21 Aug Brand, Trademark and Company Name. Let’s shed some light here!
We have all heard of Brand, Trademark and Company Name, but what do they really mean?Are we sure we know the meaning exactly and their differences?
Many customers ask us for advice because their company name does not ring well and they want to reproduce it in the audio messages of their telephone switchboard, but this practice is wrong! Not having a Brand is a not insignificant problem; the company name is almost never used in communication, but let’s clarify things and explain why.
When we talk about Brand we automatically think of big companies like Samsung, Vodafone, Apple, Coca-Cola, etc. and we believe that only they can have one; in reality this is not so because even small businesses can draw benefit.
But what exactly do these words mean?
– Brand: a set of abstract concepts that build the values of a specific trademark in our minds
– Trademark: a graphic and/or verbal sign that outlines and protects a Brand
– Company Name: name of the company legally registered with the business register
Let’s take an example: we all know AZ, Braun, Dash, Gillette, Pantene, Oral-B, etc. products but few know that they are all part of the same company with the Company Name of “P&G”. In our minds, each one of their products is a trademark because, over the years, they have worked in an attempt to keep each product separate.
Creating a Brand – and therefore a separate trademark – allows the consumer to construct clearly distinct values for each service in their mind and, if a product does not fare well, it can be eliminated from the market without affecting perception of the others.
The Company Name will instead be that which must be legally reported in the product purchase documents, delivery notes and various legal papers.
Therefore, referring to what has been said above, any type of company should have a Brand, both for communicating better and for entering more easily into the mind of consumers. This can also be achieved through the messages of its telephone and switchboard system.
Given these premises, we now come to your switchboard/voicemail messages.
We often find ourselves advising our customers to use a Brand, also in anticipation of the telephone messages that our Speakers will have to record.
When talking about switchboard/voicemail messages, it is in fact wrong to identify oneself by also citing the category of belonging, such as “Smith and Associates Law Firm” or “Jones Ice-Cream Shops”. The correct way should be “Smith” and “Jones”. Otherwise it would be like big companies such as “Heineken” identifying themselves as “Heineken Brewery”. One thing is the company name (which is what concerns juridical/legal issues), another is the brand (which concerns communication). When a company is present on the markets it should identify itself (in communication projects) only with its name, also in order not to be dissatisfied with possible foreign rulings on telephone messages or advertising in general.
The only solution would be to use a professional bilingual voiceover! However, that does not exist on the market.Or rather, there are many bilingual speakers, but no professional bilingual voiceover speakers.
If you wish to have more information, write to [email protected] and one of our marketing consultants will try to clarify all your doubts!
