You reap what you sow. The first thing you need to do to enter the market for a brand is to give it a name. In pursuit of originality, namers resort to symbols. So, Elon Musk called his son an exotic combo of letters and symbols, but did he think about the consequences? How to avoid a fail - read in the interpretation of the material of brand consultants from Saffron.
Technology billionaire Elon Musk and his lover, artist Grimes, decided that the 26-letter alphabet was too restrictive for them to choose a name for their child. They named the newborn son X Æ A-Xii, which combines elements from the language of the elves, Roman numerals, and even a reference to the CIA aircraft.
This unconventional approach to naming clearly reflects a growing trend in the world of brands. In the quest to stand out from the competition, brands are moving beyond the alphabet and using symbols.
Of course, this opens up a lot of naming options, but it's important to remember how to apply basic naming principles to innovative character usage.
#1. Choose a name that is easy to remember
In a competitive environment, a brand name should be easy to understand and interesting to remember.
Naming is always an opportunity to break conventions. Like how Steve Jobs went beyond a mere descriptive name for his computer company, or how Gwyneth Paltrow named her daughter Apple to break stereotypes.
The use of symbols helps differentiate, particularly in industries where there are few distinguishing features. In the insurance industry, for example, More Th>n and LV= used symbols to challenge themselves with naming and increase recall over their competitors.
#2. Tell an important story
Symbols don't live in a vacuum; they are representative and carry some meaning.
Using random characters for the sake of originality can lead to misperceptions of the brand. There are many hypotheses about the meaning of the name X Æ A-Xii, from Norse mythology to the Book of Genesis. The key to correct audience perception is the use of a symbol that forms a clear legend around the brand name.
A chain of Taiwanese coffee shops and bakeries called 85°C refers to the optimal temperature for brewing coffee. A simple yet iconic story, where the °C symbol stands for precision and quality.
#3. Reflect authentic identity
When used properly, symbols help emphasize the tone of a brand. An exclamation mark at the end of Yahoo! and YUM! conveys the joy and enthusiasm of brand users. This is a claim that the brand character is traceable throughout the brand identity system. Within the relevant categories, this tone is authentic and appropriate for the brand, but clearly not for a serious law firm.
#4. Make the title easy to pronounce
There's a fine line between ingenuity and impracticability. The name will serve as a reference for your brand: in order for people to refer to the brand, they must be able to pronounce it.
The name X Æ A-Xii is visually recognizable, but impossible to pronounce. Likewise, the Korean cosmetics brand su:m37° uses a symbolically heavy name. It certainly impresses with its style, but the division mark can confuse or complicate readability and pronunciation without playing into the hands of the brand. Like it or not, the brand name also lives off word of mouth and increasingly thanks to voice technology.
#5. Check for legitimacy
Creative is creative, but the brand name must be legally available. Due to legal restrictions, you cannot include a number of characters when registering a trademark, such as brackets.
Neglecting legal compliance checks can negatively impact the chosen name. This was faced by Elon Musk and Grimes when the state of California refused to add the characters X Æ A-Xii to the birth certificate and insisted on replacing them. In order to avoid unnecessary edits to the naming, it is important to constantly check with the legal regulations.
#6. Make sure you have a good domain
Getting a good domain name for your brand is a hygienic thing in today's digital world. Lucky Elon Musk owns the X.com domain. When it comes to symbols, accessibility isn't the only thing that matters.
The domain name limits the total number of characters. For example, the consumer association Which? forced to omit the "?" in the domain name. Spelling variability introduces confusion and complicates the online search for your company by users. Having shown creativity and introduced symbols into the brand name in order to rebuild, all the work can go down the drain, burying the company in the search results.
#7. Choose a globally resonant name
Choosing a brand name is a long-term decision. If you are thinking of entering the global market, your name should resonate. Going beyond the English alphabet, the use of symbols crosses linguistic boundaries and, by and large, can increase international resonance.
However, this resonance will also depend on the brand itself that you name. In the end, the name is not only a guideline, but also a bearer of some meaning.
When it comes to choosing a name, for a child or a company, not only uniqueness is important.
If you plan to use symbols in your brand or new product naming, ask yourself these questions:
1. Check the usability of the name: is it equally successful to use it at all points of interaction with the audience, from the site to voice assistants?
2. Does the name comply with legal regulations in all markets where the brand is present?
3. Is the chosen name easy to pronounce? If a consumer wants to share a positive review with friends, how will they pronounce the brand name?
