ITALIAN BRAND NAMES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE LINGUISTIC TRENDS IN PRODUCT NAMING CREATION L

(1)

D

IPARTIMENTO DI STUDI LINGUISTICI E CULTURALI

C ORSO DI L AUREA M AGISTRALE IN

L ANGUAGES FOR COMMUNICATION IN INTERNATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND ORGANIZATIONS

ITALIAN BRAND NAMES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE LINGUISTIC TRENDS IN

PRODUCT NAMING CREATION

Prova finale di:

Lucia Palazzese Relatore:

Silvia Cacchiani

Correlatore

Donatella Malavasi

Anno Accademico 2018/2019

(2)

RIASSUNTO

Nel presente elaborato ci si propone di redigere un’ analisi linguistica di circa 250 brand name, registrati nel 2018 presso l’Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi. Per ogni marchionimo sarà redatta una scheda, in cui sono riportate sia informazioni tecniche riguardanti l’azienda e il marchio in questione sia la valutazione linguistica vera e propria, effettutata su più livelli: da quello grafico e fonetico fino a quello semantico, passando per il piano morfo-sintattico.

Tale analisi linguistica è realizzata a seguito della dettagliata presentazione della disciplina del brand naming. Dopo un excursus storico sulla nozione di brand name, dalle origini ai vari sviluppi multidisciplinari, sono presentati gli elementi chiave necessari alla stesura di una chiara ed esaustiva analisi linguistica.

Il confronto con la letteratura precedente risulta essere indispensabile per poter delineare le tendenze linguistiche, passate e presenti, che si verificano nella creazione di marchionimi di prodotto in Italia. L'elaborato è, infine, uno spunto per riflettere sull'importanza del branding in ambito economico, in particolare in una strategia di marketing aziendale.

(3)

ABSTRACT

The aim of this thesis is the development of a linguistic analysis of about 250 Italian trademarks, registered in 2018 at Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi (UIBM), namely the Italian Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uibm.gov.it/ ). For each brand name a table is drawn up, containing, on one side, technical information about the enterprise and the brand concerned, and, on the other side, the linguistic analysis, provided on the following aspects: from phonetics to semantics through morphosyntactics. The linguistic investigation is drawn up on the basis of a detailed presentation of brand naming. Following an overview of its historical background, brand naming is first described as a multidisciplinary field of study and, second, branding key elements are presented in order to draw up an accurate and thorough linguistic analysis of brand names. The comparison with previous literature on branding is necessary to get a broader view on trends in Italian brand naming over time. This dissertation finally shows the important role of branding in the economic sector, especially as a corporate marketing strategy.

(4)

ABSTRACT

Le but de ce mémoire est de rédiger une analyse linguistique d'environ 250 marques de produits, enregistrées en 2018 auprès de l’Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi (UIBM), l'Office italien des brevets et des marques (http://www.uibm.gov.it/ ). Pour chaque marque sera rédigée une fiche, qui donne, d’un côté, des informations techniques sur l’entreprise et la marque en question, et qui présente, de l’autre, l’analyse linguistique, développée sur plusieurs niveaux: du niveau graphique et phonétique au plan sémantique, en passant par le niveau morphologique et syntaxique.

L’analyse linguistique est rédigée à la suite de la présentation détaillée de la discipline de branding.

Après quelques notions historiques sur le naming, à partir des origines jusqu’à son développement multidisciplinaire, sont présentés les éléments linguistiques nécessaires à la rédaction d’une analyse claire et complète.

Les travaux précédents sur le même sujet sont essentiels pour la comparaison de données entre passé et présent afin de montrer les tendances linguistiques qui se manifestent lors de la création de marques de produits en Italie. Cette investigation constitue, enfin, un point de départ pour décrire l’importance de la marque dans le secteur économique, en particulier en tant que stratégie de marketing.

(5)

1 The aim of this dissertation is the development of a linguistic analysis of Italian trademarks, registered in 2018 at Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi (http://www.uibm.gov.it/), namely the Italian Patent and Trademark Office. This investigation arose, first of all, from my interest in the field of linguistics, especially in word formation; second, it arose from my interest in the economic field, especially in marketing. This work focuses on the development of a linguistic analysis of Italian trademarks and it aims at giving an overview of the decision underlying the creation of product brand names. The purpose of this dissertation is an integrated approach to the field of brand naming from a linguistic and an economic point of view.

This investigation concerns about 250 brand names, retrieved from the bulletin of trademarks number 87, published by Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi (http://www.uibm.gov.it/), namely the Italian Patent and Trademark Office, on November, 29^th, 2018. For each brand name a table is drawn up, containing both some technical information and the linguistic features of the brand concerned. Each table provides, first, some technical information about the brand analysed and the enterprise concerned; second, it describes the linguistic strategies employed on the level of phonetics, morphology, syntactics and semantics.

The first chapter provides a detailed presentation of brand naming. After an overview of its historical background, branding is, first, described from its origin to its current meaning and development into a multidisciplinary field of study. Second, branding is described from a theoretical point of view, providing information about brand name functions, strategies and development.

The second chapter provides, first, an overview of previous linguistic investigations on brand naming. Previous works on the same topic are essential, since they are used as a benchmark for the linguistic analysis. They provide, on one side, the product classes of analysis and, on the other side, the linguistic tools necessary for the investigation. Indeed, the trademarks of analysis belong to the same product classes as previous works on brand naming; at the same, brand names are analysed on the basis of the linguistic strategies, described in previous works. Prior investigations on brand naming result to be necessary for the comparison of trends in Italian brand naming creation over time. After an overview of tools and categories of analysis, the second chapter provides the linguistic investigation of about 250 Italian trademarks to outline the main strategies employed in brand naming development in 2018. A table is drawn up for each brand name, containing both technical and linguistic information and features of the brand concerned.

The third chapter shows the main linguistic strategies employed in Italian brand naming development in 2018. The results of the analysis are then compared with previous investigations

(10)

2 and researches on the same topic to outline the tendencies in naming creation over time. Finally, the concept of branding is defined from a marketing point of view; an integrated approach to brand naming is provided to show the linguistic and economic tools necessary for the creation of effective brand names.

(11)

3

CHAPTER 1 BRAND NAMES

This chapter provides an overview of the literature on brand naming and brand names, defined by the American Marketing Association as “that part of a brand that can be spoken, including letters, numbers or words, which is used to distinguish one product from its competitors”

(https://www.ama.org/resources/Pages/Dictionary.aspx?dLetter=B). More particularly, we shall first provide an outline of the development of branding, and then outline its main features, ranging from its functions to its multimodal nature.

