Coming up with a brand name is one of the most important steps in starting a company. A well-thought-out name can propel your organization forward, and the incorrect name can become a marketing nightmare. Exactly where would Amazon become today if it tied to its original name, Cadabra?
Oftentimes, founders think they will know what makes a great brand name. But selecting a vague reference or visionary ideal (such Cadabra) for a title can confuse clients.
Naming a brand isn’t as simple since creating a made-up phrase or picking a title that looks excellent on paper.
Luckily, setting up a brand identifying process can make certain your name is pertinent, memorable, and meaningful. It helps you select a name that draws people’s attention and it is easy to remember, making marketing, sales, plus brand awareness very much simpler.
To assist your business become a household name, we’ll explore how to come up with a brand, cover brand naming guidelines, outline a brand naming process, and promote examples of how well-known companies decided on their own brand names.
Why is a Good Brand Name
A good brand name is a blend of creativity plus strategy. It shows your company’s objective, vision, and values while showing off character and creativity.
Josh Reeves, the particular CEO of Gusto, put it best when describing how his team came up with the company’s name. “Choosing your name…will power anything else forward – the visual design, the way you message it to the team, the way you discuss it with clients. So if you’re going to sink your time and energy into everything, it should be this. inch
Strong brand names tend to fall under one particular (or more) of such categories:
- Descriptive: Brand names that tell potential buyers exactly what you perform or make. Good examples: Dude Wipes, The Weather Channel, Booking. possuindo, and PayPal.
- Evocative: These names use metaphor and suggestion to express a company’s creativity, hint at its beliefs, and tell a brand story. Examples: Nike pas cher, Amazon, Virgin, Uber, and Patagonia.
- Blends: Names that will combine two words to make a new term are popular today, and they can be considered descriptive and evocative. Good examples: Photoshop, WhatsApp, Headspace, Airtable, and Youtube . com.
- Developed: Made-up names are a good way to differentiate your business and show your unique brand identity. But you’ll have to do more work to tell the story of the company and teach customers on your offering. Examples: Google, Pixar, Garmin, Slack, plus Zoom.
- Acryonymic: Good brand names are short and unforgettable, so it may make feeling to use an acronym if you want a long title. Keep in mind that meaning is usually removed with an acronym, so it’s not the best option for storytelling. Examples: VRBO, BMW, IKEA, UPS, and IBM.
Brand Naming Guidelines
Boundaries are necessary when picking a company name. With no structure or limits, you can end up with wacky names that have nothing to do with your brand name. These brand name recommendations can help you stay on track throughout the process so that you wind up with a name that fits your business.
Easy to pronounce plus spell.
Also famous brands encounter issues with mispronunciation. However, you don’t want stakeholders, potential customers, or employees scouring the internet to understand your company’s name. Keep it simple to say and spell, so it doesn’t distract individuals from your products or services.
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Memorable
I how to start about you, yet I never set you back the store for “facial tissues. ” Brand names like Kleenex, Chapstick, and Band-Aid are usually such noteworthy names, people use them because generic terms. So when you come up with a brand, choose one that sticks in people’s thoughts to help raise your own awareness above rivals.
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Meaningful
Brands that hint in company stories ensure it is easier for customers to connect your values towards the brand. Think of the particular investing platform, Robinhood. The fictional tale is about a bandit who steals from the rich to give to the poor, which aligns with the company’s ethos of “Investing for everybody. ”
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Strong Visible Identity
Phrases have power, however it takes about 10 seconds of looking at a logo for someone to form an impression about your brand name. Beyond the other components, your brand name must look great on paper and online. Experiment with textual content logos and graphics to see if the name is too long or difficult to design around.
How to Name a Brand
Since you have name inspiration plus guidelines to follow, that it is time to explore the important points of how to name a brandname. This approach is most effective when paired along with your brand positioning strategy, so take time to do that work before bouncing into the naming process.
1 . Outline your brand objectives and identity.
Defining your identity and goals solidifies what sets a person apart from the competition and exactly how you plan to position your company. You can pull these details from your positioning statement. If you don’t have one however, ask yourself the following queries:
- Why does your business exist? This is your vision.
- Exactly what does your company do? This is your mission.
- How do you do what you are? This refers to your own values. Fun reality, 89% of shoppers are loyal in order to brands that discuss their values.
- What brand identification do you want to create? This really is your brand character.
- What do you wish to accomplish with the brand? Maybe you want clients to immediately realize your offering, or maybe you want to highlight your own innovative spirit.
Once you answer these questions, it’s time for you to look outward.
2 . Consider your customers and competitors.
