When launching a new business, one of the most critical decisions you have to make is what you are going to call it. There are several things that should be considered in the process. Below are some of the issues that should be considered when creating a brand name or a company name.
There are professional “names” that you can employ to help you in this process. But if you are trying to find the best name by yourself some of the challenges can be quite intimidating, as they might be when first joining a Sloto Cash casino, but several strategies may help you in this process.
Naming your product or company is probably the most daunting thing that you will have to do to launch it. You have likely seen the extensive list of ‘requirements’ needed for a successful brand name. However, some of the biggest and most successful brand names, like Apple or Twitter for example, do not fit all the criteria. The brand name or company name you choose should fit somewhere in the middle – it should, to some extent be “strategic, creative, and technical.”
Below are a number of things to consider when choosing the appropriate name for your business or your brand.
Being strategic is important
Time should be spent before actually naming the company or brand in defining just what your company or brand actually stands for; what is the strategy behind it. When thinking about this, describe what your product name or company name hopes to convey. Think about your target audience and also look at the names chosen by your competitors. Considering these things will give you some guidance as to your choices.
Being strategic will help to guide you when choosing a name that communicates what your brand or company represents and targets the right people. Being strategic also ensures that you take into account when choosing your name of any significant cultural and competitive conditions.
When coming up with specific names, ask yourself the following questions:
- Does the name communicate the message you want to convey and does it bring about the correct feelings?
- Does it have longevity? Will it adapt to changes that might occur in the brand? For example, Kentucky Fried Chicken may find it hard to sell anything other than chicken. On the other hand, Kodak has no problem selling all kinds of products.
- Is it unique, and distinctive from that of your competitors?
Get Creative
It is difficult to measure creativity but in the process of coming up with a name for your company or brand, it really counts. It often happens that the most successful names are the unexpected ones, odd or surprising, memorable or interesting. Again, ask yourself the following questions:
Does it have the power to grab people’s attention? Will people remember it?
Perhaps for its brevity, like ‘Apple’, or ‘Twitter’.
- Is it easy or fun to say?
- And is it pleasing to the eye when written down?
Check the Name’s technicality
Checking your chosen name’s technical viability is critical. Make sure you check it from all angles, making sure that you don’t have spelling, pronunciation or linguistic issues and of course that it is legally available. Making sure you check the technical side of things beforehand will ensure that you don’t have any serious future problems that could lead to ‘pulling’ brands or renaming your company because competitors have taken legal action.
Prescreening of a potential name is a definite requirement. So before deciding on a name you should be asking the following questions:
- Will the chosen name cause legal issues? Is the name taken or available legally? Checking this beforehand is an absolute must and will prevent any legal conflicts down the road. For example, it was necessary for Poachable to come up with a new name in order to prevent legal action from other brands – Poached and Poachee.
- Is it appropriate linguistically? For instance, is it viable in terms of meaning, perhaps in other languages. Make sure that your potential Name is not damaging or has some inappropriate meaning in another language.
- How is the Name going to be spelled and pronounced? Easily or will it create problems with, say pronunciation? Many Silicon Valley brands are criticized for this very problem. Brands like Phreesia and Xobni which are both difficult and possibly confusing. Always go for the quality of the name rather than domain availability!
Taking into account all of the above does not mean that this will procure you a good brand name. But the above guidelines should help in the process of evaluating and deciding potential names and avoiding possible problems.
A lot of the suggestions and ideas do overlap. For example, a unique and interesting name will often be a memorable one. Often names that sound good are easy to spell and odd or meaningless names, like Kodak for example are likely to be adaptable.
Creating your brand or company name needs to combine all three qualities: Strategic, Creative, and Technical. By doing this you are more likely to find yourself the right name for your brand or company.
Shashank