1.1 A BRIEF HISTORY OF BRANDING

The development of branding can be traced back for many centuries before the term entered the lexicon of modern marketing usage. The word Brand dates back to Old Norse brandr, meaning “to burn”. The term brand originally entered into Old English, meaning “to fire /firebrand” or “piece of burning wood” (https://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/brand#h1 ). In early times, farmers used to burn a mark or a symbol on their animals to identify their livestock from those of others, a proc ess called branding, that is a practice common even today (Harsh V. Verma, 2006, p. 45). This practice of branding livestock dates back to the 2000 BC, where Egyptians used to brand cattle. The Greeks and Romans and people before them employed various ways to promote their wares, such as wines or pots or metals. For instance, messages would be inscribed on them informing people that a certain man living at a certain address could make a certain product. The Greeks also used town criers to announce the arrival of ships with particular cargoes (Harsh V. Verma, 2006). Though the practice of branding is really ancient, the word “brand” meaning the “mark made by a hot iron” was first used in the XVI century. Initially, the act of branding was used to identify the manufacturer of a certain good, and, only at a later stage, it has become a marker of the product quality. In the sixteenth century, distillers used branding in their own way. They burned or branded their name on the wooden containers, called casks, to distinguish the product from the one of other distillers. It was also a way to prevent tavern owners from substituting cheaper versions. The brand concept evolved further in the eighteenth century, when it assumed the current meaning of “giving names to commercial

(12)

4 goods, services and even companies” (Harsh V. Verma, 2006). In these years, around the mid- XIX century, some producers understood that naming their products could create a competitive advantage to them. They thought that common people could recogniz e and better remember goods having a name. This will also mean that people would prefer purchasing them rather than their anonymous fellows (Danesi, 2009, p. 11-25). Over the years, more and more companies began to name their goods and services, since producers understood that branding could really create some advantages. Earlier the producer s’ name identified the products. For instance, Smirnoff vodka takes its name from the Smirnoff family, which went into the vodka business in the year 1818, Ford automobiles display the name belonging to Henry Ford, the founder of the company. Many other brands took the name of their creators,

like Roll-Royce, Mercedes Benz, Bugatti cars. Gradually, the names of producers began to get replaced by names of places (Polar, Artic) and even animals (Kangaroo). Firms understood that this could be useful to strengthen the association between product and brand, so that the brand could be easier to remember and could better identify the product (Harsh V. Verma, 2006, p. 45). The real boost to branding came in the middle of the twentieth century.

Originally, production was craft-based and localized, thus the output was differentiated and based on a low level. Hence, markets were small and localized. However, with the advent of the industrial revolution, production was completely altered, bringing new concepts such as assembly lines and standardization. Firms began to use similar technologies to produce similar goods and to offer similar services. (Harsh V. Verma, 2006). Consumer goods companies understood that, in a continuous spreading marketplace, products should be identified in a recognizable way from its competitors. Thus, in less than fifty years, the practice of branding became very widespread in all economic sectors from food (Nestlé, Kellogg’s) to consumer goods (Parker Pen, Colgate) and, in 1920s, brands were the core element of advertisement. Brands were considered as “signs” creating some mental associations in the consumer’s mind; they were meant to link a certain tangible product or service to a verbal sign, known as “brand name”, teeming with specific connections in terms of preferences and lifestyle for costumers (Danesi, 2009, p. 24).

1.1.2 BRANDING AND THE RISE OF MASS MEDIA

In the 1920s, the birth of the radio took a remarkable change into product advertisement area. The radio represented, in fact, a way to achieve thousands of people, from educated to illiterate ones.

(13)

5 Companies understood that this channel could be used to better spread their ideas; the commercial message could be accompanied by the logo and could be the expression of the company social functions through jingles, slogans and mascots (Danesi, 2009, p. 26).

The further introduction of television gave firms new ways to create demand for their products. By the 1950s, brands were not only associated with functional advantages, but also with emotional benefits; over the years, companies became more conscious of the relevant role of brand development (Danesi, 2009, p. 27).

In the last few decades, the rise of internet has had greater effects on the global economy than any other medium before. The World Wide Web has become accessible by almost everyone in world, reducing physical distances and cultural barriers. Electronic commerce has given rise to new brand opportunities, since, nowadays, a small business located in a rural town can compete with anyone and cater to customers from all over the world. Moreover, the advent of social media has bought the concept of branding even further. The social media essence is “keeping it social”; this means that consumers no longer need exclusively to know the functions and qualities of a product; they prefer being emotionally appealed and being part of the corporate advertising strategy (Shark Bite Coaching, 2014).

1.2 BRAND NAMES AS A CULTURAL PHENOMENON

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as “a name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of them which is intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors” (Heding, Bjerre, Knudtzen, 2009, p. 28).

This definition focuses only on the business aspect of brands, which are understood as any product or service that can be purchased in the marketplace. However, nowadays, the concept of branding is much broader; it is no longer exclusively related to economics, but it also embraces almost every aspect of our society. Indeed, Philip Kotler, one of the major scholars of Marketing and Management, has affirmed that: “Everything is a brand. A brand is any label that carries meaning and associations” (Kotler, 2003, p. 8; in Maria Chiara Janner, 2018, p. 23).

In the words of Janner (2018, p.23), this means that Coca-Cola or Levi’s are brands in just the same way as towns (New York City), organizations (Greenpeace) and people (David Beckham) are. Also working along these lines, Twitchell (2000,p.1 in Danesi, 2009,p.30) supports Kotler’s idea, stating that “today every aspect of the society has been submitted to the process of branding”.

(14)

6 In brief, the word brand is no longer used to identify something to use or a way to reach popularity or to enhance people’s well-being; today, almost everything has reached and assumed the same identity of a commercial product. A religion, as well as a celebrity or a sport event like UEFA or Champions League, can be considered as a “brand”. This process is the result of the pervasive penetration of branding theories and assumptions into society, since naming is itself a cultural activity. Naming a product, like a person, is meant not only to identify something, but also to link the consumer to the product, since the name is studded with cultural meanings related to the product itself. Indeed, as affirmed by Professor Danesi (2009, p.30), the process of branding is “a semiotic act that transforms products into mental constructs”.

