Business Naming Basics

The business naming process should start before you begin generating name ideas.

There are a couple of things I recommend prior to developing name candidates that will help you determine the brand’s personality, and thus the types of names that will be most relevant.

One is to create a “brand story”. This may come from expressions of your business mission, vision, values, position and culture. It may also be more personal than that, reflecting the way you’re different from competitors. It will certainly express what you “stand for”.

Naming ideas can be sparked through personality question

Hand in glove with the brand story is the expression of “personality” you wish your brand to convey. Here you attempt to personify the brand using a series of questions.

You ask yourself several brain-stimulating questions such as: “If MY BRAND was an animal, what animal would it be?” You might relate the brand to a celebrity, sport activity, geographic feature or music type in the same manner.

Those exercises can give you some direction and inspiration, thus sparking some name candidates, too. And it will provide direction for creating other branding elements as well.

Tags: Naming Ideas by MartinJ
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Don’t let name evaluation become a personal thing.

This is especially critical if you are wearing two hats – the name creator and the name evaluator.

Evaluating name candidates for educational publisher

What happens is that one or two of the names you’ve conceived are REALLY creative. You get an “aha” moment when you’re struck by an inspired thought. Every naming creator has those moments and those great, unique name possibilities.

There’s a good chance that part of its appeal is that it’s relevant and fits your vision and value standards. That is, it’s both appropriate and powerful. That’s why the “aha”.

But almost as often the candidate is a great combination of word parts that flow together, but are off target for the business or product you’re naming. It’s just that you can’t see it.

That’s why evaluation should not be left to the creator.

A second, uninvolved person should be consulted – a person steeped in the branding process as well as familiar with your business plan and brand platform. This is probably not your spouse.

My suggestion is to cut your initial list to twenty or so candidates. Then seek a consultant, or perhaps a copywriter with branding experience, to review your brand platform (Which should, incidentally, include the criteria you initially set up for your new name.), your business plan and your name short-list. Don’t tell him/her about your favorites.

Then let your consultant pick the best ten candidates and rank them in order of preference. Also ask him/her to write an evaluation of each. You are now ready to check out those candidates for availability.

If your favorite isn’t among the chosen, you can certainly ask why, but rely on your evaluator’s choices. Don’t let your ego govern you new business name

It is also possible to conduct an on-line survey of the top four name candidates if you can identify – or the survey source can identify – a large enough sample of persons meeting your target market profile. I’ll cover name evaluation surveys in a future post.

Tags: Name Evaluation by MartinJ
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The name process is usually entered into long before it should be.

In fact, many entrepreneurs will have chosen a name even before they’ve written their business plan.

Naming a business or a product is strategic in nature, and should logically follow the adoption of a business model, target markets and competitor identification and the exposition of certain business beliefs and conducts as stated in written mission, vision and value statements.

Ideally, at least two major brand foundations should be in place before considering a name: your brand story and a brand platform.

The accompanying chart outlines the steps that I suggest any start-up company, no matter how small, should follow if it wishes a strong, integrated brand led by a relevant name that resonates with prospects and conveys the essence – and the differentiators – of the brand.

Sequencing the naming process within the branding process is important if your want a name that will endure and endear.

Tags: Name Development by MartinJ
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• Steve Saleen Drives Into a Company Naming Crisis

July 28, 2009
- Yes, a clear reason to resist ego-naming your company after yourself. All entrepreneurs should take this to heart.

• Rebranding Pepsi: The Linguistics behind the "Pecsi" Campaign

July 28, 2009
- Here’s another example of why global branding and naming must be at least reviewed by natives immersed in their cultures rather than by someone in a NYC office with an English-to-Transylvania dictionary.

• Wabi-sabi: There’s a Name For It

July 28, 2009
- Yes indeed, words from other languages are certainly candidates for business names. Quite often the sound of these names can communicate attributes of the brand. And there’s also the mystique of a foreign place that can be compelling for some brands. But…you should be doubly diligent about how these words translate into other foreign languages and what they might connote to other cultures.

• Saab's Swedish Naming Makes it The Ultimate Anti-Brand

July 28, 2009
- Is there really a trend toward “anti-branding”, or is it smart branding? I believe “being different” is a major component of a good brand. And I think that difference needs to be reflected in the business name, the single most prominent branding element.

• Tags: Naming Issues by MartinJ
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This naming company is called Nameboy.

It is first and foremost a domain name site where you can purchase domain names.

But it has a neat word generator feature that allows you to enter two words of your choice and NameBoy will display over 30 different combined-word name ideas. Many just won’t work, but for each run-through, I usually find 10-15 I can legitimately add to my candidate list. Do that with 10-12 tries and you have another 100-plus candidates within a half-hour.

An added feature: all the words generated are supposed to be available as domain names. Now it may not be available as a .com, but the page will show you exactly what major domain name classifications are available for each candidate.

If having a business name that can also be a domain name, this is a very handy feature.

And when you’re done you can, of course, order your domain name directly from the Nameboy site.

Tags: Naming Resources by MartinJ
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In my past two posts I’ve suggested naming ideas that turn familiar words into unique, coined words that can effectively name companies or products. (substituting silent “e”s with other vowels and adding consonants to words beginning with vowels)

Here’s the last in the series. This one, however, doesn’t require a long list of common words that can be altered.

For this technique you deliberately “misspell” words to create a new name: Qwest, Ikon, Duque.

