Overview
We systematically design everything from brand strategy establishment to naming, verbal identity, visual identity, and guideline documents.
We support full design of a new brand identity, rebranding/renewal of an existing brand, standalone brand naming development, slogan/tagline development, tone and manner guide design, visual identity design, and brand guideline document creation.
Trigger Keywords
make a brand, brand identity, brand naming, naming, slogan, tagline, tone and manner, brand guidelines, logo concept, CI design, brand strategy, brand positioning, rebranding, brand renewal, corporate branding, brand story, brand color, brand voice
Practical Brand Naming & Identity Patterns (Korean Market)
A good brand name and slogan reduce marketing advertising costs. A poorly chosen name will make you repay with double the advertising costs for life.
6 Core Patterns
① 5 Naming Principles That Reduce Advertising Costs (Korean Shops & Companies)
| Principle | Bad Example | Good Example |
|---|---|---|
| Search-friendly | "Happy Cafe" (not searchable) | "Danggeun Market" (distinctive + category) |
| Easy to pronounce | "Franciscanes" | "Toss" (2-4 character baseline) |
| Consistent notation | Mixed use of "E-mart / 이마트" | "Kakao" is consistent |
| Trademark verification | Not checked on KIPRIS → dispute | Verification required before filing |
| Expandability | "OO Gimbap Shop" → gimbap only | "OO" → category expansion possible |
Korea-specific pitfalls: Non-compliance with foreign word orthography ("커피숖" X), homophones (especially associations with profanity), meaning distortion when converted to Chinese characters.
② Distinguishing Slogan, Manifesto, and Tone and Manner
| Category | Length | Channel Used | Korean Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slogan | Within 10 characters | TVCF, outdoor, SNS | "Find a room with Zigbang" / "Finance made easy and convenient with Toss" |
| Tagline | 5-15자 | Below logo, signature | "Anything is possible today" |
| Manifesto | 200-500자 | About, home, brand book | Company belief statement |
| Tone and manner | Guidelines | All content | Tone, Taboo Words, and Required Words Rulebook |
③ Seven Elements of Korean Market Brand Context (Required Before Work)
Collect the following items before starting work:
- Business Area (Required)
- Target Customer (Age, Gender, Lifestyle, Core Needs)
- 2-3 Competing Brands (Benchmarks)
- Brand Direction (3 Image Keywords)
- Existing Fixed Elements (Already Decided Name, Color, Logo)
- Business Stage (Startup, Mid-size, Large Corporation)
- Budget and Manpower (Naming Only vs Full Package)
④ Five Axes of the Naming SMILE Evaluation
| 축 | Evaluation |
|---|---|
| Simple | Is it short and simple? |
| Meaningful | Is the meaning clear? |
| Interesting | Does it spark curiosity and stick in memory? |
| Legal | Is there no conflict with trademarks or domains? |
| Endurance | Will it still be valid 5-10 years from now? |
Each on a 5-point scale → 25 points maximum. Candidates Generate 15 or more → SMILE evaluation → TOP 3 recommendations. Korean business registration name and KIPRIS search required.
⑤ Tone and Manner Matrix by Category (Korea)
| Category | 톤 | Korean Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Food and F&B | Friendly, Warm, Homey | Bonjuk, Samlip, Lee Chun-mu Buckwheat Noodles |
| Fashion and Beauty | Trendy, Sophisticated, Free-spirited | Musinsa, Olive Young, Stylenanda |
| IT·SaaS | Clear, Professional, Concise | Toss, Karrot Market, Notion |
| Education | Trustworthy, Warm, Encouraging | QANDA, Santa TOEIC, Hackers |
| B2B | Formal, Precise, Professional | NHN, Samjong KPMG, Samsung SDS |
| Lifestyle | Sincere, Calm | Market Kurly, Ohou |
A different direction from the category tone = a signal of intentional differentiation (e.g., Toss broke the formality of fintech).
⑥ Five Steps to Start Branding with Zero Won (Early Startup)
- Finalize Positioning in One Line: The "OO that does OO" formula (Zigbang for finding rooms / Toss for making finance easy and convenient)
- Consistently Run Free Channels on Instagram, Blog, and X: Same tone and visuals
- Immediately Reflect Customer Feedback: Persona hypothesis → validation cycle
- Prioritize PR and Virality: Zero ad spend, exposure through testimonials, reviews, and press articles
- Embodied Brand Expression: The founder personally speaks through social media and interviews
Additional Checklist for Korean Business Registration
- KIPRIS trademark search (both applications and registrations)
- Secure domains .com / .kr / .co.kr
- Whether the KakaoTalk Channel ID is available for use
- Secure the same handle on Instagram, X, and YouTube
- Check for profanity and related search terms (Naver, Google)
- Whether there are problems when pronounced in other languages (English, Chinese, Japanese)
💡 Korean branding most common failures: (1) Generic nouns that can't be searched (2) Mixed notation (3) Unverified trademarks → disputes. It is common to name a brand, advertise for 2 months, then discard everything due to a trademark dispute.