Related to this idea, Bedbury’s theory states that “each brand name has a main essence , which is not tangible and which is not defined only by products and services” (2002, p.12 in Danesi, 2009, p.

33). Brands are “mental constructs, which add to products a cultural meaning known as connotation. These meanings are defined as images culturally determined that come up to in the consumer’s mind when thinking about a certain product” (Danesi, 2009, p. 34).

1.3 THE ESSENCE OF A BRAND

As previously stated, a brand is defined as “a name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of them which is intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors” (Heding et al., 2009, p. 28).

Specifically, brands are complex and multifaceted signs, which are composed by (Melewar and Gupta, 2017, p. 7-10):

1. A textual component, namely the sign: this is the verbal part of the brand, based on various kind of pictographs, alphabetic or other, and on sounds;

2. a visual component, namely the logo and the iconic content: it relates the linguistic codes to other brand components, important for its marketing communication.

The verbal part of the brand represents its main component, since its function is the identification of the product into the business market in which the company operates.

However, the name is just the first identification element of a brand; the distinctive peculiarity of a company will also derive by its figurative constituents.

The visual component is composed by:

1. a semi-figurative sign, the logotype, that is the visual representation of the brand name,

(15)

7 whose role is the identification of the product and its peculiarities by the consumer. Each brand logotype differentiates according to the figurative elements employed, such as font, colors and style;

2. a figurative sign, the symbol, meant to represent the brand.

While the combination of the brand’s sound with its meaning results in the brand’s textual identity, the combination of its visual base with consumers’ interpretations results in the brand’s visual imagery (Melewar and Gupta, 2017, p. 7-10).

Figure 1.1 Framework for assessing the linguistic value of a brand (Source: Melewar and Gupta , 2017 , p. 7)

All the brand components are necessary constituents of the brand identity and of the corporate market positioning; as a consequence, since the enterprise and the environment change over time, they are likely to evolve too (Botton, Cegarra, Ferrari, 2002, p.51-63).

(16)

8 1.4 THE FUNCTIONS OF A BRAND

The book “Il nome della marca. Creazione e strategia di naming” (Botton et al., 2002, p.91-94) states that a brand has specific roles and functions, that change whether we consider the customers’

or producers’ viewpoint.

According to a company or to a product manufacturer, a brand has the role of:

- Differentiating the product from its competitors in the same marketplace; the brand is meant to be the expression of the product positioning;

- showing the authenticity of the company through the product;

- communicating the origin, values and qualities of the company.

According to the consumer’s point of view, a brand has the function of:

- identifying a specific product amid all its fellows in the same business sector. If the consumer positively remembers a certain brand, he will repeat the purchase further;

- guarantee of product quality and of company reliability;

- distinguishing a certain product brand whether it is the only way of differentiation from similar products (composition, color and shape);

- The brand could also have a recreational function, since customers are more satisfied when they have a broader choice of products.

The above-mentioned roles of a brand, relative to the consumer’s point of view, are reduced when:

- The consumer is guided only by prices;

- The customer thinks that all products are similar and brands are only way to put an additional charge to the price;

- Brands are purely descriptive and they are not vehicles of further information.

(17)

9 1.5 THE BRAND NAMING PROCESS

A brand name is “that part of a brand that can be spoken, including letters, numbers or words, which is used to distinguish one product from its competitors”

(https://www.ama.org/resources/Pages/Dictionary.aspx?dLetter=B).

Brand naming refers to every decision or initiative aiming at defining a brand that could be a product brand, a service or a business name; brand naming creation represents one of the most challenging and necessary step in a brand development strategy for several reasons.

First of all, before developing a brand identity, a company should need a name, which is appropriate, available, appealing and enduring. The brand name is the identification card (ID) of a certain product or service, necessary to enter the business market concerned (Chiaravalle and Schenck, 2014, p. 111).

Moreover, the brand name has a great impact on the success of the product. It is true that even not a good name can save a bad product or idea, but a good brand name could be a competitive advantage for the firm that has chosen it. “A good name is an advertisement in itself: it represents the basis from which the brand name can develop and thrive” (Brown, 2008, p.9).

Finally, the brand name is what usually remains unchanged over time. While other aspects of the brand are supposed to evolve, even frequently, like the logo, the color scheme or the tagline, the brand name will remain almost intact over the years (Chiaravalle and Schenck, 2014). A product could also be rebranded, of course, if necessary or, it could just evolve, such as Coca Cola, becoming Coke, or Bartolini becoming BRT. However, since brand names are basically signs, popping up several emotions and associations in the consumers’ mind, they should remain intact.

1.6 THE BRAND AND ITS MULTIMODAL CHARACTER

Following the theories of different scholars, Janner (2018, p. 24) argues in her book “Sguardi linguistici sulla marca” that the brand has a multidisciplinary, as well as an interdisciplinary character. It is a very broad concept which embraces lots of different fields: from economics and marketing to law, from psychology and sociology to semiotics, from linguistics to design. Because of its broad character, it is not simple to reduce the concept of branding into a unique definition.

Let’s see how the three main fields of law, marketing and linguistics do influence the concept of brand name.

(18)

10 1.6 BRAND NAMES AND THE LAW

When a brand name is created, the owner can decide to ask for its legal protection through trademarks. According to Stim (2007, p. 344 in Janner, 2018, p. 29), a “trademark is a distinctive word, phrase, logo, graphic symbol or other device that is used to identify the source of a product or a service and to distinguish it from its competitors”. This means that a firm can decide to register a trademark for its business name, logo, symbol, design or anything else that contributes to its brand identity and the offered products or services. The brand registration protects the company from losing the right to employ the lawful name, whether a firm uses a similar name or even the same one. By registering a trademark, the owner of the brand claims for exclusive rights to use it for the line of business market concerned (Mazzocchi, De Paolis, Capra, 2017, p. 22-24).

In order to trademark the company’s name or a firm’s good or service, a brand should have the following characteristics (Mazzocchi et al., 2017, p. 22-24):

- the originality: a brand is meant to be original, when the name used for a certain product or service allow for its identification and differentiation from its competitors in the business market in which it operates;

- the truthfulness: the new brand name should be unique and, at the same time truthful, not deceiving the consumers about its functions or attributes;

- the innovation: the new brand is also meant to be a name that was not used before in the same business field. Of course, it is not allowed to give the same or a highly similar brand name to a product of the same business field. As a consequence, a famous brand, such as Ferrari, can be used, for instance, to identify a completely different category of product, like wines.

