Insights / Agri product naming in India
Naming agri products for Indian farmers: lessons from Telluris Biotech
Why Kheth Rakshak and Nema Fasak work at a village counter, and how to name a product a farmer will ask for.
Most product names are written for boardrooms. Agricultural products are bought somewhere very different: a dealer's counter in a market town, by a farmer who may not read English and who has a dozen bottles in front of them. The name has to work there first.
Telluris Biotech is a research-driven agri-biotech company in Hyderabad, founded in 2015, making eco-friendly crop protection and crop nutrition products. Alongside the brand, the tagline and the label system, we named two of its products: Kheth Rakshak and Nema Fasak.
Say it once, ask for it by name
The test for an agri product name is simple: can a farmer hear it once and ask for it at the counter? Kheth Rakshak, a foliar spray against sucking pests, means the protector of the field. Nema Fasak, a drench for nematodes, names the pest it is made for. Both are words a farmer already knows how to say.
A product name that needs explaining at the counter has already lost the sale.
Use the farmer's language, not the lab's
Scientific accuracy belongs on the label and in the technical sheet. The name belongs to the person in the field. Words from the languages farmers speak every day carry trust in a way that an invented Latin-sounding name rarely does.
Let the name and the label work together
A name does not work alone on a crowded shelf. For Telluris we built one label system for the whole range: the same grid, the same mark, with only the colour band changing, so a dealer can tell every bottle apart from across the counter. The name tells the farmer what the product is for. The colour tells them which bottle to pick up next time.
On a dealer's shelf, the colour is read first, the name second, and the small print never.
Keep a family resemblance
Telluris's range includes names like Kheth Maxx and Kheth Set alongside Kheth Rakshak. A shared word across a range helps farmers trust a new product from a brand they already use.
Test the name where it will be sold
Before a name is final, try it the way it will be used. Say it to a dealer. Write it on a bottle mock-up and put it on a crowded shelf. Ask someone to remember it an hour later. Agricultural products are often recommended from farmer to farmer, so a name that survives a conversation in the field is worth more than one that looks clever in a presentation.
Pair names with a clear promise
A name works best with one line that explains the benefit. Telluris's tagline, Protecting What The World Sows, does that for the whole company, and each product label states its benefits at a glance.
A checklist for agri product names
Can a farmer say it after hearing it once?
Does it describe the benefit in words they use?
Does it work alongside the colour and the label, not against it?
Does it belong to a family the farmer already trusts?
Is it free to register?
Read the full Telluris Biotech story, or see the work on the Telluris Biotech project page.