No brand succeeds in a silo, so it’s essential to pick a title that resonates with your audience and inside your industry. That’s mainly because people often determine themselves with the brands they buy. This is good news for businesses, as customers by having an emotional relationship having a brand have a 306% higher lifetime worth.
When coming up with a brand name, consider customer reviews and studies. This feedback can present how people perceive your brand, which is helpful when brainstorming names. If customers talk about how fun it is to work with your team and use your product, it didn’t make sense to adopt a critical brand name or identity.
Another crucial consideration is your business. What are the naming norms? What are your competitors carrying out? Based on your brand name positioning, you have to choose whether to follow the formula or select an unconventional title that makes your brand stand out.
a few. Brainstorm and finding.
Yes, it’s actual time to break out the particular whiteboard. But before a person jump in, gather a team for ideas and approvals. You need to define who is involved in the decision-making procedure. If you’re a solopreneur, you can ask a number of trusted peers or colleagues to take component.
Fill up your board with what ever ideas come to mind, and if you get stuck, consider:
- The adjectives that describe your own service, product, or even brand
- How customers feel about your own brand, or how you want them to feel
- Words that you want to associate with your company
As you ideate, reflect on what you believe makes a good brand and consider any major concerns you might have about naming. Feeling stuck? Try Shopify’s business name electrical generator tool.
4. Refine your ideas.
You probably have a large of brand names — and that’s a good thing. It might be easier to chop than to create. Start culling down your list by considering the subsequent factors for each name:
- Does it match your brand personality?
- Does it have emotional resonance?
- Does it have meaning or connect to your company story?
- How does it seem on paper and on the screen?
- Any kind of trademarks for it?
- Are the domain name and social media handles offered?
- Does it stay ahead of the competition?
- Could it be short, memorable, and straightforward to spell and pronounce?
Develop a shortlist of 10 to 15 names for the next step. If you have less than this, that’s okay — just aim for three to five options.
five. Get feedback.
There’s nothing like wondering your team, customers, stakeholders, or colleagues for feedback. You may quickly learn if a name contender is certainly difficult to pronounce or rubs people the wrong manner. If possible, ask a diverse group of people for opinions individually which means you don’t run into groupthink issues.
Once you have collected feedback, it’s wise to see how the last options translate across languages. Consider exactly where your company will work and where you wish to expand. Wix discovered this lesson the hard way, but the humor-oriented brand handled it well.
Before making a final decision, take a look at how a few well-known companies came up with their particular brand names.
How Three Companies Created Brand Names
From spelling errors in order to company-wide brainstorms, there are plenty of stories that highlight the creativity and complexity of the brand naming process. Check out how these three brands decided on a name.
Gusto
Originally named ZenPayroll, Gusto rebranded three years after the launch. The company had thousands of customers and also a team that asked if a new title was essential. Josh Reeves, CEO, and co-founder said the initial name was selected out of convenience. However the founders knew it was temporary.
In order to expand beyond payroll service into medical health insurance, ZenPayroll needed a new name and logo design. The team wished to combine their values at the time — comfort, calm, warm, trusting, and vibrant — with their vision for future years. “We wanted to capture our emphasis on the individuals doing the work, ” mentioned Reeves.
The result? Gusto, which means enjoyment or vigor within doing something; zest. Here’s the development of Gusto, from the original brand to today’s identity.
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Warby Parker
“Coming up with title ‘Warby Parker’ was one of the hardest factors we did like a founding team, ” said Neil Blumenthal, the company’s co-founder, and co-CEO. As the tale goes, the group came up with over two, 000 ideas over the course of six months before selecting the final brand name.
Their inspiration? A hydraulic jack Kerouac exhibition at the New York Public Library that contained the journal with 2 interesting characters: Warby Pepper and Zagg Parker. The creators had all already been inspired by Kerouac and the beat generation ethos of taking road less traveled. Soon after, the rebellious Warby Parker brand name was born.
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HubSpot
As fellow graduate students, HubSpot co-founders Brian and Dharmesh noticed that consumers got gotten really good on ignoring interruptive ads and bids for their attention. They began HubSpot on the concept of “inbound, ” the notion that people would rather become helped than bothered by marketers plus salespeople.
According to the book, “Marketing Session from the Grateful Dead” by Brian Halligan and David Meerman Scott, the name HubSpot sprung from the vision to create a hub-based environment that united software program, education, and community to help businesses develop better. That idea, “combined with the double-entendre for Boston (nicknamed The Hub [of the Universe])… caused it to be a good choice. ”
What’s Next?
With a powerful brand name, you’re ready to style the visuals that will bring it to life. Figure out how to make a unique brand identity that draws customers, successfully launch a product, and create a brand that keeps people coming back.