- the lawfulness: a brand is meant to be lawful when it respects rules of law and it is not contrary to public policy and morality.

After examination, if a brand respects all the necessary requirements, it can be registered at Ufficio Brevetti e Marchi (UBIM) ), the Italian Patent and Trademark Office (IPTO).

Through registration, the owner of a brand has his legal protection against competitors. If a competitor or anyone else wants to register a name or a design, which is too similar or even the same, he can be guilty of trademark infringement. Over time, a trademark could also be more and more widespread in everyday life to such an extent that it becomes a common noun. This happens when a brand loses its properties; it is no longer employed to identify a certain product, to make it distinct amid its competitors and to guarantee the product in terms of origin and quality. For

(19)

11 example, today the word Scotch is used as a common noun in everyday conversation, as a synonym of “adhesive tape”. This means that the original brand owner “3M” has lots protection over it.

Similarly, the brand name Rimmel refers to the general mascara, as well as Post.it indicating every adhesive paper used as a reminder. Thus, when a brand name becomes a generic one, it means that it has partly lost its identity and, from the owner viewpoint, it is a loss of sovereignty, even legal, over that brand (Botton et al., 2002, p. 165).

1.6.1 BRAND NAMES AND MARKETING

From a marketing viewpoint, brand naming represents an important step in a corporate marketing strategy for several reasons.

First of all, brand naming is the expression of the firm marketing strategy; as a consequence it should be done in coherence with the corporate origin, the overall corporate philosophy and the target audience (Botton at al., 2002, p. 69).

Secondly, brand names are “the expression of the product positioning into the business market”

(Botton et al., 2002, p. 69), where the position is intended to be “the place a product, brand or group of products occupies in the consumers’ mind relative to competing offerings” (Lamb, Hair, McDaniel, 2010, p. 28).

The positioning is, thus, a process that influences potential customers’ overall perception of a brand, product line or organization in general. Companies could focus on different aspects for an effective brand positioning strategy, namely a product feature or a customer benefit, as well as the price and quality of the product or the type of the target users (Lamb et al., 2010, p. 28).

The positioning of a certain brand in the business market depends initially on the brand name structure and the associations triggered in the consumers’ mind (Botton et al., 2002, p. 66-69); the choice of certain linguistics aspects in terms of phonetics or morphology, as well as of semantics, will be relevant for the product differentiation and for the brand positioning, considered as a synonym of brand loyalty. The consumer who recognizes the product and is satisfied by the first purchase, will repeat the purchase further.

Thus, naming a product is not a simple activity, as it should be done in coherence with several parameters related to (Botton et al., 2002, p. 66- 69):

- the product itself;

- the overall corporate philosophy;

- the business market in which the company operates, together with the target business audience.

(20)

12 Also working along these lines, Kotler and Armstrong (2000, p. 230) state that “a good brand name enjoys a high level of consumer brand awareness and commands strong consumer preference. It then obviously adds greatly to the success of a product”.

Moreover, as stated above, the brand represents a way to display the corporate marketing strategy.

When developing a brand strategy, the company may opt for three different approaches (Yin Wong, 2011):

1- Family umbrella branding: it occurs when a company markets several or all product lines under the same organization name. Some examples are Heinz, Philips or Sony, whose family brand includes radios, televisions, stereos and electronic products.

2- Combination branding: it is the combination of individual brands with the organization/

family name. Examples are Kelloggs’ Coco Pops, Kelloggs’ Crunchy Nut and Kelloggs’

Special K.

3- Individual branding: it occurs when a company applies different brand names to different products in a product line. For instance, Procter and Gamble targets different segments of the laundry detergent market with Dash, Ariel, etc.; the Mars company markets different chocolate products under different brands, such as Mars, Twix, Bounty and Snickers.

1.6.2 BRAND NAMES AND LINGUISTICS

As stated in paragraph 1.5, a brand name is “that part of a brand that can be spoken, including letters, numbers or words, which is used to distinguish one product from its competitors”

(https://www.ama.org/resources/Pages/Dictionary.aspx?dLetter=B). Following this definition, the discipline of linguistics, that is the scientific study of language and its structure (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/linguistics), results to be really important in brand naming creation.

When creating a new brand name or assessing an old one, several linguistic aspects should be taken into account:

- the sound of the word used;

- the structure of the word used;

- the meaning of the word used.

The respective disciplines of phonetics, morphology and semantics work together in order to assess and develop the right brand name (Chiaravalle et al., 2014, p.119).

In brand naming development some other linguistics aspects are similarly relevant:

(21)

13 - the readability: brand names should be easy to say, pronounce and spell (Chiaravalle et al.,

2014, p. 119);

- the memorability: a brand name should be easy to remember, it should be attractive and interesting (Rudani, 2010);

- the exportability: the brand name should be capable of expanding to new geographic market areas (Chiaravalle et al., 2014, p. 119).

Examples of miscommunication in the target audience country are shown by Beatrice Ferrari in her extract of the “Communication week event”, held in Milan in October, 2013. Miscommunication occurs when linguistic factors, like readability, spelling and exportability, have been overlooked or not well checked.

The product names M&M’S and Toys’r’us could be difficulty spelt, whether the target country is not an English-speaking one. Similarly, when a company goes abroad, there could be the risk of getting stuck in a linguistic trap; for instance, the car company Toyota was forced to change, in France, the car model name MR2 into MR, because of its ambiguous meaning in the target country.

It can also occur that a brand name results to be a false friend in the target language, as happened to Sperlari, an Italian company producing sweets and nougats. When launching abroad the product Morbidelli, Sperlari was forced to change the name into Nogadelli, because Morbidelli didn’t mean

“soft” as in Italian, but rather recalled the word “morbid”, meaning obsessive. Other linguistics limits can also occur when translating from the source to the target market. For example, the car model Cinquecento, produced by Fiat, resulted to be unreadable abroad in the written version. The assessment and analysis of several linguistics aspects may be a way to the success or failure of a brand name, both in the country of origin and in a foreign business market.

1.7 BRAND NAMING STRATEGIES

In brand naming development, companies should choose the name that best suits their product, their brand identity and their corporate philosophy, in general. In naming a product or a service, firms can employ a single word or a term composed of more than one word.

Whether composed by more than one word, the company can opt for:

- a word collocation;

- a short expression;

- a motto.

