BRAND NAMING – SUSTAINABLE, BUT NOT IN THE WAY YOU IMAGINE

Balenciaga, Chanel, Gucci, and Prada. Each lies at the pinnacle of luxury fashion, as highly-aspirational brands for their style-aware audiences. 

In recent years, each has announced activities aimed at improving corporate sustainability by reducing the environmental impact of their manufacturing and distribution.

Looked at in a different way, the four brands have also been incredibly successful in sustaining their relevance and appeal to consumers for a hundred years and more; Balenciaga - since 1919, Chanel – since 1910, Gucci - 1921, and Prada - 1913. 

In this light, SUM approaches the process of brand naming with both the narrower and broader definitions of ‘sustainability’ in mind.

From time to time a client will initially view the very core of their brand as rooted in environmental sustainability, and will expect their brand name to project this. While it is absolutely essential for any company to hold this ideal as a major part of what it stands for, we share a view that this should in fact not be used as a basis for their brand name generation. 

That is because environmental sustainability has, reassuringly, become a standard ‘hygiene factor’ for any luxury or fashion brand with serious intentions, and is therefore not a differentiator. 

Instead, when creating a brand name, SUM instead adopts a longer term view that aims to future-proof it to retain appeal and relevance as the luxury world ebbs and flows during the decades to come. 

We do this by drawing inspiration not from trends, but instead from authentic, enduring aspects of the company. These themes can be as diverse as the brand’s geographic location, or the identity or character of its owners, its overall approach to product formulation, the way its ingredients are sourced, a permanent aspect of its design ethos, or from a unique insight on its target audience.

Either way, SUM creates aspirational luxury brand names that have been designed to truly stand the test of time.

If you would like to talk to us about the naming process for your own luxury or fashion brand, please email us.