Workflow
Pre-collection: Brand context checklist
Before starting work, check the following items. If required items are missing, suggest 3 directions to guide selection.
| Item | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Business area | Required | Product/service type, industry |
| Target customer | Recommended | Age, gender, lifestyle, core needs |
| Competitor brands | Recommended | 2-3 brands to benchmark |
| Brand direction | Recommended | Desired image keywords |
| Existing confirmed elements | Optional | Already decided brand name, color, logo, etc. |
Step 1: Market analysis and competitor benchmarking
Analyze the market status of the relevant industry and benchmark 3 or more competitor brands. Derive differentiation opportunities compared to competitors.
Step 2: Brand strategy
Perform positioning map design, target persona development, archetype selection, and brand essence (mission, vision, core values) definition.
Step 3: Naming
Generate at least 15 naming candidates and quantitatively evaluate them with the SMILE evaluation. Provide domain/trademark pre-verification guidance and recommend the TOP 3.
Step 4: Verbal identity
Perform slogan/tagline development (at least 5 each), brand story writing (300/500/1000 character versions), and tone and manner guide design.
Step 5: Visual identity
Perform color system design (60-30-10 rule, WCAG AA compliance), typography selection, and logo concept proposals (2 or more).
Step 6: Brand guideline document generation
Integrate the deliverables from Steps 1-5 and generate a guideline document including channel-specific application guides and a brand glossary.
Usage examples
| Request | Execution scope |
|---|---|
| "Create an eco-friendly household goods brand. Target women in their 20s-30s, premium" | Full pipeline (all Steps 1-6) |
| "Name a pet care startup brand" | Steps 1-3 (strategy + naming) |
| "The brand name is decided as 'Greenery'. Create a slogan and tone and manner" | Step 4 (verbal identity) |
| "Renew a franchise cafe brand. Existing name 'Morning Bean'" | Full pipeline (reflecting existing elements) |
| "Design the visual identity for a tech startup" | Steps 2+5 (strategy + visual) |
| "Organize this into a fashion brand guideline document" | Step 6 (Guideline Generation) |
Output Format
All deliverables are saved in the _workspace/ directory in markdown format.
| File | Content |
|---|---|
01_brand_strategy.md |
Market analysis, positioning map, persona, archetype, essence |
02_naming_candidates.md |
15+ naming candidates, SMILE evaluation, TOP 3 recommendations |
03_verbal_identity.md |
Slogan, tagline, story, tone and manner |
04_visual_identity.md |
Color system, typography, logo concept |
05_brand_guideline.md |
Integrated guidelines, channel-specific application, glossary |
Precautions
- Always generate at least 15 naming candidates and quantitatively evaluate them with the SMILE matrix
- Design archetypes as a combination of primary (70%) + secondary (30%)
- Present at least 5 slogans each in Korean and English
- The color system follows the 60-30-10 rule and ensures WCAG AA accessibility
- Actual logo file production (.ai, .svg), print mockups, and trademark application agency services are outside the scope of this skill
- If domain/trademark verification is not possible, mark it as "[Verification Required]" and recommend the user verify it directly
Post-processing (required chain)
Slogans, taglines, brand stories, manifestos, tone and manner guides, etc. text deliverablesmust go through the post-processing chain before publication. Table and numeric deliverables such as color systems and SMILE evaluation tables are not subject to this.
Recommended Chain: brand-identity → moai-core:ai-slop-reviewer → moai-content:humanize-korean
Related Skills
| Skill | When to Use |
|---|---|
moai-marketing:personal-branding |
Personal branding, personal branding |
moai-marketing:campaign-planner |
Advertising campaign planning, media planning |
moai-marketing:sns-content |
SNS content production |
moai-core:ai-slop-reviewer |
Post-chaining (required): AI pattern review of brand text deliverables |
moai-content:humanize-korean |
Post-chaining (required): next step after ai-slop-reviewer to remove Korean AI tells |
moai-design-system |
Design system/component construction |