(22)

14 Firms can also opt for an acronym or decide to add numbers to their brand names, like Chanel n.5;

however, not all nations allow for the legal protection of trademarks composed by numbers (Botton et al., p.102- 113). In addition, when creating a new brand name, a company can choose between:

- proper nouns;

- everyday words;

- made-up words with an evoking linguistic structure.

In branding, several naming strategies are available for the creation of a new brand (Botton et al., 2002, pp.102- 113):

- use of the founder’s name for patronymic names;

- focus on product peculiarities;

- focus on product functions;

- use of descriptive words related to the product geographic origin;

- use of metaphoric names;

- use of onomatopoeia;

- focus on the distinctive values of the brand;

- use of Greek and Roman mythology;

- use of positive emotions and associations, related to the verbal sign.

When naming a product or a service, companies may opt for a patronymic name, that is the company founder’s or owner’s name. The choice of a patronymic brand name is a heritage of the past, since the unique role of brand names was the identification of the product. For instance, the majority of big industrial corporations has their founder name. This phenomenon is mostly remarkable in cars makers sector, where car companies, such as Ferrari, Ford and Renault, take their name from their founders, respectively Enzo Ferrari, Henry Ford and Louis Renault, but it is also typical of other business sectors, from food industry to electrical appliances. Some examples are Thomas Lipton, whose brand is the tea industry Lipton, Edouard Michelin, selling tires and Pietro Barilla, an Italian brand selling pasta (Gabrielli, 2012, p. 20).

Moreover, a patronymic brand name may also implicitly highlight the product country of origin. This approach is often followed by Italian fashion designers, since, focusing on the “country of origin”, they are able to generate into consumers’ mind some positive emotions related to “made in Italy”, in terms of product quality and lifestyle (Gabrielli, 2012, p. 20).

The founder or the society name can also be transformed through derivation to create evocative brand names; some examples are the brand Bic, derived from its creator Sir Baron Bich or the brand Adidas, deriving from Adolf Dassler, the company founder, whose nickname was Adi. An acronym can also bear from the society name: FIAT stands for Fabbrica Italiana di Automobili

(23)

15 Torino, while ALFA stands for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (Botton et al., 2002, p.104).

When developing a brand, the product manufacturer may also be influenced by physical and symbolic product peculiaritie. Some brands get their names from their constituents, a phenomenon typical of the food sector. For instance, the brand name Nutella derives from the English word

“nut”, which is one of its main ingredients, while the brand Milka is composed by its main ingredients, namely the German words milch [‘milk’] and kakao [‘cacao’] (Gabrielli, 2012, p. 21).

The famous brand name Coca Cola gets its name from its original ingredients: the coca leaves, an American shrub whose leaves contain cocaine, and the cola nut, which contains cola’s seeds, an African tree (Botton et al., 2002, p.102- 113).

A company can also opt for a name that exalts the functions of the product or service concerned. For example, the brand name Vitasnella expresses the function of the product without describing it; the energizing drink Powerade is, with its name, a promise of better sport performance and the athletic clothes brand Reebok takes its name from a kind of African gazelle to symbol speed and agility to move (Gabrielli, 2012, p. 21).

Another fundamental brand naming strategy consists in the usage of descriptive words or phrases, focusing on the geographic origin of the product. Fiuggi, an Italian company selling bottled water, recalls, through its brand name, the place where bottled water naturally flows out.

Similarly, the watch brand name Swatch gets its name from the contraction of Swiss and Watch, informing the consumer about the Swiss origin of the product. This brand naming strategy is a synonym of guarantee and quality for the consumer (Botton et al., 2002, p.106).

Moreover, the company can also opt for metaphoric brand names, going beyond the basic meaning to reach different cultural symbols. Examples are cars companies, referring to animals, such as Mustang, Jaguar (Botton et al., 2002, p.104- 105).

Sometimes, companies may also employ onomatopoeias to create evocative names, popping up some emotions in the consumers’ mind. Some examples are (Botton et al., 2002, p.106):

- Crunch (rice chocolate), a brand recalling the sound produced chewing;

- Schweppes (a beverage brand, producing also tonic water), evoking the sound when opening;

- Coco Pops (a kind of puffed rice), whose name evokes the idea of explosion.

These brand names are easy to remember, since they are often short and they do have a captivating sound.

When choosing a brand name, a company can also focus on the distinctive values of the brand. For example, the brand Lego derives from the combination of the Danish words “Leg” and

(24)

16

“Godt”, meaning “play well” (Gabrielli, 2012, p. 21). The name can also be used to raise emotions, like the cosmetic product line Shiseido, composed by three Japanese ideograms meaning “the house bringing well-being” (Gabrielli, 2012, p. 21).

Moreover, brand name creators could be inspired by literature or by Greek and Roman mythology; for instance, the detergent name Ajax (Colgate Palmolive) refers to a semi-God in the mythology, while the detergent name Ariel is a character of a Shakespeare’s piece (Botton et al., 2002, p.106).

Sometimes, the quality and power of a name depends greatly on its distinctive character; as a consequence, manufacturers prefer bulding completely new words to get a specific effect and to have complete paternity over them. In branding development, firms try to link a verbal sign to a universe of positive emotions and associations for the consumers through names recalling specific places or moments in time. For instance, the brand After Eight that refers to a kind of chocolate filled with menthe will suggest the consumer its time of consumption (after 8 pm) (Botton et al., 2002, p.107).

Nowadays, in a market teeming with products and services, a well-developed naming process enables the firm to create a brand that is distinctive, creative, new, enduring, appealing and suitable for all the countries of sale (Chiaravalle and Schenck, 2014, p.111). Brand names creators thus work for the development of brand names through the usage of classical methods of creativity, together with the modern aid of computer programs (Botton et al., 2002, p.107).

1.7.1 BRANDING STRATEGIES AND CONNOTATIVE INDEXES

Since brands are signs, they are composed by two levels of meaning (Danesi, 2009, p.50-65):

1. the denotative level: it represents the verbal part, the invariable meaning of the sign, necessary for the identification of the product;

2. the connotative level: it refers to the brand ability of connecting the consumer to a variety of mental associations and cultural symbols.

For instance, the brand name Gucci identifies, from the denotative level, a pair of shoes manufactured by Gucci company, while, from the connotation level, it links the word Gucci to a world of elegance and sensuality.

