By Chuck Ingersoll

I know, "Resonant Congruent Differentiation" sounds like something that immediately scares your ears. Something you learned about and quickly forgot in Psych 101. However, stick with me a moment. I think you will see that it is much simpler - easily understood - and very pertinent to the way people name products, services, and businesses.

Having recently gone through some re-roofing trauma, a lawn sign promoting a contractor grabbed my attention. "Mr. Fussy Roofing" it read. I first laughed at the name because of its seeming oxymoronic message. In addition, it is a name with amusement value. Moments later I thought, "I wish I knew about that guy when I had my roof done."

'Mr. Fussy Roofing' is an almost perfect example of a differentiated product or service name that is congruent and resonates beautifully. When you are coming up with names, this is exactly what you should be striving for: resonant congruent differentiation. So let us break down what that phrase means and into intellectually chewable chunks.

Go Ahead, 'Splain Resonant Congruent Differentiation

Take it to the end first: differentiation means you are not being confused with competitors, so you stand out in a positive fashion. If all the companies that make steel are named after locations or owners, such as Bethlehem or Harris Steel, you will not achieve much differentiation if you are called Rogerson Steel. Choose StrongSteelCo and, at the least, you have demonstrated a positioning and promise in your name.

Now for the resonant congruent part. Congruent, be consistent with the qualities and values personified in the products/services you provide. If you make a high-end speaker system, naming it 'Mickey's Speakers' would not be a good call. People would think you had a "Mickey Mouse" product, and naming it after your own self, sounds low budget and small time. This name is incongruent with the image you wish to convey. This name type starts you off in the weeds, so you have to climb out to establish a quality identity.

Resonant, in a very basic sense, means the name makes the prospect or customer feel in alignment with the key message that the name of your product or service communicates. It is credibility, appropriateness, a connection with your brand.

'Mr. Fussy Roofing': Our Branding Hero

Let us use 'Mr. Fussy Roofing' as our example. For right or wrong, roofing contractors do not always, have the greatest reputations. People are suspicious of getting ripped off or of shoddy work. (A neighbor had a new roof put on. It drained improperly so water went between the siding and the underlayment. This was, as my daughter says, UNgood.) Many roofing contractors are small businesses and do not put a lot of thought into their naming and branding. (Exhibit #1: A local contractor named DBA Roofing.) Many other MALE business owners would find 'Mr. Fussy' to be too cute or feminine a name, and would instantly rule it out.

However, our Mr. Fussy did not. He went outside his comfort zone, possibly, to create a name that resonated congruently with me, his typical audience, and achieved positive differentiation. What do I take away from 'Mr. Fussy Roofing'? He cares, he is different from most, he features attention to detail, he will likely do an excellent job, and he does roofing. All from three words!

Contrast this with 'DBA Roofing'. I know they do roofing, and perhaps could not even think of a name. I do not know anything more about what they stand for, what their vision is, or how they do business. Just two words - Mr. Fussy - tell me so much more. Mr. Fussy differentiated his business. I get it and like what he promises, so it resonates with me. The idea of a roofer being fussy is very congruent and highly desirable to me.

So Why Don't More Companies Create Resonant Congruent Differentiated Names?
There are many reasons: ego, ability to be objective about every company except your own, stubbornness, caution, corporate culture, a desire to take a safe middle road, and on and on. This desire to 'play it safe', not take a chance, applies as often to big corporations as it does in small businesses.

Many people may think that 'Geek Squad' is a great name. It's more fun, evocative and compelling than 'Your Computer Experts' or some other safe vanilla choice. Yet when it comes to their own name, people get scared and go down a safe path. I recently named a coffee shop "Thanks a Latte." Would you rather go there for that experience or to 'Dunkin' Donuts' or 'Herb's Coffee Shop'?

Obviously, you have to take your audience into account. 'Thanks a Latte' is aiming for a Starbucks-type of crowd: more upscale, willing to pay a bit more for quality. Yet, in many cases, a striking, effectively clever, or even surprising name will take you so much further, especially if your marketing budget is limited. (Hey, isn't everyone's?)

Unless you are one of those cavemen from the Geico commercials, you know that a geek is a computer nerd. A geek squad is a whole mess of 'em. Chances are you will find 25 PC repair guys in your Yellow Pages called 'Something Computer Repair'. You'll only find one 'Geek Squad'. Let's say you see three commercials. One for 'Phil's Computer Shack', another for 'Waterville Computer Repair', and the third for 'Geek Squad'. Which are you going to remember? And who YOU gonna' call?

This brings up another key attribute of memorable, powerful names: attitude. 'Geek Squad', 'Thanks a Latte', 'Brains on Fire' (a naming firm), 'Mr. Fussy'... they all bring a distinctive point of view to the name. A name you can connect with almost viscerally. Consider Mr. Fussy one more time. Who has more of a persona in two words: 'Mr. Fussy' or 'Bob's Roofing'? Who conveys more depth of appropriate and convincing meaning in two words? While finding a name that fits is important, creating one that voices a point of view, that you and your business believe in, will go a long way toward developing true differentiation and memorability. You can say this attitude will give you greater resonance with proper congruence, if you do it right.

Do You Want to Describe What You Do, Or Be Memorable?

If you're going to name your company and have, it stand out from the competition, choosing a functional name like 'PhotoCopy Hut' isn't really going to dazzle anyone. 'PhotoCopy Hut' doesn't go any further than simply being functional on a very basic level, but we've seen worse. Ever notice a truck go by you on the expressway that says something like "Kordis." They may even have a tag line, such as "Bringing the World to You." You wonder, what do they do? Are they importers? Are they a global delivery service? Do they manufacture desktop globes? They have this incredible opportunity to create thousands of impressions a day with consumers and they cannot even be bothered to say what they do. This is truly a waste of a great moving billboard.

Big companies are fond of neologisms, (concocted words or terms), such as Claris or Pentium. They get away with it because they have huge budgets. I think you know there's Intel inside by now. Yet have you ever heard of Comergent? And if you did, would you remember it?

There are other types of names: acronyms, evocative, descriptive, alphanumerical, and aspirational and on and on. That's the topic for a future article.

Yes, your name and brand identity need to be more than resonant, congruent, and differentiated. Other essential aspects of your brand include being authentic, connected, able to be lived every day, attention to every detail of customer contact, and so on. But an excellent starting point is the resonant/congruent/differentiated test. Think about those ideas in relation to your name or brand.

If you would like some fresh thinking and branding, naming, tag line, or positioning assistance, please get in touch. 585.746.2320 or e-mail chucketal@aol.com. ChuckIngersoll.com

About the Author
Chuck Ingersoll is a freelance namer, brander and copywriter. He brings over 20 years advertising agency experience to the process, and specializes in creating names, positionings and taglines that are not only clever, but effective. (Otherwise it's just empty creativity.) For 10 years he operated his own advertising agency in Rochester, NY, Ingersoll et al, serving major clients Kodak, Xerox and Bausch & Lomb. As a writer, creative director, and vice president at other ad agencies, his experience covers most industries and every type of marketing communications writing from ads to Web sites.