Sticky Company Names?

Behind the Curtain: When Your Company Name Only Lives in the Paperwork
Ever wonder why you’ve never heard of “RBI” while munching on a Whopper? That’s because some businesses only use their company name for the boring stuff—legal documents, registrations, and government filings. This stealth approach shines when you’re juggling different DBAs (Doing Business As) in your various market adventures.

Who’s Playing This Game?

• RBI (Restaurant Brands International) serves up DBAs like Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes
• IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) is the hospitality wizard behind Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, and Staybridge Suites

Most folks happily munching those fries or snoozing on those hotel pillows couldn’t name the parent company in a trivia contest. For this under-the-radar approach, you typically just need to register with your Secretary of State or county (location depending), while saving your brand building and trademark investment for each of your customer-facing DBAs.

In the Spotlight: When Your Company Name IS Your Brand

Planning to highlight your company name in those TikTok shorts, on those LinkedIn pages, and in every customer’s heart? If your company name will be the star of your branding show (the name you’ll promote, build loyalty around, and sell your awesome stuff under), then roll out the trademark red carpet:

• Register with the USPTO if your business crosses state lines
• Register as a state trademark (usually through your Secretary of State) if you’re keeping it local

Pro Tip: Even if you’re currently a hometown hero, but dreaming of neighboring states or internet fame, snag that federal trademark registration as soon as you sell across state lines! You can even file an “Intent to Use” application before your first out-of-state sale to plant your legal flag early. A federal trademark gives you nationwide protection (unlike state registrations that stop at the border) and becomes a valuable trophy on your company’s shelf if you ever decide to sell.

Most states handle state trademark applications through the Secretary of State’s office (or similar trademark agency). Each state runs its own show with unique requirements, so pop over to your state’s Secretary of State website for forms, fees, and specific how-tos. Remember: a state trademark is like a local superhero—powerful within state boundaries but powerless beyond them. For coast-to-coast protection, the USPTO is your nationwide defender!

Your company name is like that agile actor who can pivot and play any role for years —it needs serious staying power. This naming superstar has to:

• Outlive Your Product Lineup – Remember when Apple was just computers? Now they’re phones, watches, and VR headsets. Your company name needs that same flexibility to embrace whatever cool stuff you create next.
• Rock Multiple Markets – Amazon started selling books but now sells… well, just about everything under the sun (and delivers it by drone). Your company name needs to travel well across different customer lands without getting lost in translation or cultural nuances.
• Survive Strategic Plot Twists – Netflix began by mailing DVDs (how quaint!), then pivoted to streaming, and now creates award-winning original content. Your company name needs to handle these dramatic career changes without an identity crisis.
• Age Gracefully – Coca-Cola has been around since 1892 and still engages consumers in almost every country around the world. Your company name should look just as good a decade from now as it does today.

Meanwhile, your product names are more like guest stars with specific roles:

• Living That One Lifecycle – Remember the iPod? It had its glorious moment, changed music forever, then gracefully exited stage left. Product names can shine brightly for their season without needing to last forever.
• Speaking to Their People – Mountain Dew Game Fuel knows exactly who it’s winking at (late-night gamers), while Ensure speaks directly to seniors concerned about nutrition. Product names can use insider language and laser-focused targeting that would be too narrow for your company name.
• Owning Their Corner – Kleenex dominates tissues, Band-Aid owns cuts, and WD-40 has a lock on… whatever magical stuff WD-40 does. These product names can carve out category niches without worrying about expanding beyond them.
• Trending Without Regrets – Remember when everything cool had names that ended in “ly”? Product names can ride trends that would make your company name look dated faster than last year’s memes.

The ultimate power move? Creating a timeless company identity that can span products you can’t even yet imagine. Think Google (solid company foundation) launching successful products like Chrome and Pixel, and so many others that were quickly forgotten like Google+, Google Hangouts and Google Reader.

Your company name needs a digital home base that has staying power. Your company’s online HQ, typically your URL or domain name, may be worth more than your actual physical company headquarters. This is especially true if your digital presence needs to do some heavy lifting:

• The Everything Hub – Your company domain typically hosts the whole enchilada—investor relations for the money folks, career pages for job seekers, press releases for the media, and that “About Us” page your mom definitely reads. Think Apple.com—one tidy location housing everything from product specs to Tim Cook’s latest keynote.
• The Domain Hunt Challenge – Securing YourCompanyName.com can be tricky and expensive. Generic names like “Best Products” or “Quality Services” likely disappeared during the great domain gold rush of the early 2000s. If you manage to track down the owner, prepare for your wallet to feel considerably lighter— short, real word domains can run into the mid six figures! Instead, think about how your new distinctive company name could be a short made-up word or a longer real word that might engage more quickly and cost a whole lot less to secure.
• The Consistent Navigator – Your company domain serves as the North Star in all your communications. It appears on business cards, email signatures, and even that expensive Super Bowl ad that you splurged on. But with the impact of AI on traditional search and SEO, the importance your actual domain may diminish while the value in your distinctive, ownable company brand name may grow in importance.
• The Professional Validator – A solid company domain with matching email addresses (@yourcompany.com) instantly boosts your credibility. Compare sending an email from mike@namestormers.com versus mikecarr5038@gmail.com—which feels more likely to secure that investor meeting?

Meanwhile, your product names get to play by more flexible rules in the digital universe:

• The Subdomain Freedom – Products can happily live as offshoots of your main domain (pixel.google.com) or rock their own dedicated websites (instagram.com, despite being owned by Meta). Either way, they get to establish their own identity without carrying the full corporate load.
• The Creative Domain Workaround – When your perfect product domain is taken, products can get playful! Can’t get “juice.com”? Try “drinkjuice.com” or “getjuice.com” or even something completely unexpected like Slack did—no need for “businesscommunicationtool.com” when “slack.com” works better.
• The Social Handle Playground – Product brands can secure social media handles that speak directly to their specific audience. Your corporate Twitter might be @BigCorpInc, but your gaming product can be @EpicGameBattle and talk exclusively to gamers without confusing your corporate investors. Even unexpected social influencers can play this game. Sister Miriam Heidland, a Catholic nun with lots of followers, goes by @onegroovynun.
• The Trend Surfer – Product domains can ride the wave of domain trends—from the “.ai” craze beloved by the current batch of tech startups to the clever “Wanderlust.shop” style domains—without committing your entire company to that trend for eternity.

The slickest strategy? Maintaining a clean, professional company domain that anchors everything, while letting your product domains express themselves with more personality. Just like Unilever (unilever.com) can house both the sophisticated Dove.com and the playful BenAndJerrys.com without an identity crisis!