our list against what’s already out there to avoid any type of copyright infringement.
Once a shortlist of names has been selected by the client, we face another critical checkpoint.
3) Is a name-compatible URL even available? In many instances, coming up with an available domain name that incorporates the product name is as big a creative challenge as developing the name itself. Often, we’ll have to explore many variations of a web address in order to find one that is available and marketing-worthy.
As a result of our disciplined creative process, along with back and forth discussions on the 40+ names we presented, our client ultimately was guided to abandon names that were too “cutesy” or ambiguous. He came full circle and chose a name that was descriptive and implied a benefit.
Granted, what makes this brand memorable isn’t so much the name itself…but the overall execution. The logo expertly illustrates the benefit of the product. The tagline “Shoot Faster” further drives home the key benefit of why a revolver owner would want to give it a shot.
It’s the creative synergy of all the elements that go into developing a brand identity….the name….the logo…and the tagline…that gives this great new product the strong positioning it needs to be successfully introduced into a highly competitive marketplace.
Mission accomplished.
front of package design
