You know my name, here’s my story: how to think about brand in creative industries

Creating a compelling work of fiction in any medium is a demanding process. Success is impossible to predict, but that isn’t a free pass to be careless with the fine details. This applies to titles especially. A title should be created with the intention that it may live beyond its original purpose. In many cases the title can mean the difference between a masterpiece and disasterpiece. Action figures, t-shirts, cereal sponsorships—to the artist this is just the icing on the cake. But the name itself represents a dream realized and may forever be a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

When Star Wars, Batman and Harry Potter are plastered on toys, video games, comics, TV shows and the like, they cease to be just titles and become branded names. In 1996, A Game of Thrones was just the name of a popular fantasy novel. However, as it achieved more and more popularity, it became a product and the Game of Thrones name now appears on everything from t-shirts and jewelry to mugs and key chains.

All this sounds a lot like putting the cart before the horse. After all, how can an artist who’s struggling to get his project off the ground fathom the possibility of his work becoming a brand? However, the marketplace for creative works-turned-brands is not exclusive to blockbusters and franchises.

From title infant to brand adult

It’s 2016: Quentin Tarantino is the Oscar-winning director of some of the most popular and acclaimed films of the past two decades. Turn back the calendar to 1992: After dropping out of high school and working at a local video store, Tarantino got the break of a lifetime when he received funding to shoot his script for Reservoir Dogs. The film cost just over a million dollars to make and is now almost 30 years old. Still, its characters and name can be found on action figures, wallets and clothing.

Beyond the merchandising and financial vitality is its title, once chicken scratch, scrawled out on a napkin in its infancy. In its branded maturity, a title can transcend its original purpose and become a highly merchandised brand.

Protecting a title

With success comes the risk of trademark infringement and the desire for legal protection. Now it’s more than likely that a copyright was obtained early on in order to protect against plagiarism. However, a copyright (i.e., ©) is different from a registered trademark (i.e., ®). The latter accounts for goods and services, while the former protects artistic works such as films, books, etc. For the title of a creative work to become applicable for a trademark and become a brand, it must first obtain a secondary meaning.

To acquire a second meaning, a product must prove itself to have additional value and potential within markets other than the one it was originally intended for. So when a toy company wants to roll Jon Snow action figures into production, they contact Home Box Office (HBO) and buy the rights.

Unfortunately, submitting an application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is about as easy as getting financial backing for a feature film. This part needs something a little more formal than napkin doodles. The process is expensive, non-refundable and time-consuming. In the end, after all the paper work and legal proceedings are complete, it’s still possible for the trademark application to get rejected. However, the legal benefits and protection that little ® yields are well worth the sweat and tears.

The human right to be shallow (it’s OK to judge something by its cover)

Important reminder: all this represents the best-case scenario. The main reason certain titles transcend their original form is because those original forms resonated with massive audiences. They had intriguing plots and beautiful visuals. The creative process doesn’t begin or end at any one facet. Sprawling worlds and compelling characters are the heart of a project. The title is the face. While the heart pumps life through the body of a piece, the face lets everyone know just who it is. And even in the beginning, artists should always put their best face forward.

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