discuss How do you define brandable?

[equity78]

There seems to be a never ending array of domain investors looking for "brandable" names. One of the dominant themes of domain wanted threads on Namepros. I think that the broad request of brandable might be wasting a lot of people's time. I see people argue all the time what is brandable and what is not, someone told me the mattress company that acquired Purple.com was stupid. They said, … [Read more...]

 

[JayT]

I started a thread exactly about this once. I had my own definition of brandable. Turns out most people think, no matter what the domain name: IE: goldnews.com it's a brandable. However, if they don't like the domain: IE: axztze.com it's not a brandable :D

In summery, we shouldn't be calling domains 'domains', but calling them 'brandables', as all domains ARE brandable (lol). Further, if a person personally doesn't like the domain, it's just crap.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/what-is-a-brandable-domain.993623/

LOL, re-reading over thread, have ppl like @todaygold saying: "You really are thick headed. What part of, it's based on EMOTION and can't be DEFINED, don't you understand

And I go on to call 'brandable' a magical word, impossible to define :D

 

[hawkeye]

brandable is:
- no more than 6 letters!
- Easy to remember!
- a .com

Oh dear, poor MicroSoft, and so many more, didn't listen to your 'advise'.

Technically any name/domain/thing can be a brandable if one is willing to spend the dineros to make it so. Advertisers have been branding products and services into the minds of the public forever. And continue to do so, over and over.

 

[MapleDots]

Personally.... now notice I say PERSONALLY

For me a brandable is a UNIQUE brandable name that UNIQUELY identifies a particular company or brand name.

So if you take an ordinary word and slightly modify it into a unique BRANDABLE new word. Something you can register as a trademark without infringing on someone else.

In Canada this was just done by a big bank under the Simplii Financial name or simplii.com.

I considered this a classic brandable with the company having full control because it is a made up word.

Now if someone else uses Simplii Loans they get shut down. Technically even a Simplii Restaurant could not use it because it is a made up trademarked word.

Apple will alway have to fight because they only hold the mark in the technology field. Apple was banned from going into music with the name Because apple was owned by the Beatles.

It would have been better to change the word slightly and there would have been no limitations. Instead Apple has paid a lot of money to be able to use Apple with iTunes etc.

Disclaimer: Please note the above is simplii (pardon the pun) my opinion on brandables.

Blatant Plug for my domain: www.Priide.com - I consider this my best BRANDABLE - and a great example of owning a name where if trademarked it would be hard for anyone to use anywhere else.

 

[domains21]

Relatively short, catchy and memorable. And let's face it, essentially anything can be brandable when it has the right marketing behind it. For example, just thinking of some names I have seen here in the UK: Zoopla, Shpock, treatwell, emoov and confused.com are a small selection of those that come straight to mind.

Also, as lengthy as Plentyoffish looks, it is only 4 syllables and so is fairly quick to say.

 

[creataweb]

My opinion is that there are different levels of brandables. On the outer edge of it you have the names that a majority would not consider brandable at all. On the inside you would have the names most all would agree that are brandables. It can be very subjective.

 

[Grego85]

New GTLDs make for good brandable names because they efficiently modify a keyword into a brand name. Purity.

 

[karmaco]

Practically anything is brandable. Length does not matter. What makes the brand ultimately is what the company does with it. Generic one words are considered brandable by most but few can afford that so there are always alternatives.

All Below are Brandable

Shoes com
RedShoe com
ShoeCarnival com
Shoely com
Shue or Shoo com

 

[Domaining Ocean]

Combination of keywords that make sense together

 

[urlurl]

apple.com - brandable

not excatly...

Apple is now a brand.

before Macintosh decided to use it, it was a possible brandable name they could have used.

Brand + Able = the ability to brand

Brand = what a company makes of a name or phrase.

 

[briguy]

Sometimes the best part of a article is the comments..especially in this article..

Noticed most so called "brandables" are basically using that term as sales pitches, trying to attract more buyers..like the over use of "premium"

 

[Bob Hawkes]

By the way, possibly relevant, the 2018 version of the Brand Relevance Index was published last month. Not surprisingly Apple and Amazon in first two places. Interesting that KitchenAid a two word brand has cracked the top 10, moving up 6 places. Of course the index looks more at how the brand earns respect, than the name itself, but still interesting. I was a bit surprised to see Pinterest and Netflix in positions 3 and 4. Facebook took a huge tumble in the ratings this year.

https://www.prophet.com/relevantbrands-2018/

 

[Vito]

Here is my definition of the word Brandable.

Brandable - any words, letters, numbers, or characters that are NOT an exact match of what your Company sells and or does.

Apple is electronics. Not Electronics.com.

FedEx is a Delivery Service, not DeliveryService.com

Heinz57 is Ketchup not Ketchup.com

7-Eleven is a Convenient Store not ConvenientStore.com

Häagen-Dazs is IceCream not IceCream.com

Vans is skater shoes not SkaterShoes.com

Coach is a Luxury brand not Luxury.com

Google, 3M, Flickr, 7up, WD-40, etc.

