5 Questions with Mollie Young

Mollie Young co-founded Nametag^® International, Inc. in 1987. She has over 25 years of strategic branding experience, working with many global companies across all sectors including Pfizer, Cargill, General Motors, Land O’Lakes, McDonald’s, WinField, General Electric, 3M, Monsanto, General Mills, and American Express. She is a frequent speaker and panelist on topics including brand strategy, global naming, branding trends and brand research/insights.

Young will be a presenter at the MN AMA's August 11 event "Winning the Name Game - What's the Story Behind a Great Name?" 

Young answered five of our questions about the brand naming process, and she provided insight into Nametag International's knowledgeable approach to this evolving field.

1. Nametag has recently expanded into the agriculture industry with Agtag. Why did you see this as an expanding market for naming purposes?
   
   Nametag International has always had deep roots within the agriculture industry. We have done global naming work for many agriculturally-based companies including Land O'Lakes, WinField, Monsanto, Cargill, etc. The growth of our work within the agricultural industry is based upon the concept of "feeding the world," which began with significant research and understanding of what it means to truly be a global provider of branding services. It's an industry that we have been working in for almost 30 years and have a significant commitment and focus going forward.
    
2. How important is market research in the naming process? Are there a lot of surprises that come through the research? Have you ever thought a name was perfect before going into the research phase, but then received some unexpected feedback?
   
   At Nametag International, we believe that having the voice of the customer, whether that be a business-to-business customer or a consumer, as part of the process for evaluating names is critically important. The premise of great naming is to provide an opportunity to make it easier for the customer to do business with the company, so therefore it is important to make sure their voice is included. There have been situations in our process where teams may feel very strongly about a name, only to find that perhaps the name is not communicating the same types of messaging and imaging to the customer, so therefore good companies allow for the customer voice to be heard. Especially in today’s world where social media and consumer voices are so strong.
    
3. How has SEO changed brand name development?
   
   Choosing a new brand name today involves not only exploring domain availability, but also a variety of social media platforms. Mobile optimization is also extremely important, so creating mobile-friendly versions of websites, etc. should be considered. SEO and content marketing are a necessity and key in helping build brand identity, and it continues to evolve and change at a fast pace. 
    
4. What is something about brand name development that people are surprised to discover?
   
   Many people may not realize how increasingly difficult it is to develop a name that can pass a lot of different hurdles, including federal and/or global trademark availability. Another area of surprise very frequently is linguistic screening. The need for cultural assessments is important so that brand names that are appropriate in the United States are also acceptable when marketed globally. The worldwide market for language translation has increased dramatically due to cross-cultural business growth. This is especially true where literal translations can vary depending upon dialect and potentially lead to inappropriateness and/or offensiveness among select cultures within the global target audience. A multi-cultural world demands sensitivity to and understanding of people and nations. Whenever possible, it is vital to identify and avoid potential embarrassing cultural missteps.
   
   A few examples:
   - The Jolly Green Giant, when translated into Arabic, came across initially as "Intimidating Green Monster."
   - Schweppes introduced its Tonic Water into the Italian market without overseeing its Italian translation - "Schweppes Toilet Water."
   - General Electric was going to release its new partnership brand in Europe as GPT. They found out the French pronunciation of GPT is J’ai pété, which means "I farted."
   - In Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan "Finger-lickin’ good" was translated to "Eat your fingers off." 
    
5. How did you get into brand name development? What skills or background will help a marketing professional excel in the brand name development field?
   
   My background began with traditional advertising agency and publishing experience, which provided me an excellent foundation to start Nametag International.