Frankly Speaking
Before evolving into a marketing executive, R F Timberlake & Company's president began his award-winning media career as a broadcast and print journalist helping the news industry to gravitate towards more in-depth and investigative reporting. Frank Timberlake taught broadcast and advertising, managed numerous political campaigns and operated media outlets with Linda, his wife and business partner. He has never been shy about speaking his mind. Having limited Frank to the subject of marketing, we hope you will enjoy Frankly Speaking, a marcom blog.
WHAZINANAME?
That is to say, "What's in a name?" A startup group of talented folks were referred to our firm and recently contacted us. We agreed to meet with them. We began by asking all the right questions: Searched out your niche? Where is your target market? Cost Analysis? Profit Margins? Channel distribution? Business Plan? Financing? We were listening and listening, and then finally one of our team members says, "What's the name of your new company?"
It was though it had just been announced that everyone in the room had an infectious disease…BLANK! Surely they had thought of a name for this new and I admit, boldly appealing new enterprise. Usually in meetings like this the entrepreneurs have figured in everything but a marketing budget, which they want us to magically pull from the air. I immediately thought of our friends in Beaufort, North Carolina who for the past 30 years plus have been selling "No Name Pizza."
Like all sharp people they turned the tide by asking me, "How did you name your company?" At that very moment, I suddenly remembered the process and the mental tug of war.
Naming a company is so very important. It is often the brand of the company even if it wasn't so intended. Way back there, I thought about naming the company something easy for people to discern the type of company like Media Giants or Marketing Genius but we knew that the company might delve into business sectors other than marketing. It did.
We named our company first for our whole family, The Timberlake Company. Later when we needed to incorporate with stock, directors and the like, we had to change the name, choosing my father as the namesake. Make no mistake, the name took. It became our brand, it became our identity and it became synonymous with integrity. We have realized we should always identify the service context. That is why you see R F Timberlake & Company – Marketing Communications Consultants. The later part is the sub-brand. (Here's a good view into sub-branding by Susan Gunelius of Creative Splash on Corporate Eye)
You can brand Smith & Jones but I think you do it at risk. I feel strongly that you would need to sub-brand using an example like Smith & Jones – Architects Extraordinaire. Don't be fooled into thinking that because you think or know exactly what it is that your company does that potential customers or clients will. You don't want to spend precious meeting time explaining instead of closing! And, frankly speaking, if THEY don't know what YOU do, you won't get a call.