Toronto Tempo and the sport of branding. Will the WNBA team name be a winner?

What’s in a name?

With growing interest in women’s professional sports leagues in Toronto, new teams face this branding question from the get-go.

Earlier this month, the Toronto Tempo played their inaugural Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) game at the Coca-Cola Coliseum, which is also home to the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Toronto Sceptres, having just completed their third season.

So, how well is the ‘Tempo’ name meeting its branding challenge? It’s early days, and reviews have been mixed, but here’s what marketers look for in a new name.

Described as ‘brand equity,’ marketers account for the assets and liabilities of a branding strategy in evaluating a team’s value with the name as its core component.