Making the most of initial-based brands
B&B, JR, DTR: What can you do with a company name that is just a few letters?
By Dan Antonelli
Posted on Saturday, August 29th, 2020
For most sign shops, company names that use initials can be the most challenging to build brands for. Many clients come to us and want their brands to be just as creative as some of the ones they see on our website. But dealing with a company name that is two or three letters is a much different type of exercise compared to names—which allow you to be more creative with your visuals to accompany those creative names.
Wrestling with initial-based brands For us, our first conversation addresses the challenges of their name. Often, this is not exactly the conversation most owners want to have. They usually think you can work your magic with whatever name you’re presented with. The truth is, there’s no amount of magic to get an initial-based brand to communicate the same brand promise as one that says what their company might do, or an expectation of what the customer might receive if they hired this company.
And that’s really the core problem with any initial-based brand. The customer has no idea of the deliverable—the service or product the company provides. And worse, names that use initials are extremely difficult to remember.
Dan Antonelli owns KickCharge Creative (formerly Graphic D-Signs, Inc.) in Washington, New Jersey. His latest book, Building a Big Small Business Brand, joins his Logo Design for Small Business I and II. He can be reached at dan@kickcharge. com. Dan also offers consulting and business coaching services to sign companies. For more information, visit danantonelli.com. On Instagram: @danantonelli_kickcharge.