The more connotations are, the more the connotative index will be higher. This index is not a mathematical concept, it refers rather to the number of associations the consumer has about the brand and, as a consequence, it can be calculated by asking people their opinion about a certain

(25)

17 brand. The connotative index is a continuum; point zero occurs when a brand is purely informative, while maximum level is reached when a brand can pop up lots of associations and positive feelings in the consumers’ mind (Danesi, 2009, p.50-65). The more a brand can trigger in terms of mental associations and emotions for a consumer, the more its psychological force will be. As stated by Danesi (2009, p. 69), “brand names are windows on the contemporary psyche, that makes their charm function on every single person in the society”.

Also working along this lines, Keller (1993, p.10 in Melewar and Gupta, 2017 , p. 9) outlines that

“the semantic meaning of a suggestive brand name may enable consumers to infer certain attributes and benefits and facilitates marketing activity designed to link certain associations to the brand”.

Since brand names may have different effects on consumers on the basis of their connotations, they can be created focusing on different aspects, as stated in section 1.7, giving thus different results:

1. Patronymic brand names enhance trustworthiness and continuity;

1. Fashion designers brands enhance the concepts of hand-made clothes and superior quality from a connotative level (Armani or Gucci);

2. Metaphoric names refers to specific lifestyles, such as Wrangler;

3. Made-up brand names may have no meaning or have no reference to the product quality;

however, they could allow for the enhancement of positive emotions and associations in the consumer’s mind through their linguistic structure (Botton et al., 2002, p.107).

Examples are the brand names Kodak or Xerox, which have an evoking power, since they are short, simple and have a particular resonance. Similarly, names composed by two or more morphemic parts have a strong connotative power; examples are the brand names Maxima, that link the lexical sign (maximum) to the grammatical sign (“A”) or MaxiLight, composed by two parts, evoking the superiority. However, the border between denotative and connotative meanings may not always be fully clear, as for the brand Whiskas, which suggests its benefits after eating through phonetic analogy (Melewar and Gupta, 2017 , pp. 9-10).

1.8 THE DEVELOPMENT OF BRAND NAMES

Whether a new company or a new product are created, its owner or manufacturer should choose a brand name to identify and differentiate it amid its competitors. Since brand names are the expression of the brand identity, brand naming creation results to be a very challenging and relevant step in a brand development strategy. As a consequence, a new brand name may be developed by the enterprise itself or, in alternative, it could be entrusted to specialized branding and communication consultant agencies.

(26)

18 In brand naming development process, several stages can be distinguished to achieve the goal of creating the “most suitable” name (Riezebos et al., 2003, p.115-123).

The first stage concerns the research and understanding of the business category in which the brand operates; the company should trace and collect the following information:

- The brand strategy and the business market in which the company competes, its positioning, as well as the marketed brands and their business sectors;

- The strategies used by competitors in the market, especially in brand naming creation;

- The analysis of target customers and the language used in the product class;

- The product, like the brand extension and distribution to choose;

- The positioning choice, namely some information about the price, the brand values and the planned advertisement.

The category read-in step will provide a great deal of input for the next steps (Riezebos et al., 2003, p. 115-123). After the first step of briefing, the concept development research is required.

This second step is a kind of qualitative research, whose aim is to find the everyday phrases consumers associate and use to describe the market, its brands and products. This research may consist of brainstorming sessions, composed by a group of creative people, who are consumers or experts of the product class concerned. The second step forms the input for the creative process, that is the brand name development through various naming strategies (Riezebos et al., 2003, p. 115- 123). The preliminary research is useful to understand the basis and values necessary to start and develop a brand name; after the preliminary approach, the creation process begins.

Commercial brands creation generally consists of brainstorming groups, composed by five to ten people, who could be constituents of the enterprise, consumers or naming consultants. Of course, the quality of the final brand name will depend on the skills and knowledge of brainstorming groups, concerning linguistics, marketing and law.

In this creativity sessions several methods are used for brand naming creation (Botton et al., 2002, p.124- 130):

1. The analogic approach: the name is created through mental associations. After definition of product or service peculiarities and their future positioning, the creativity group is called to suggest words evoking similar characteristics; this approach has the disadvantage of following cultural stereotypes.

2. The arbitrary stimuli approach: it consists of words, not directly related to the product or service concerned; they are rather randomly extracted from the dictionary, or they are even made-up words, based on phonetics or puns.

(27)

19 3. The transfer of subject, where the research is not focused on the product, but on a near subject, that is more powerful in terms of emotions and associations. It occurs when a brand name refers to film character (Superman) or to mythology.

4. The division of the subject into its constituents, functions, contexts and target consumers.

Sometimes enterprises can also use some computer programs in order to create their brand names, such as NOMEN 7 or COMBI (Botton et al., 2002, p.124- 130).

After naming creation, the final work is done by a group of experts, who should have linguistics as well as legal competence and knowledge, both of the country of origin and of the foreign country, whether the enterprise goes abroad.

A first selection process needs to take place; the devised names are tested according to the following criteria:

1. Strategic criteria: whether the brand suits the product class, the desired positioning and trajectory of brand development;

2. Linguistic criteria: the brand name should be easy to read, spell and remember. Short names are preferred to long names, as well as names enhancing positive feelings;

3. Legal criteria: whether the brand name can be legally protected through trademark registration.

Once the first selection process is completed, the feasibility research begins. This research is based on the above mentioned criteria, but on a shortlist of maximum ten words, considering the consumers’ viewpoint. If the company wants to go abroad, the feasibility test should concern also the evaluation of the strategic, linguistic and legal criteria in target foreign country. The evaluation process is followed by the brand name choice and its registration at a national trademark office (Botton et al., 2002, p.124- 130).

(28)

20

CHAPTER 2 THE LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF ITALIAN BRAND NAMES

The second chapter of this dissertation aims at showing the recurring linguistic strategies used in Italian brand naming. First, I will give some insight on how linguistic tools and strategies have been employed in Italian brand naming creation from the beginning of XX century to recent years.

Second, I will examine a corpus of Italian trademarks, registered at Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi (http://www.uibm.gov.it/) in 2018 (for further information see section 2.4). Brand names will be analyzed from a linguistic point of view, focusing on phonetics, morphology, syntactic and semantics, using the same linguistic tools and parameters used in prior investigations on the same topic. Third, I will compare the results of my analysis with previous researches about Italian brand names in order to outline the trends underlying Italian brand naming development.

2.1 THE LINGUISTIC CONTENT OF A BRAND NAME

Brand naming creation is by far one of the most challenging and necessary steps in a brand development strategy (Chiaravalle and Schenck, 2014, p. 111).

