Business Naming Basics

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.

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.

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