 

[kam]

Why does it have to be short? lots of domains are long and clearly brandable to begin with and successful too. Under your definition plentyoffish.com wasn't brandable to begin with, because long?

Plentyoffish is indeed too long.
Let's take a look the current logo of plentyoffish, They're now promoted themselves as POF and they are now using POF.com as their domain.

 

[JayT]

"plenty of fish is indeed too long" (to be a brandable).

They were successful LONG before they adopted POF. POF wouldn't even make sense without them succeeding with plenty of fish, and I can give a ton more examples if you want to try saying brandables are only short.

I picked Plenty of Fish specifically because I knew someone would 'take the bait'. Just look at their history, POF didn't make them who they are.

Just like facebook bought fb.com and so many others. These are not so much for branding as for show. Common ppl are not talking to their friends about "pof" and "fb" they are saying plenty of fish and facebook in full.

 

[cabotower]

i'm only now finding out 'brandable' isn't a dictionary word! if it's not in webster's,oxford or collins it's just made up.

 

[trelgor]

Practically anything is brandable. Length does not matter. What makes the brand ultimately is what the company does with it. Generic one words are considered brandable by most but few can afford that so there are always alternatives.

All Below are Brandable

Shoes com
RedShoe com
ShoeCarnival com
Shoely com
Shue or Shoo com

If you by ”brandable” mean that the name allows for branding efforts to be carried out using the name in question, sure, anything is ”brandable”. Just like anything is ”eatable”.

The definition is not very useful though.

Eating a teddybear might take a while and damage your health. Branding on “Shitex” or “AlabamaCarpenterToolsCentral” might cost you a bit and be both limiting and damaging to your company.

But if you by ”brandable” mean the probability of a buyer recognizing that branding efforts using the name in question have a good chance to be successful, some names are better candidates. Others are worse. One or a few are outstanding. That is a useful definition of the “brandability” of a name. I use it successfully.

 

[BaileyUK]

Branding is not just the wording, it is the presentation and intended associations. There is a reason that those that work in marketing get paid very well and the industry worth Billions. I was fortunate enough to work for Thorn Emi marketing, for their rental businesses.

Marketing isn't something you can just join in on a whim... Domains require you to put yourself in the product/company-presenters shoes, with a good understanding of the public perception, any legal issues in usage not to mention a thorough understanding of presentation.

amazon I think have done great - Not only with the A-to-Z underlining (visually also a smile) but it's uniqueness in the market it serves. now that is excellent branding. Their packaging is now just carrying that Arrow/come smile No wording at all, and as that becomes familiar it will give them endless opportunity for future and new presentation

'made up' words have a very difficult time in being memorable unless they have an instant association or familiarity. Usually by similarity

 

[Name Trader]

I've tussled with this definition quite a lot. Basically I came to the conclusion that you can brand any kind of domain name to something. Doesn't matter if it's a dictionary word or a made up word. Of course a single word is probably best. But 2 word domains are equally brandable. But usually have less value. Here is my conundrum to my theory.

RedRoses.com - can be branded to almost anything.

PneumaticTires.com - I just cannot see that branded to anything at all

 

[Internet.Domains]

The term 'BRANDABLE', in relation to internet domains, has yet been defined. Until 'BRANDABLE' is properly defined the debate of opinions will dictate the conversation, versus the debate of facts.

With that understanding, my opinion is that most domains can become a brand, thus making most domains 'BRANDABLE'.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

It is surprisingly elusive to try to define a brandable domain. I would say, perhaps obviously, that a brandable domain is any term that could be used by a company or organization for their brand. The types of domain names that companies brand on are very diverse, including both generic and made up words, as well as acronyms.

Bob

 

[urlurl]

my point i was trying to make is anything and everything is brandable. some names would make great brands and others are bad brand names or will never make a brand name.

therefore, a brandable name is just the POTENTIAL to become a brand.... some are more likely than others.

saying a brandable name is a specific length or type is incorrect... that is just describes the quality of a brandable name.

 

[equity78]

I would like to say one thing about the article I know a point was being made as does this thread because no one agrees on the definition but the article was unnecessarily unkind to @Keith DeBoer JMO. Feel free to disagree.

Hello I wrote the article and do not believe anything I said was unkind as I replied back to the friend who contacted me that brandable was in the eye of the beholder. The other comment was not mine, It was an actual commenter on DNGeek with regard to UBER. This is a very hotly contentious topic as evidenced by the comments here in this thread, it's obvious few agree on any one definition.

 

[Internet.Domains]

I am just going to throw this out there, but maybe there should be a poll on "How do you define a brandable?"

By voting the domain community could come to some sort of consensus on a definition that can be referenced. Maybe even get it submitted to a major dictionary.

Any thoughts on that? Would it matter? Are we better off with our opinions on the definition?

 

[MapleDots]

Palm = Word
Olive = Word

PalmOlive = Brand if used in business