Archive for the ‘Naming’ Category
Eight Crucial Considerations When Naming a Company or Product
When I mention to a friend that I’m working on a naming project for a new company or product, they’ll invariably start to fire off ideas at machine gun pace. While I love their enthusiasm, naming is not so simple as generating the perfect moniker. Finding a name that will powerfully convey a brand’s personality, resist fatigue, and come to possess meaning greater than its original form, well that’s a bit more complicated.
In a typical naming project, I’ll first produce 50-100 names after studying the company or product. Sometimes the names are existing words, although that’s becoming less common. The internet has made it so that names need to be original worldwide and preliminary research will reveal that most common words are taken. The modern strategy for naming is to create new words or compounds like Solamar, a hotel I named in 2003 for its warm San Diego climate and proximity to the ocean.
From this list of 50-100 potential names, I’ll work with the client to narrow it down to 5-15 favorites based on feeling and intuition. Finally, setting aside attachments as best as possible, we filter the 5-15 finalists through the following eight considerations before shouting, “Eureka, that’s the one!”
Eight Name Creation Considerations
1. Memorable – Is it simple and does it stick? A good test for this is to let a group of people review the list of names for 60 seconds. Call them three days later and ask them which ones they remember.
2. Emotional Connection and Meaning - The potency of a name increases if it conjures up a strong emotion or visual. For example, Under Armour, the name of a fitness clothing company, not only describes what the product does, but it conveys a feeling of protection and power.
3. Availability – This can be the heartbreaker consideration. Preliminary research should have weeded out obviously taken names, however in depth legal investigation needs to be completed at this stage to ascertain whether the name been trademarked, copyrighted, or registered as a business or url. If so, there are two solutions. First, if the name is taken but not in use, consider tracking down the owner and purchasing it from them. The second solution is to tweak the name slightly with spelling or name order. If neither is workable, sadly that name needs to be scratched from the list.
4. Recall – Make sure the name is easy to find if relayed verbally. I have two examples of companies with cryptic names that forced the user work way too hard to find them (they’re no longer in business by the way). j3tlag.com used a number 3 for the letter “e” in its name. A design firm called attik intentionally misspelled their name to be unique. I wonder how many people futilely searched the internet for jetlag and attic. It’s okay to have a name that’s different, but you have to consider the potential loss if too unusual.
4. Story – Does the name have a story? It really helps customers to make an emotional connection with the brand if there’s some sort of a tale about how the name came to be. McKee Foods founder O.D. McKee was trying to come up with a catchy name for his Little Debbie snack cakes. He finally arrived at the name after spotting a photo of his 4-year-old granddaughter, Debbie, in her play clothes and favorite straw hat.
5. Mood – Each name conveys a mood and you want it to match that of your company or product. A good example is Shine nightclub in San Francisco. The uplifting name fits the uplifting customer experience. At the other end of the spectrum is Thirsty Bear Brewing Company. The name gives off a mood of masculine ruggedness rather than the reality which is a cosmopolitan tapas restaurant. A mood disconnect can cause a hiccup in brand continuity.
6. Curiosity – Does it invoke curiosity? Do people want to hear more? I’m signed up to do an obstacle race in the fall designed by the British Armed Forces called the Tough Mudder. Every time I say the name Tough Mudder, people ask, “What in the world is that? Tell me more.” Test your name on Facebook and Twitter by posting just the name in an update or Tweet and nothing more. See how many comments are posted and what people say.
7. Longevity – You want a name that won’t sound dated ten years from now. At the turn of the millennium, the style was to name hotels and restaurants with a location reference like 202 Restaurant in Chelsea or No. 5 Maddox Street in London. At the time, it was fashionable, but the relevance of location names will decrease each year as they begin to evoke a trend of the past.
Beyond all the above considerations, you’ll want a name that makes you feel good, plain and simple. After all, you’re the one who’ll be answering your phones and passing out business cards with the moniker for years to come. Once you think you’ve arrived at the name, try this for a final test. Repeat the name 100 times out loud in succession and if you don’t feel like vomiting by the end of the exercise, you may be onto something.
