How to Dream up the Perfect Business Name
By Grant Polachek, the head of branding at Squadhelp, a 3X Inc. 5000 business that creates memorable brand names for Fortune 500 companies and startups.
In this modern age, coming up with a great business idea isn't enough to achieve success. You also need a great business name. Why? Because a great brand name is unique, creative, memorable, captivating, and relevant to customers and investors.
But most significantly, you need a powerful name that would capture the essence of your brand positioning, reflect the emotions or feelings associated with your brand, and establish an instant connection with your audience.
Here’s a refined, step-by-step approach to naming your business strategically
1. Align Your Name with Brand Positioning
Before you start naming, it’s important to consider what your brand stands for and what kind of message you want to communicate. And to get a solid grasp of your brand's positioning, you need to answer the following questions:
What is the purpose of your brand?
Who is your target audience?
What makes your brand unique and sets it apart from the competition?
What values does your brand represent?
When you have a clear understanding of your brand’s positioning, you can start brainstorming names that capture the essence of your brand message. You can use metaphorical words, words with appealing visual imagery, or emotionally charged words to communicate your business's core message.
Amazon is a metaphor that paints the picture of a vast river and a lush environment. And Nike’s name communicates speed, energy, and victory. These metaphors have helped these brands to easily communicate their brand's mission and values to customers.
2. Brainstorm as Many Ideas as Possible
When brainstorming names for your brand, the more ideas you come up with, the better. To generate a larger pool of name ideas, consider crowdsourcing from friends, family, and colleagues, or look for inspiration online or in books and magazines.
If you’re having trouble coming up with name ideas, try writing down words and phrases that describe your brand and then combine them in different ways. For example, if you’re creating a brand of eco-friendly products, you might start with words like “green,” “sustainable,” and “natural.” From there, you can come up with creative combinations like “Greenopia,” “Eco-Living,” or “NaturaLife.”
If you’re still stuck, try using a company name generator to craft relevant and creative names for your brand. Make sure you gather as many names as possible, as this will give you more ideas to consider when you start filtering the names you've found.
3. Test with Your Audience Before Making Your Final Decision
After you've trimmed down your list of possible names, perform audience testing to see which names spark interest and prompt action and which ones most closely correspond to your brand ideas.
To do this, start a survey and ask a group of people to review the top names you've created and provide feedback. When creating your survey questions, it’s important to be careful what questions you ask. The questions should focus on which names draw their attention, inspire action, and best align with your brand ideas.
For example, you could ask which name is the most recognizable, which name best describes your brand, and which would be most likely to trigger a purchase decision.
4. Check for Trademark Availability
After you've cut down the number of names you're considering, you should employ audience testing to see which names get people to pay attention and take action, as well as which names most closely correspond to your brand ideals.
It’s also important to note that even if the names are not trademarked, you could still be liable for infringement if the names are too similar to existing ones or if they create confusion in the marketplace.
Apple suffered a similar situation when they got a cease and desist letter from Apple Corps, the record label owned by the Beatles, for using the name “Apple.”
Final Thought: Your brand name is the literal heartbeat of your company. So, when creating the best name, endeavour to understand your brand identity and positioning. But don't stop there; consider metaphors, visual imagery, and emotionally charged words when brainstorming. Also, ensure you brainstorm as many ideas as possible, validate the names you find with audience testing, select the best one and get it trademarked. You can easily get a strong brand name if you follow this process.
