preview

The Art of Brand Naming Essay

Decent Essays

Do you ever like a brand, and everything that they have to offer, bit then you think to yourself "what a stupid name though!"? While a crappy name won't nesesarily doom a company for success, it can be a hurdle to overcome if botched. The art and science of great naming is absolutely about balancing a confluence of core concepts:

Companies should focus on domain name availability, descriptiveness, trademark strength, originality, length, integrity (the bigger picture of the name and brand), and lastly, the name's tested market appeal.

We don't ever want to find ourselves naming exclusively reaching for one particular aspect of a name, as there is a bigger picture to be considered.

Being integral: There is a major plus when a name can …show more content…

There are exceptions, like Trader Joe's named for founder Joe Coulombe, and of course the eponymous Ben and Jerry's Ice cream. Don't confuse their existing goodwill with the difficulty inherent to how hard it may have been overcoming a plain name–although one could say their names made them approachable given the lack of seriousness to say, ice cream.

As an example and amusing execercise, think of many quirky and cleverly named brands and imagine the inverse of the Trader Joes or Ben and Jerry's format, e.g. if Naked Juice had been the less than inspiring "Dave's Juice" for co-founder David Bleeden. "Dave's Juice" also would totally lack the quasi edginess that "Naked Juice" has, and is totally forgettable.

Legal Research: EatMyWords Founder Alexandra Watkins advises on the legal loose ends of naming your business, "For initial trademark screens, you can do free searches on Trademarkia.com and the government's trademark database, TESS, at USPTO.gov. Use these to knock out potential conflicts, then hire an attorney to do a thorough search. This is not something you want to skimp on."

Domain name availability. Companies with a substantial amount of liquid capital have the luxury to come up with a name for their business that has a domain they will need to buy in

Get Access