Wednesday, March 4, 2020
How to write brand names - Emphasis
How to write brand names How to write brand names Brand identity is important to business, and having a brand name with impact is a big part of that. But when the name breaks the standard rules of English in its efforts to achieve that, it can present writers with a challenge. In many cases, the company itself will take a pragmatic approach. For example, Twitter spells its name with a lower-case t in its logo, but upper case in text. We do the same at Emphasis. But what do you do if the company consistently describes itself in non-standard English? Take insurance companies MORE THN and LV=, retail consultancy him! or the supermarket ASDA, for example. If youââ¬â¢re writing about ASDA and you need to refer to ASDA several times in a paragraph, the block capitals in the word ASDA can soon appear to shout at the reader and drown out the rest of the text on the page (like they do here). So should you prioritise the brandââ¬â¢s preferences or the readability of your documents? You need a house style If you donââ¬â¢t already have a house style and youââ¬â¢re starting from scratch, there are two broad approaches you can take. 1. Write the brand name exactly as the company does. You may wish to do this if the company is a client or partner, or if they have expressed a strong preference for the format of their name and you donââ¬â¢t want to upset them. Also, as rules go, itââ¬â¢s certainly the simplest to follow. 2. Bring the brand name in line with standard English. If your priority is literacy and ease of reading, or if you found yourself wincing at the third paragraph of this article, you may wish to take this approach. Itââ¬â¢s OK to make small changes to the format of the brand name, so long as it is still clearly recognisable. If you decide to go with the second option, the rest of this article will take you through the areas youââ¬â¢ll need to consider. This may also be helpful if you already have a house style but it doesnââ¬â¢t tell you how to deal with the brand names mentioned above. In each case, weââ¬â¢ve made a recommendation, but it is only that ââ¬â you may decide differently. Punctuation marks Some brand names, such as Yahoo! Which? and him! include a punctuation mark, which can be problematic ââ¬â and not only because Word automatically capitalises the following word, thinking that you must be starting a new sentence. For a start, exclamation marks are generally frowned upon in formal writing, even when used correctly. So ending a sentence with ââ¬Ëaccording to Yahoo!.ââ¬â¢ looks doubly strange when combined with the extra punctuation. And an exclamation mark in the middle of a sentence, such as ââ¬ËYahoo! has filed applications for two patentsââ¬â¢, can feel disruptive. Many publications (the Guardian, the Sunday Times, the BBC) choose to omit the exclamation mark and simply write Yahoo. Others (the Times, the Telegraph) choose to retain it. Verdict: Yahoo ââ¬â itââ¬â¢s still instantly recognisable. Even more difficult is him!, with its lower-cased h, which can leave writers wrangling with sentences such as: ââ¬ËThe price-marked pack has been a source of confusion within the industry, according to him!.ââ¬â¢ (Who is à ââ¬Ëhimââ¬â¢?, asks the reader.) For clarity, itââ¬â¢s necessary to add ââ¬Ëretail consultancyââ¬â¢ before ââ¬Ëhim!ââ¬â¢, but even then youââ¬â¢re still left with the awkward punctuation. him! told us that their brand name should always be written with the exclamation mark, and ââ¬Ëalways be lower case even at the start of a sentenceââ¬â¢ (like this sentence, for example, which we wrote in agony). However, they admitted that many publications refused to follow these guidelines. Verdict: Him ââ¬â him! is too confusing. The consumer magazine Which? throws up similar questions. In fact, it sometimes throws up extra questions where you donââ¬â¢t want them. ââ¬ËThis research was compiled by Which?ââ¬â¢, or ââ¬ËWhich one performed best in the Which? test lab?ââ¬â¢, for example. Which? told us: à ââ¬ËOur policy is to always include the question mark. We havenââ¬â¢t produced any guidance for the press, instead relying on our own presentational material to set the example. à We would encourage anyone whoââ¬â¢s tempted to end a sentence with the word Which? to rewrite their sentence. Strange though the question mark may be, lopping it off also causes problems. à ââ¬ËThis research was compiled by à Whichââ¬â¢ and ââ¬ËWhich one performed best in the à Which test lab?