Branding a Startup

For start-up and small businesses, branding often takes a backseat to all of the other considerations — such as funding and product development. This is unfortunate, for a company's brand can be vital to its success. Dollar for dollar, it is as important and needed as any other start-up activity. Recently, a software management company, temporarily named TallyUp, invested in a branding assignment. Its flagship product, a software suite that tracks and runs bonus incentive plans, needed a clear identity and platform to appeal to its target audience — primarily financial executives. The name TallyUp, while somewhat descriptive, didn't capture the appropriate and required level of sophistication to attract the desired clientele. TallyUp retained a branding consulting company; they recommended the name Callidus, which is Latin for expert and skillful to effectively and in an instant communicate their position. While both names communicate a similar concept, the new one works on a completely different level. Callidus better suits the ideal position of the company.