4. To support your ambitions, can using a symbol in a brand name (or even a child) do free publicity for your product or brand?
The following gives a simple overview of what happens to your personal information when you visit our website. Personal information is any data with which you could be personally identified. Detailed information on the subject of data protection can be found in our privacy policy found below.
Data collection on our website
Who is responsible for the data collection on this website? The data collected on this website are processed by the website operator. The operator’s contact details can be found in the website’s required legal notice.
How do we collect your data?
Some data are collected when you provide it to us. This could, for example, be data you enter on a contact form.
Other data are collected automatically by our IT systems when you visit the website. These data are primarily technical data such as the browser and operating system you are using or when you accessed the page. These data are collected automatically as soon as you enter our website.
What do we use your data for?
Part of the data is collected to ensure the proper functioning of the website. Other data can be used to analyze how visitors use the site.
What rights do you have regarding your data?
You always have the right to request information about your stored data, its origin, its recipients, and the purpose of its collection at no charge. You also have the right to request that it be corrected, blocked, or deleted. You can contact us at any time using the address given in the legal notice if you have further questions about the issue of privacy and data protection. You may also, of course, file a complaint with the competent regulatory authorities.
Analytics and third-party tools
When visiting our website, statistical analyses may be made of your surfing behavior. This happens primarily using cookies and analytics. The analysis of your surfing behavior is usually anonymous, i.e. we will not be able to identify you from this data. You can object to this analysis or prevent it by not using certain tools. Detailed information can be found in the following privacy policy.
You can object to this analysis. We will inform you below about how to exercise your options in this regard.
2. General information and mandatory information
Data protection
The operators of this website take the protection of your personal data very seriously. We treat your personal data as confidential and in accordance with the statutory data protection regulations and this privacy policy.
If you use this website, various pieces of personal data will be collected. Personal information is any data with which you could be personally identified. This privacy policy explains what information we collect and what we use it for. It also explains how and for what purpose this happens.
Please note that data transmitted via the internet (e.g. via email communication) may be subject to security breaches. Complete protection of your data from third-party access is not possible.
Notice concerning the party responsible for this website
The party responsible for processing data on this website is:
The responsible party is the natural or legal person who alone or jointly with others decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data (names, email addresses, etc.).
Revocation of your consent to the processing of your data
Many data processing operations are only possible with your express consent. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.
SSL or TLS encryption
This site uses SSL or TLS encryption for security reasons and for the protection of the transmission of confidential content, such as the inquiries you send to us as the site operator. You can recognize an encrypted connection in your browser’s address line when it changes from “http://” to “https://” and the lock icon is displayed in your browser’s address bar.
If SSL or TLS encryption is activated, the data you transfer to us cannot be read by third parties.
Information, blocking, deletion
As permitted by law, you have the right to be provided at any time with information free of charge about any of your personal data that is stored as well as its origin, the recipient and the purpose for which it has been processed. You also have the right to have this data corrected, blocked or deleted. You can contact us at any time using the address given in our legal notice if you have further questions on the topic of personal data.
Opposition to promotional emails
We hereby expressly prohibit the use of contact data published in the context of website legal notice requirements with regard to sending promotional and informational materials not expressly requested. The website operator reserves the right to take specific legal action if unsolicited advertising material, such as email spam, is received.
3. Data protection officer
Statutory data protection officer
We have appointed a data protection officer for our company.
Alexander Rusin
ICU CO., LTD.
Telephone: +66815434565
E-Mail: hello@icu.agency
Company registration number: 0845566007085
4. Data collection on our website
Cookies
Some of our web pages use cookies. Cookies do not harm your computer and do not contain any viruses. Cookies help make our website more user-friendly, efficient, and secure. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer and saved by your browser.
Most of the cookies we use are so-called “session cookies.” They are automatically deleted after your visit. Other cookies remain in your device’s memory until you delete them. These cookies make it possible to recognize your browser when you next visit the site.
You can configure your browser to inform you about the use of cookies so that you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether to accept or reject a cookie. Alternatively, your browser can be configured to automatically accept cookies under certain conditions or to always reject them, or to automatically delete cookies when closing your browser. Disabling cookies may limit the functionality of this website.
Cookies which are necessary to allow electronic communications or to provide certain functions you wish to use (such as the shopping cart) are stored pursuant to Art. 6 paragraph 1, letter f of DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the storage of cookies to ensure an optimized service provided free of technical errors. If other cookies (such as those used to analyze your surfing behavior) are also stored, they will be treated separately in this privacy policy.