First of all, the role of a brand is to identify the product and differentiate it amid its competitors in the business marketplace. Second, the brand has the function of conveying the company brand image, as well as the overall corporate philosophy (Cotticelli Kurras, 2013 in Felecan, Bughesiu, 2013, p. 258-259). Third, the brand has the ability of connecting the consumer to a universe of mental associations and cultural meanings (Danesi, 2009, p.50-65).

Thus, brand naming creation is an important phase in branding process, since, as stated by Cotticelli Kurras (2013 in Felecan, Bughesiu, 2013, p. 259), “the name of a product is an investment or even a bet on a firm”. In order to create the “right” name and better grab the consumer’s attention, products owners employ several marketing strategies, focusing also on the linguistic nature of brands (Cotticelli Kurras, 2013 in Felecan, Bughesiu, 2013, p. 258-259). The linguistic content of a brand name has an influence on its verbal, auditive and intellectual meaning and its interpretation by consumers (Melewar and Gupta, 2017, p. 7-10).

Linguistic strategies in brand naming creation may rely on different levels, namely:

- Phonetics: the branch of linguistics which studies speech sounds and their physiological production and acoustic qualities (Berruto, Cerruti, 2011, p. 44);

(29)

21 - Morphology: it concerns the structure of words, defined as “ the minimum combination of morphemes, known as minimal units having meaning and that cannot be subdivided further”

(Berruto, Cerruti, 2011, p. 88-89).

- Syntax: it studies the rules and the word order that govern the structure of sentences in a given language (Berruto, Cerruti, 2011, p. 131).

- Semantics: it concerns the study of the meaning of the sign ( Berruto, Cerruti, 2011, p. 191).

2.2 PREVIOUS LITERATURE REVIEW

In the last decades, several studies have dealt with brand naming creation; so far, brand names have been mainly analysed from a one-sided approach, namely a marketing perspective or a linguistic perspective. Focusing on the linguistic approach, several scholars such as Gabriel (2003), Cotticelli Kurras (2007, 2008, 2009), Muselmann (2010) and Ronneberger-Sibold (2004, 2007) have investigated the topic in corpus-based studies (Cotticelli Kurras, 2013 in Felecan, Bughesiu, 2013, p. 258-259).

One of the most important analysis of Italian commercial names was carried out by Paola Cotticelli Kurras in 2008 (in Arcamone, Bremer, De Camilli, Porcelli, 2008). Thanks to her collaboration with Professor Elke Ronneberger-Sibold of the University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt, she has outlined a contrastive analysis of Italian and German brand names from a morphological point of view. The analysed material referred to the following decades of the twentieth century:

- 1904-1912;

- 1920-1930;

- 1970-1980.

The research has shown that several languages could be involved in brand naming creation, as well as several morphological and semantic tools employed. Moreover, brand names differentiate also on the basis of morpho-semantic transparency, considering the point of view of the recipient. The results of this research have shown that in brand naming creation there were a strong tendency up into the 1980s for transparent, Italian sounding names, also as hybrids or syntagms.

Another work on Italian brand names was carried out in 2009 and 2010 by Programma Vigoni, proposed by Ateneo Italo-Tedesco and the German DAAD. The aim of this project was the investigation of brand names, registered in 2004 and 2008, concerning the product categories of cosmetics, food, drink and medicines. The results of that analysis were then compared with those of prior studies (Cotticelli Kurras, 2007 Ronneberger –Sibold, 2007) in order to find new trends within

(30)

22 the word formation of the respective languages. This project has shown that Italian brand names were mainly created using Italian words rather than other languages (Latin, English or hybrid forms). Moreover, the research has outlined that, in Italian brand naming, words were composed by several strategies, ranging from complex phrases to hybrid compositions; the main morphological structures were:

- existing words rather than neo-formations, - descriptive names;

- complex sentences, such as Salumi delle colline torinesi, Il tempio del benessere (Cotticelli Kurras, 2012 in Cotticelli Kurras and Ronneberger-Sibold, E., p. 99).

Overall, the morphological and syntactic organization has revealed a high level of semantic transparency in Italian advertisement message.

For what concerns the semantic level of brand names, the analysis has shown that the 2004 and 2008 commercial names evoked concepts, related to:

- tradition and quality;

- security expressing well-being;

- family and childhood;

- sensorial perceptions.

A further analysis on Italian brand names was carried out by Paola Cotticelli Kurras and published in 2012 in Rivista Italiana di Onomastica (RION), namely the Italian magazine of onomastics. The corpus of analysis was composed by around 3000 brand names, coming from three databases of prior researches carried out between 2004 and 2010. In that investigation Cotticelli Kurras has taken into account brand names relating to some specific periods of Italian history, since considered culturally, economically and historically significant for Italian history; from early 1900s and the aftermath of the First World War to the 1970s and the contemporary years:

- from 1904 to 1912 ; - from 1920 to 1930;

- from 1970 to 1980;

- from 2004 to 2008.

Similarly to the prior project carried out in 2009 and 2010 by Programma Vigoni and the German DAAD, the results have shown that in brand naming development:

- Italian was the main language used in brand naming creation;

- Through their morphological structures, words had a high degree of semantic transparency.

Of course, some foreign procedures were used, but they aim at giving the product an idea of internationality or a scientific and technical character.

(31)

23 2.3 THE RESEARCH

The object of my research is the linguistic analysis of Italian brand names, registered at Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi, namely the Italian Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uibm.gov.it/). The search will be limited to some specific categories of products, such as food, beverages, hygiene products and pharmaceuticals and will focus on the following linguistic levels:

- Phonetics;

- Morphology;

- Syntactic;

- Semantics.

The analysis will be carried out on the basis of previous researches on product naming; previous literature will be used, first, as a reference point for the linguistic parameters to analyse and, second, as a benchmark between current trends and prior linguistic tendencies in naming creation.

