Strike for a better product, service, or company name with these 6 tips!
- Shoot for the Bullseye: Use a rifle instead of a shotgun. Focus on 1-2 key brand characteristics or value propositions. The shotgun approach dilutes the impact of your name.
- Embrace Edgy: Sometimes the best names are relatively risky or controversial. A brand name should never reference money, like “bucks” in its name, right, Starbucks? There’s no such thing as a perfect name, so embrace edgier options.
- Consensus Kills: Waiting for complete consensus is the most common mistake we see teams make. A bit of controversy generates interest while total consensus yields lukewarm results.
- Comfortable is Bland: Picture early 1998, two brands are vying to become the world’s top search engine. Infoseek comfortably describes itself to a tee. But what the heck is a “Google”? Who wins?
- Look for Intrigue: Name differentiation means you can’t copy your competitors. Bookstop was one of the largest chains of bookstores in the U.S. It had a clear, straightforward name. But then a competitor arose with an intriguing, outlier of a name… Amazon.
- Light the Right: Memorable names light up the right side of the brain with intuitive, felt meanings. A formal naming brief has long lists of linear, left-brain benefits and features that just put people to sleep.