London International Awards giving Verbal Identity its due

Very often the first piece of information we have about a person is their name. Just hearing the name creates a host of associations – negative or positive – and those first impressions can set the stage for future interactions. This is why naming your product or company is crucial to a company’s branding efforts. 

In 2016, London International Awards cemented its position as one of the world’s most progressive and forward-thinking competitions by introducing Verbal Identity, which includes naming, for the first time in advertising awards history. LIA continues to recognise the power of language in branding. 

“Verbal Identity has traditionally been considered subordinate to visual identity.  LIA believes that the language used throughout a brand’s communication impacts the value of the brand as much as the visual,” said Barbara Levy, President of LIA. “We introduced the Verbal Identity competition to honour the people and companies whose great passion for words contributes to creating amazing brands.” 

Margaret Wolfson, Founder and Chief Creative of River + Wolf, a New York City brand naming agency, is thrilled about the inclusion of naming in the London International Awards. “Because of the need to communicate a lot in one or few words, as well as trademarking issues, naming is a very challenging aspect of branding. It is wonderful that LIA is paying homage to this lesser known niche of branding,” she remarked. 

Verbal Identity entries can be submitted in four categories: Naming; Tone of Voice; Tagline/ Endline; and Use of Copywriting. The Entry System is open for entries. The entry deadline is: August 23, 2018. 

The Verbal Identity judging will take place at Encore Las Vegas from October 3 through October 5.

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