Now you may not be able to trademark names that are alternate spellings of existing trademarked names depending upon how close the products are in consumer’s minds. Check that with your trademark attorney because altered spellings might be disallowed by the USPTO.

At first a customer will have a little trouble recognizing these new coined words, but once they’re pronounced, they’ll be remembered, particularly if the original words carry a relevancy to the products themselves.

This naming idea won’t work for all relevant words, but give it a try and add the results to your candidate list. They may work as names or suggest new naming ideas. Give it a try.

Tags: Naming Ideas by MartinJ
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Yesterday I advanced a naming idea – substituting other vowels and phonemes for the silent “e” that end many familiar words. The reason: people prefer the familiar in a name even though we know over the long haul that unique names are better remembered and stand a better chance of strongly representing a unique product or company.

Here’s another method of generating business names that are unique but retain a modicum of familiarity.

From a compiled list of familiar words that might represent or reflect the business or product you’re naming – it can be the same list you compiled for yesterday’s naming idea – select those words that begin with a vowel.

Change those words into coined words by adding a single consonant or if you’re into linguistics, a phoneme, to the beginning of the word. Thus, element = Nelement, Apollo = Capollo, Oslo = Voslo, arch = Sharch.

As with yesterday’s naming tip, the original word is retained as the added phoneme gives it individuality.

One additional familiar-to-unique naming idea tomorrow.

Tags: Naming Ideas by MartinJ
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We know unique names are better than descriptive, mundane names. But people don’t like completely new, coined-word names in the beginning. They opt for the familiar.

That’s why most name research will show that people eschew the novel whenever they’re asked to choose between the familiar and the unique. This is a dilemma an entrepreneur faces when naming a company. Unique is better in the long run and is generally the best choice, even though their constituents will pan the name initially.

But there are several naming ideas to combine the familiar and the different, thus avoiding, or at least diluting, the problem.

Here is one of them.

Begin by developing a list of familiar words relevant to the product to be named. Usually these are words that might describe a benefit or perhaps a desired emotional response.

They might be descriptive, allegorical or suggestive. Just build as long a list as you and your thesaurus can compile.

Separate those words that end in a silent “e”. Then substitute “a”, “i”, “o”, “u” or “y” for the silent “e”.

This is especially effective for verbs and single-syllable words. Here are some examples of coined words you can generate with this method: hype = hypa, groove = groovo, bake = baku.

You may also substitute short, vowel-beginning syllables such as “an”, “or”, “ite”. More examples: style = stylant,  save = savon, crane = cranus. But note how the word itself is retained, but without the silent “e”. Familiarity is retained while the substituted letter or suffix makes it unique.

There are a couple of other techniques which I’ll explain in future posts.

Tags: Naming Ideas by MartinJ
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Naming a new product, particularly if it’s the first product you introduce, will have far-reaching implications. That’s because the new product name will effect the naming of future products and associated services.

Crystal ball might be useful but not necessary

Those future products may be additional models or styles of the original, in which case you’ll want to establish a naming architecture before adopting a new product name. You’ll want to make sure that the name you chose will accommodate the “and more” designations of future products.

In addition, you may be introducing entirely new lines that need to be “soul mates” or accessories to the original product. You’ll at least want to consider the impact of such additions on the original name, and you don’t want the subsequent names to be limited by the original if at all possible.

A thirds consideration is naming replacement products. Will you want to have a name for the new product that might “borrow” associations – like a similar name to the original. If so, you’ll want to consider this when naming the original.

Now I’m not saying you need to lay out a ten-year product introduction plan from the very start. Nor do you have to name future products before they’re created. But one of many criteria you should use when judging product name candidates is, “Is it flexible enough to accommodate future product naming?”

In other words, you don’t want to name a product in such a way as to hamper future product names.

Don’t name yourself into a corner.

Tags: Product Naming by MartinJ
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A company name must fit the business, yet be unique. That’s why name development should begin by determining the purpose of the name. It’s a strategic activity.

photo by escargotte

Now this may sound rudimentary at first blush. But, just as there are names for boys and names for girls (and some that are androgynous), business names should fit the business model.

So begin by stating the purpose of the name

Naming for Position

Aside from identifying the business itself, will there be additional functions you wish the name to perform? (Note: the suggestions below have to do with positioning. Positioning can never be achieved through a name only, and in fact, is often better served through other branding elements. Yet, considering the desired position when developing a name can make the name and the brand stronger and more integrated.)

Position the entity in its industry/product category.
Position the entity in a specific market.
Position the entity with a specific type of buying influence.
Position the entity with a specific application.
Position the entity with a strategic differentiator.
Position the entity with its heritage/tradition.
Position the entity as a new market entrant.
Position the entity as a market/industry leader.
Position the entity as the exemplar of a specific attribute.

Master Brand or Just Corporate Identity?

In addition, a very basic strategic decision needs to be made as to the role of the corporate name in the naming and branding of subsequent product and services. Will you make the corporate name a master brand attached and associated to all products and services? Or will you want the company name to be secondary to product/service brands?

Other factors, especially if an existing company is being re-named, must also be considered, and I will do so in future blog posts.

Name Development is Strategic

The point here is that name development is a strategic activity that can affect the long-term success of the corporate brand. It must receive almost the amount of concentration as you would expend developing your business model.

Tags: Name Development by MartinJ
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