NAMBOS was founded 15 years ago, but the NAMBOS directors have been involved in strategic and secure naming business for over 20 years. The foundation of every brand is a unique and memorable name and that’s what NAMBOS core business is.
“Our experience naturally made the NAMBOS start easier and we were able to pick up speed quickly. We have grown steadily over the years and have established ourselves as market leaders in the field of name development. From many global corporations to small start-ups, numerous companies rely on the naming expertise of our teams,” says NAMBOS Managing Director Creation Markus Lindlar.

Over the years, NAMBOS has not only focused on strategy and creation, but also on security. “Our sustained success is also based on our own research department, our worldwide network of native speakers and our in-house brand lawyer, because this enables us to guarantee brand security quickly and easily,” says Managing Director Research & International Naming Sebastian Fiebig.

“At NAMBOS, strategic knowledge, project experience, optimal creation and review competence are the basis for successful projects. But what makes us special is our commitment to every single project” explains NAMBOS brand lawyer and managing director Peter Ströll.

„Foreign Brands“ are brands which make use of particular characteristics of countries or cultures in order to benefit from stereotypes linked to these countries or cultures. For example, the brand names chosen for products are associated with particular countries or cultures, but the products for which the names are used actually come from another country and not the one suggested by the name.

Some examples of the way this kind of brand management and name creation are used are the brands “Häagan-Dazs”, “Jack Wolfskin”, “Desperados” and “Montblanc”“. “Häagan-Dazs” creates an association with Scandinavian origins, but is, in fact, a US American brand. “Jack Wolfskin” does not come from Canada, but is a German brand. It is only the brand name and presentation of the Tequila and beer mix, “Desperados” that has Spanish/Mexican roots, because the drink itself comes from France. And, likewise, in the case of the German manufacturer of expensive writing implements, “Montblanc”, the actual and the suggested countries of origin (France v. Germany) of the products do not match.

“This kind of brand management and naming is not only used by us, but is currently very popular in emerging markets. So, for example, a growing range of “western” sounding products is available in China, although these are actually produced in China,” says trademark expert Peter Ströll. “However, in creating foreign brands particular care and attention must be paid to credibility and authenticity in developing the name. That is why (in addition to the usual strategic and legal requirements) linguistic criteria particularly need to be taken into account in this form of name development. If you make a linguistic faux pas (e.g. if there is a negative connotation to the name in the suggested country of origin), the suggested brand origins can come crashing down like a house of cards and any willingness to buy can be completely lost,” says Ströll.

These risks are also pointed out by Dr. Kristina Klein from the Department of Marketing and Brand Management at the University of Cologne. She won the German Marketing Association Prize with the topic of her dissertation “Essays on the effects of brand names and prices on consumer behavior”.

As part of its series of events, MC-Wissenschaft, the Marketing Club Frankfurt invited Dr. Klein and NAMBOS’ Managing Director, Peter A Ströll, to give specialist presentations on the topic “Foreign Branding”. On 29th October 2013, Dr Klein gave a presentation on her academic results whilst NAMBOS’ Managing Director Peter A. Ströll talked on the practical requirements and his experience in name creation in the “Foreign Brands” sector.

Well-known chair manufacturer and NAMBOS customer Interstuhl was represented in the new 007 film “SPECTRE” by its KINETICis5 and MOVYis3 lines – with the KINETICis5 even appearing in one of the main scenes.

This is the third time that the high-quality Interstuhl products have featured in an internationally successful series. This is really eye-catching and international product placement…and NAMBOS was responsible for the striking name strategy and brand name!

interstuhl.de

Lectures on the topics of “naming” and “naming systems” were the basis for the brand name event organised by NAMBOS.

The hall in the Literaturhaus was well filled with over 50 participants from companies and agencies. After the lectures of the NAMBOS naming experts and many answered questions, there was still a long time of talking about more than just naming issues over a tasty buffet of cultivated drinks. The special features of name development for apps, which is becoming increasingly important, were discussed many times.

The successful MEM lecture series will continue in the second half of 2015.