Would you like to hear how one of Norway's strongest brands was born?
NORTURA – Norway's largest brand house within meat and egg products saw the light of day in November 2006. The food group is the result of a merger between the cooperatives Gilde Norsk Kjøtt and Prior Norge.
But how did the company name NORTURA come about?
The strategy and positioning company MarkUp Consulting AS, led by Bjørn Petter Ulvær, was commissioned to develop a good strategy for the Gilde/Prior merger at the beginning of 2006, and thus wanted to collaborate with NameAbrand when it came to developing the final name.
Both companies' core values were wanted to be reflected in the new name, and there were many of them;
Gilde's values:
• Driven – Be purposeful and efficient
• Innovative – Find new solutions, operating methods and products
• Reliable – Deliver what we promise and produce safe products
• Caring – Care for animals and people
Prior's values:
• Through genuine interest, enthusiasm, humility and honesty, we will continue to give the Norwegian consumer food joy!
• Prior shall be recognized as Norway's best and most trustworthy supplier of exciting, good and safe products
• Prior must have the right quality in all its activities. Prior must ensure food safety and stable quality through training, approval, certification and systematic measurement.
The name should naturally have its own .no domain, and in addition be available and registrable in the Norwegian Trademark Register in several trademark classes. These include foodstuffs, catering, pharmaceutical and veterinary preparations and the serving of food and drink, among other things. A total of six trademark classes. As the name was to be trademarked as a word mark, it was important that it was not directly descriptive or quality-indicating, ref. trademark law. NameAbrand's task was therefore to develop names that indicated one or more of the given core values, instead of stating them directly.
There are many assumptions that are made when such an "important" name is to be developed. In addition to the legal requirements, the name should be easy to pronounce in the Norwegian language, but also preferably a name that can be pronounced internationally. They were open to constructed names, as long as these are relevant, meaningful and easy to use in the Norwegian market. The name should be able to appear both alone and with profile text.
No easy task, you would think, - and it wasn't. But exciting, challenging and rewarding!
Once the assumptions have been made, - the creative process begins; where several hundred names were developed based on the values. The employees in the companies also came up with their own suggestions, which were assessed in the same way as the names from NameAbrand and MarkUp Consulting.
The control phase, and the selection, then follows. The selected names must be available in the following registers:
• Trademark Register in Norway
• Domain Register in .no
• Company Register in Norway
• Surname Register in Norway
• Language control – English – nothing negative
• General registrability as a word mark in relevant classes
• Google search
AND of course the name suggestions must have a history, a background, and be distinctive enough to be registered as a trademark (not be descriptive).
Quite a lot to deal with, and in addition it is important to keep your mouth shut legally.
Checks were carefully carried out, and we were left with 10 names that met most of the requirements laid down by Gilde/Prior and MarkUp Consulting; registrable names, which had a history.
In addition, we also considered nine names that the companies themselves had suggested, - so the list for assessment was long. 19 names were to be ranked and assessed.
In the presentation meeting, most of the marketing departments from both Gilde and Prior were together, and the excitement was great.
The first name suggestions that received the lowest "rating" were those that were directly descriptive such as "Norsk Bondekost", "Norsk Matglede" and "Norske Bord". You do not get sole ownership of these types of names, and therefore cannot be trademarked as a word mark.
Then the "indicative" names were "rated" and several came out well. The three with the highest scores were Grender, Nortura and Gastron. All of these had a good history at the bottom. Grender refer to classic farming that produces high-quality food and follows good traditions. Gastron is inspired by "gastronomy"; the study of food, taste and the joy of eating.
And then there was Nortura;
Nortura is a constructed name based on Norway (in the initials NOR), and the English word "nurture" which means "nourishment", "food", "care", "drive forward", "nourish", "upbringing", "upbringing", "environmental impact", "environmental factor", and "associate with". At the same time, we hear the word "culture" in the name, which refers to Norwegian food culture and traditions. The name can also be perceived as an abstraction of the word "natur", or "nature" in English. The melodious name Nortura goes straight to the core of the company's business area with its clear associations with food, nutrition and health, and is a good name to build a story on. The ending "-tura" can also refer to the word "future", which can be positive in relation to the company's new constellation and future. The name is easy to remember and pronounce, both in Norwegian and internationally.
And then the name NORTURA was born, trademark registered both nationally and internationally, - and built upon by skilled brand builders and strategists.
