Naming Your Company - The Basics Of Branding
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Naming Your Company - The Basics Of Branding
So you want and/or need a good company name, but it's not your "strong suit," -- what to do? Rather than exhausting your entire management team with a multitude of brainstorming sessions, start by creating two simple lists.
By: Phillip Davis
So you want and/or need a good company name, but it's not your "strong suit," -- what to do? Rather than exhausting your entire management team with a multitude of brainstorming sessions, start by creating two simple lists.
By: Phillip Davis
On the first list, write down everything you want this new company name to accomplish. This is your "must have" list. On the second list, write down any "deal breakers," or things that you don't want the name to do, reflect or convey. The purpose of this exercise is to help clarify the true drivers of your branding process, and to give you an objective set of criteria by which to evaluate each potential business name. Here is an example of what might be on the "must have" list...
Must be easy to say
Must be easy to spell
Must have the exact matching .com domain name
Must be unique or engaging
Must provide a platform to build the brand message
On the other hand, list the things the company name shouldn't do, such as...
Must not be geographically limiting
Must not be too bland, descriptive or generic sounding
Must not have to be overly explained to make sense
Must not sound too... (medical, institutional, governmental, cute, formal, etc.)
Once you have determined the basic criteria for your company naming project, then prioritize the list from most important to least important. Do this for each of the two lists. This is crucial, since you will often lose perspective in the heat of name generation. The new company names can all start to sound alike and you may decide the winner based on some arbitrary factor -- one that's not crucial in the overall scheme of things (for example, you may settle for a name because it's high in the alphabet vs. one that better reflects your brand message.)
By establishing these basic branding parameters, you can then turn your focus towards brainstorming the actual company names, knowing you will have a basic list of brand filters to weed out the better names from the not-so-great ones. This allows you and your team to "go for it" and be creative, without having to stop and evaluate each name as you go, based on the mood of the moment. You may find that you will have to add one or two additional criteria, or change their ranking, as you generate more ideas. What's important is that you stay with the process vs. getting frustrated and simply picking a name randomly out of desperation. If you get to the point where you don't "feel" anything for any of the names on the list, go back and see if they meet all of your criteria. Assuming you did a good job in identifying your goals, then the names that meet all the objectives are probably better than you think... you may just have grown numb to them due to over exposure. Many great brand names start out small and build over time.
Making a list of likes and dislikes (must have and must avoids) will keep you and your team on track and on target as you move towards finding a company name that works, and keeps working, for years to come.
Must be easy to say
Must be easy to spell
Must have the exact matching .com domain name
Must be unique or engaging
Must provide a platform to build the brand message
On the other hand, list the things the company name shouldn't do, such as...
Must not be geographically limiting
Must not be too bland, descriptive or generic sounding
Must not have to be overly explained to make sense
Must not sound too... (medical, institutional, governmental, cute, formal, etc.)
Once you have determined the basic criteria for your company naming project, then prioritize the list from most important to least important. Do this for each of the two lists. This is crucial, since you will often lose perspective in the heat of name generation. The new company names can all start to sound alike and you may decide the winner based on some arbitrary factor -- one that's not crucial in the overall scheme of things (for example, you may settle for a name because it's high in the alphabet vs. one that better reflects your brand message.)
By establishing these basic branding parameters, you can then turn your focus towards brainstorming the actual company names, knowing you will have a basic list of brand filters to weed out the better names from the not-so-great ones. This allows you and your team to "go for it" and be creative, without having to stop and evaluate each name as you go, based on the mood of the moment. You may find that you will have to add one or two additional criteria, or change their ranking, as you generate more ideas. What's important is that you stay with the process vs. getting frustrated and simply picking a name randomly out of desperation. If you get to the point where you don't "feel" anything for any of the names on the list, go back and see if they meet all of your criteria. Assuming you did a good job in identifying your goals, then the names that meet all the objectives are probably better than you think... you may just have grown numb to them due to over exposure. Many great brand names start out small and build over time.
Making a list of likes and dislikes (must have and must avoids) will keep you and your team on track and on target as you move towards finding a company name that works, and keeps working, for years to come.
Phil Davis is president and owner of Tungsten Branding, a naming firm specializing in brand creation, product naming, tag line development, corporate identity and comprehensive brand repositioning. Phil's client list includes PODS, TeamLogicIT and Coghead.com to name a few. His complete client list and company naming philosophy can be viewed at www.PureTungsten.com.
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