ââ¬â¢ could be confusing, especially if your style is to write the names of publications without using italics. Verdict: Which? ââ¬â the question mark is vital to understanding the brand name. Non-alphabet characters There are certain non-alphabetical characters that donââ¬â¢t trouble the reader at all. For example, Marks Spencer looks more natural than Marks and Spencer, as we are so used to seeing it in the high street and on TV. Even for a non-British readership, the ampersand is so widely used that itââ¬â¢s unlikely to jar. The same canââ¬â¢t be said, however, for MORE THN or LV=, which are unsettling to the eye, not to mention a pain to type. A à MORE THN spokeswoman told us: à ââ¬ËMORE THN à should always be presented in this way and not re-formatted to More Thanââ¬â¢, à but we think thatââ¬â¢s asking quite a lot. The Guardianââ¬â¢s style guide takes a zero-tolerance approach to à MORE THN, reading simply à ââ¬ËMore Than ââ¬â not MORE THN, which is how the insurance arm of Royal Sun Alliance styles itselfââ¬â¢. When it comes to LV=, however, most publications retain the à ââ¬Ëequalsââ¬â¢ à sign, because the company name is pronounced à ââ¬Ë à LV equalsââ¬â¢ à (whereas the in à MORE THN is, thankfully, silent). Verdict: Marks Spencer, More Than, LV=. Stop SHOUTING There is a generally accepted rule for writing acronyms (a set of initials pronounced as a word) and initialisms (a set of initials pronounced as letters). Acronyms are written with the first letter capitalised, for example Unicef and Nasa, while initialisms are capitalised all the way through, for example IBM and BBC. However, some companies would have us write their names all in capital letters, even if they donââ¬â¢t actually stand for anything. For example, ASDA (a portmanteau of Asquith and Dairies), ASUS, GIGABYTE and UNISON, all of which are pronounced as words, not letters. Of course, they like this format because it makes them stand out. But unless youââ¬â¢re writing something with the aim of actively promoting that brand, thereââ¬â¢s no reason why the brand name should stand out more than the other words in the document, which are equally important. Verdict: Asda, Asus, Gigabyte and Unison. As a general rule, if you can pronounce it as a word, only capitalise the first letter. If you pronounce every letter, capitalise them all. And then thereââ¬â¢s Apple, with their fondness for putting a lower-case i in front of everything. However, iPad, iPod and iMac are now so widely recognised that to replace them with Ipad, Ipod and Imac would be pointlessly awkward. Verdict: iPad, iPod, iMac ââ¬â but try to avoid putting them at the start of a sentence. When nouns become verbs In 2006, Google tried to stop media organisations using their name as a verb. A spokesman said at the time: ââ¬ËWe think its important to make the distinction between using the word Google to describe using Google to search the internet, and using the word Google to describe searching the internet. It has some serious trademark issues.ââ¬â¢ However, like Hoover before them, Google have largely failed in their mission to prevent their name from being genericised. The use of ââ¬Ëto googleââ¬â¢ as a verb with a lower-cased g has caught on and even entered both the Oxford and Collins dictionaries. Verdict: Google for the noun, google as a verb. But if you use a search engine other than Google, consider using ââ¬Ësearch the internetââ¬â¢ or ââ¬Ëdo an internet searchââ¬â¢. Twitter are currently engaged in a smaller battle, over the word ââ¬Ëtweetââ¬â¢, for which they acquired the trademark in October 2011. Though they have never objected to a lower-case t being used for the verb ââ¬Ëto tweetââ¬â¢, they do object to the noun being lower cased. Their guidelines state: ââ¬ËPlease remember to capitalize the T in Twitter and Tweet!ââ¬â¢ However, no one except Twitter itself actually does, and this certainly feels like a fight that has already been lost. Verdict: Twitter, but tweet for both the verb and the noun. Trademarks Lastly, make sure you only use a trademarked brand name when youââ¬â¢re referring to something made by that brand. Do you mean Tetra Pak, or just generic cartons? Is it really a Portakabin, or is it a ââ¬Ëportable cabin-style buildingââ¬â¢ (see this apology)? And if you do decide to tweak the style to make it more readable, make sure you retain the initial capital letter to signal that youre referring to a brand rather than a generic noun (except, of course, in the case of a certain brand of products beginning with i). The Guardianââ¬â¢s style guide sums it up nicely. ââ¬ËTake care: use a generic alternative unless there is a very good reason not to, eg ballpoint pen, not biro (unless it really is a Biro, in which case it takes a cap B); say photocopy rather than Xerox, etc; you will save our lawyers, and those of Portakabin and various other companies, a lot of time and trouble.ââ¬â¢ Why not test your trademark awareness by taking our trademarks quiz? There are 12 questions, and in each case you need to decide whether the word is currently trademarked, was once trademarked or has never been trademarked. In conclusion If itââ¬â¢s an easy life youââ¬â¢re after, and you can stomach block capitals and strange punctuation marks, the simplest rule is to go with what the brand itself does. But youââ¬â¢ll still need to decide whether to follow their logo or how they present their name in official documents, such as company reports, because these arenââ¬â¢t always the same (see Twitter, for example). Or, if youre feeling bold, why not make a stand for legibility and carve out a house style of your own? Do you want to inform, inspire and persuade with your business documents? Our 64-page guide to professional writing, The Write Stuff, will help. Get your free copy here.
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