Naming and PositioningLisa Morales-Hellebo

lisa.hellebo@gmail.com / @lisahellebo

The Founder Institute

Lisa Morales-Hellebo

Lisa Morales-Hellebo

Where do you start?

PROCESS

PROCESS

PROCESS

Where do you start?

1. What is the product?

2. Who is the customer?

3. Who is the competition?

4. Why/how are you different?

What is the product?

1

Hasn’t been built yet

or

MVP complete

What is the product?

1. What does the product do?

2. What problem does it solve?

3. Who needs it?

What is the product?

$1,216.95

$489.95

1. Does? Generates variations of outfits via

algorithms from multiple retailers

2. Solves? Quickly finding head-to-toe outfits,

specific to your taste and budget

3. Who? Women 27-45 with money and no time

What is the product?

Who is the customer?

2

Who is the customer?

?

PERSONAS

1.Gender? Age?

2.Where do they live?

3.Where & when do they use your product?

4.What matters to them?

5.Besides the problem you solve, what should

they expect from your brand?

Who is the customer?

Who is the customer?

the collector_____________________________

KimiaAge: 43

Occupation: Marketing Executive

Home life: Single, no kids, never married, owns a townhouse in Buckhead, Atlanta

Education: Masters in Marketing & Business from NYU

HH Income: $125k

Frequency of Shopping: Weekend shopping with friends, but only buys via sample sales

Avg Look $: $500-$2500

Shops for: Herself, her dog, mother/father, & brothers (in that order)

AGE27-45

FUNto shop

URBANinfluencers

$150item

Who is the customer?

Who are your competitors?

3

Polyvore

Shopstyle

OpenSky

Wanelo

Who are your competitors?

Fancy

Lyst

Pinterest

Pose

CHECKLIST1.Where are they in the alphabet?

2.What is the visual shape of the word(s)?

3.Long or short name(s)?

4.What type of name is it? Literal, Invented, Experiential, Evocative

5.How does it work in other languages?

6.What is their brand voice?

7.Does it have “stick”?

Who are your competitors?

Who are your competitors?

TYPES OF NAMESLiteral/Functional CheapCaribbean,

RentTheRunwayInvented Google, Shopsy

Experiential Pose, Explorer

Evocative Twitter, Apple

Why/how are

you different?

4

PRODUCT POSITIONING

1.What are the competition’s SWOTs?

2.Who is their audience?

3.What are your SWOTs?

4.What feelings do they evoke?

5.Where do you want to live in the competitive

landscape?

Why/how are you different?

Why/how are you different?

SHE-commerceSelf-Expression

Age 27-45Age 14-24

Algorithmic Curation

Non-Scalable

Trained Curators

Crowd

LooksSingle Item

VOICE POSITIONING

1.What is the company’s personality?

2.What are the company’s values?

3.What is the company’s taste or appearance?SELECT TOP 5 FOR ALL

Why/how are you different?

The #1 brainstorming tool is…

Why/how are you different?

Why/how are you different?

Here’s how to use it

NAMING BRAINSTORM1.Have every stakeholder participate

2.Word association w/Post-Its

3.Decider as facilitator

4.Everyone presents their Post-its

5.Organize into groupings

6.Top 3 get weighed against previous findings

Why/how are you different?

Domains & Trademarks1.Google — Try unusual spelling, but not too crazy

2.USPTO.gov Trademarks Trademarks Search

3.Domains — Why domains after trademark? .COM, .CO, ______APP.COM, GET_______.COM

4.LegalZoom vs law firm?

Securing your IP

EVERYTHING HAS MEANING.

Make it more than a name,

build a brand.

Naming and PositioningLisa Morales-Hellebo

lisa.hellebo@gmail.com / @lisahellebo

The Founder Institute