Server log files
The website provider automatically collects and stores information that your browser automatically transmits to us in “server log files”. These are:
Browser type and browser version
Operating system used
Referrer URL
Host name of the accessing computer
Time of the server request
IP address
These data will not be combined with data from other sources.
The basis for data processing is Art. 6 (1) (b) DSGVO, which allows the processing of data to fulfill a contract or for measures preliminary to a contract.
5. Analytics and advertising
Google Analytics
This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service. It is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
Google Analytics uses so-called “cookies”. These are text files that are stored on your computer and that allow an analysis of the use of the website by you. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is usually transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there.
Google Analytics cookies are stored based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior to optimize both its website and its advertising.
IP anonymization
We have activated the IP anonymization feature on this website. Your IP address will be shortened by Google within the European Union or other parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area prior to transmission to the United States. Only in exceptional cases is the full IP address sent to a Google server in the US and shortened there. Google will use this information on behalf of the operator of this website to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity, and to provide other services regarding website activity and Internet usage for the website operator. The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with any other data held by Google.
Browser plugin
You can prevent these cookies being stored by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser. However, we wish to point out that doing so may mean you will not be able to enjoy the full functionality of this website. You can also prevent the data generated by cookies about your use of the website (incl. your IP address) from being passed to Google, and the processing of these data by Google, by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.
Objecting to the collection of data
You can prevent the collection of your data by Google Analytics by clicking on the following link. An opt-out cookie will be set to prevent your data from being collected on future visits to this site: Disable Google Analytics.
For more information about how Google Analytics handles user data, see Google’s privacy policy: support.google.com
Outsourced data processing
We have entered into an agreement with Google for the outsourcing of our data processing and fully implement the strict requirements of the German data protection authorities when using Google Analytics.
Demographic data collection by Google Analytics
This website uses Google Analytics’ demographic features. This allows reports to be generated containing statements about the age, gender, and interests of site visitors. This data comes from interest-based advertising from Google and third-party visitor data. This collected data cannot be attributed to any specific individual person. You can disable this feature at any time by adjusting the ads settings in your Google account or you can forbid the collection of your data by Google Analytics as described in the section “Refusal of data collection”.
Google Analytics Remarketing
Our websites use the features of Google Analytics Remarketing combined with the cross-device capabilities of Google AdWords and DoubleClick. This service is provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
This feature makes it possible to link target audiences for promotional marketing created with Google Analytics Remarketing to the cross-device capabilities of Google AdWords and Google DoubleClick. This allows advertising to be displayed based on your personal interests, identified based on your previous usage and surfing behavior on one device (e.g. your mobile phone), on other devices (such as a tablet or computer).
Once you have given your consent, Google will associate your web and app browsing history with your Google Account for this purpose. That way, any device that signs in to your Google Account can use the same personalized promotional messaging.
To support this feature, Google Analytics collects Google-authenticated IDs of users that are temporarily linked to our Google Analytics data to define and create audiences for cross-device ad promotion.
You can permanently opt out of cross-device remarketing/targeting by turning off personalized advertising in your Google Account; follow this link: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/onweb/?hl=en.
The aggregation of the data collected in your Google Account data is based solely on your consent, which you may give or withdraw from Google per Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. For data collection operations not merged into your Google Account (for example, because you do not have a Google Account or have objected to the merge), the collection of data is based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing anonymous user behavior for promotional purposes.
For more information and the Google Privacy Policy, go to: https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads/.
6. Newsletter
Newsletter data
If you would like to receive our newsletter, we require a valid email address as well as information that allows us to verify that you are the owner of the specified email address and that you agree to receive this newsletter. No additional data is collected or is only collected on a voluntary basis. We only use this data to send the requested information and do not pass it on to third parties.
We will, therefore, process any data you enter onto the contact form only with your consent per Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. You can revoke consent to the storage of your data and email address as well as their use for sending the newsletter at any time, e.g. through the “unsubscribe” link in the newsletter. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.
The data provided when registering for the newsletter will be used to distribute the newsletter until you cancel your subscription when said data will be deleted. Data we have stored for other purposes (e.g. email addresses for the members area) remain unaffected.
Data processing is based on Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time by unsubscribing to the newsletter. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.
The data provided when registering for the newsletter will be used to distribute the newsletter until you cancel your subscription when said data will be deleted from our servers. Data we have stored for other purposes remains unaffected.