Previous works by Paola Cotticelli Kurras and Ronneberger –Sibold are relevant for my investigation as they have both contributed to the creation of a general framework for the linguistic analysis of brand names. More precisely, the following writings are used as a benchmark for my investigation:

1. La struttura morfologica dei marchionimi italiani nel XX secolo [‘The morphological structure of Italian brand names in 20^th century’], written by Paola Cotticelli Kurras, quoted in I nomi nel tempo e nello spazio [‘Names in time and space’], Atti del XXII congresso Internazionale di Pisa, 28 agosto- 4 settembre 2005, published in 2008;

2. Dal Drivecaffè alla Snackerina: Neoformazioni dei marchionimi italiani: tendenze a cavallo del secolo [‘From Drivecaffé to Snackerina, Neologisms of Italian brand names, trends over the century’], written by Paola Cotticelli Kurras, quoted in II linguaggio della pubblicità italiano e tedesco: teoria e prassi, published in 2012;

3. Lexicography and onomastics in the 150 years of the Unified Italy, proceedings from the international study days of the University of Roma Tre, October, 28th - 29th 2011, written by Cotticelli Kurras, quoted in D’Achille and Caffarelli, published in Rivista Italiana di Onomastica in 2012;

(32)

24 4. Italian commercial names: brand and product names on the globalized market, written by

Cotticelli Kurras, quoted in Onomastics in Contemporary Public Space, by Oliviu Felecan, Alina Bughesiu and published in 2013;

The aim of the current research is, first, to outline the recurrent strategies used in word creation, concerning several aspects of linguistics (phonetics, morphology, syntactics and semantics).

Second, the results will be compared with those of prior studies in the same field in order to find new trends within brand naming creation. Finally, on the basis of the results, the aim of the research is to provide a grid of objective tools to show how linguistic strategies work together with corporate marketing strategy to create effective brand names.

2.4 THE CORPUS

For the current investigation of Italian brand names, I have collected about one thousand Italian brand names, registered at Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi (UIBM), namely the Italian Patent and Trademark Office. The brands object of my investigation are retrieved from the bulletin of trademarks n.87, published on November, 29^th, 2018 on the online website of the Italian Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uibm.gov.it/ ) . The Italian Patent and Trademark Office collects all the application for trademarks, filed at any Chamber of Commerce, and it periodically publishes on the online website the bulletins of Italian trademarks, which have been registered in the most recent period of time (http://www.uibm.gov.it/index.php/marchi/archivio-articoli/2007589-how-to- register-a-trademark).

2.4.1 CLASSES OF PRODUCTS AND THE NICE CLASSIFICATION

The Italian Patent and Trademark Office classifies all the commercial products and services into several classes, according to the Nice Agreement, an international system of classifying goods and services for European Union trademark applications. The Nice Classification was first established in 1957 to distinguish between different types of products and services during the registration of a trademark; it consists of 45 classes and it assigns:

- goods to Classes 1 to 34;

- services to Classes 35 to 45.

When indicating the goods and services in an EU trademark application, applicants are strongly advised to use the Nice Classification terms in order to improve the search capabilities of the EU

(33)

25 trademark databases and results in greater transparency (https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/nice- classification).

On January, 1^st, 2019 the eleventh edition of the Nice Classification came into effect; therefore all the brands registered from that date onwards must comply with this updated classification (http://www.uibm.gov.it/index.php/la-proprieta-industriale/2005646-classificazione-di-nizza-ix- edizione ).

My investigation on Italian brand naming was restricted to some specific categories of products, namely food, beverages, hygiene products and pharmaceuticals, referred in the Nice Classification as (http://euipo.europa.eu/ec2/classheadings):

- Class 3: Non-medicated cosmetics and toiletry preparations; Perfumery, essential oils;

Cleaning and bleaching preparations and other substances for laundry use;

- Class 5: Pharmaceuticals, medical and veterinary preparations; Sanitary preparations for medical purposes; Dietetic food and substances adapted for medical or veterinary use, food for babies; Dietary supplements for human beings and animals; Disinfectants; Preparations for destroying vermin; Fungicides, herbicides

- Class 29: Meat, fish, poultry and game; Preserved, frozen, dried and cooked fruits and vegetables; Jellies, jams, compotes; Eggs; Milk, cheese, butter, yoghurt and other milk products; Oils and fats for food

- Class 30: Coffee, tea, cocoa and artificial coffee; Rice, pasta and noodles; Tapioca and sago;

Flour and preparations made from cereals; Bread, pastries and confectionery; Chocolate; Ice cream, sorbets and other edible ices; Sugar, honey; Salt, seasonings, spices, preserved herbs;

Vinegar, sauces and other condiments;

- Class 31: Raw and unprocessed agricultural, aquacultural, horticultural and forestry products; Raw and unprocessed grains and seeds; Fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh herbs;

Natural plants and flowers; Bulbs, seedlings and seeds for planting; Live animals;

Foodstuffs and beverages for animals; Malt

- Class 32: Beers; Non-alcoholic beverages; Mineral and aerated waters; Fruit beverages and fruit juices; Syrups and other non-alcoholic preparations for making beverages

- Class 33: Alcoholic beverages , except beers.

These classes of products have been chosen for two main reasons:

1. First, prior investigations about Italian brand names concerned the same classes of products;

as a consequence, similar linguistic aspects will be analyzed to get a more accurate comparison between prior and current strategies in word formation;

(34)

26 2. Second, these categories of products are considered to have a higher incidence in everyday life, so they are more culturally significant (Cotticelli Kurras, 2013 in Felecan, Bughesiu, 2013, p. 260).

2.4.2 LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS

My investigation of Italian trademarks is drawn up after a linguistic premise focusing on several levels, ranging from phonetics and morphology to syntactics and semantics.

This linguistic overview represents a benchmark for the development of an accurate and thorough analysis of Italian brand names, since it is based on previous researches on the same topic (see secion 2.2) and it aims at showing the common strategies and tools employed in brand naming creation. Each linguistic strategy presented will have an exaplanation and it will be followed by some examples, retrieved from the selected corpus of trademarks (see section 2.4).

My linguistic investigation concerns about 250 trademarks, chosen out of one thousand Italian trademarks, retrieved from the bulletin n.87, published on November, 29^th, 2018 on the online website of the Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi (UIBM), namely the Italian Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uibm.gov.it/ ). For each brand name, a table is drawn up, containing:

- Some technical information about the enterprise and the brand concerned (company owner, registration date, the product class), which are retrieved from the bulletin of publication on the online website of the Italian Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uibm.gov.it/ );

- The analysis of the linguistic features and tools employed to build the brand concerned (Phonetic, morphological and syntactic features, semantic transparency, connotations field, motivation tools and language used).

2.5 THE MORPHOLOGICAL LEVEL

The word formation of product names could be regular or extra-grammatical (with or without an existing model); words could also be:

- Neologisms;

- Adoptions of existing models.