Naming Company
Why you need a naming company and how to choose one
No other aspect within the realm of branding evokes stronger feelings about importance of branding than naming a company, service or product. Some say it’s top of the list. A small minority don’t give brand names much thought, however the naming of brands, products and services and companies is important. Let’s pretend that names like Coca-Cola, Xerox and Downy are worth something and that simply naming these products “Curiously-flavoured brown soda,” “Plain Paper Copy Company” and “Bluish Fabric Softener” wouldn’t have led to the same sort of success these brands have enjoyed.
OK, maybe I’m not pretending. When done well, the value of a great brand name is plainly obvious. But how are these winning names conceived? Are there people in the world who actually sit around all day brainstorming names for new products and services? The short answer: yes. The long answer: not all brand naming companies are created equal. And certainly, trying to come up with a name for a fantastic new product or service within the vacuum of your own organization is, in nearly every case, a recipe for disaster
Why? A good naming company has competencies that transcend mediums, cultures and geography. They are equal parts research, science, linguistics, competitive positioning, art, creative, marketing, branding, intellectual property, and most importantly experience and talent. And unless your company possesses all of these competencies in house – and even if it does – you’re still better off hiring a naming company because it’s simply easier and less expensive to get things right the first time. Imagine the cost of trying to inject life into an ill-conceived brand name that’s already in the market or paying for legal defence of an infringement on someone else’s trademarked name? When you consider that companies with such vast internal resources such as Disney, Procter & Gamble and Apple Computer contract naming companies to name their
new products and services, it may be a good idea that you do, too.
If you do, here there are a very few but well selected naming companies:
Catchword – www.catchwordbranding.com
Igor – www.igorinternational.com
Interbrand – www.interbrand.com
Landor – www.landor.com
Nomen – www.nomen.com
Building the Perfect Beast
The Igor Naming Guide
Everything you've always wanted to know about naming companies, products and
services. Compiled from the Igor website into one handy guide.
This document will be updated regularly with new content. Please check the Naming
Guide Download Page of the Igor website for the latest version:
http://www.igorinternational.com/guide
All Material ©2009 Igor
Igor
177 Post Street,
Suite 650
San Francisco, CA 94108
415.248.5800
contact@igorinternational.com
www.igorinternational.com
II. The Six Steps of the Igor Process | 4
Step 1: Competitive Analysis | 4
Step 2: Positioning | 4
Step 3: Name / Brand Development | 5
Step 4: Trademark Prescreening | 10
Step 5: Creative / Testing | 10
Step 6: Name and Tagline | 11
III. Naming Tools | 12s
A. Naming Process Filters – Evocative Names | 12
B. Name Evaluation | 14
Blank Name Evaluation Chart | 17
C. Name Taxonomy Charts | 18
IV. Studies in Naming | 48
V. Studies in Branding | 56
VI. Case Studies of Igor Naming/Branding Projects | 60
VIII. Igor Client List | 112
Do this and don't do that
The process of naming is anything but linear.
There is NO chronological set of events that promise to lead you to naming perfection.
There is NO set of naming principles you must adhere to.
Sure, there are certain guidelines and ideas that are good to keep in mind, but I promise you that there's an exception toevery rule. Successfully branded, wildly popular – and, by all standards, bad – names abound.
The process of naming also has its idiosyncrasies. Sometimes you'll set out to name a new product and the perfect name will be hanging there, right out in front of you, just waiting to be snatched out of thin air. Other times, you'll mull for days, agonizing over the details of your product, entering in hundreds or thousands of options to your registrar with nothing sounding "just" right.
So, given the interesting and often inconsistent nature of naming, I've decided to divide this article into "considerations."
That is, instead of giving you a chronological chart of action points from which you'll undoubtedly stray, or assigning you a set of naming commandments that are anything but set in stone, I've outlined a collection of methods, ideas and strategies that you should simply consider.
The basic stuff
• Be easy to pronounce and spell.
• Make it memorable.
• Don't pigeonhole yourself (being too specific in the naming of your company or product [example: Dave's 256k Flash
Drives Inc. or Portland Flooring Inc.] can hinder growth later).
• Go easy on the numbers.
• Don't use names that could have a negative connotation in other languages (Baka Software Inc. sounds OK in the US, but won't fly in Japan).
• Stay away from negative connotations.
• Make sure your name doesn't alienate any group (race, religion, etc.)
• Search for existing trademarks on potential names.
• Make sure that the domain is available or purchasable in the aftermarket. Use your favourite registrar or use a bulk
domain checker.
Domain availability
Domain availability is possibly the biggest hang-up to ever happen to naming. Sure, you can come up with great potential names, but can you come up with great potential domains that are available?
You will have to spend much time on this and the reason it's pretty simple. If you're creating a name for a product or business that will require a .com, be patient, keep trying, and you'll start to get a feel for names that are more likely to be available than others. On the web you will find some tools that will help you immensely.
Focused brainstorming
Every book out there prescribes brainstorming. However, instead of just sitting back and trying to come up with ANY words
that describe your business, focus your brainstorming to answering a set of questions.
Answer each by making as long of a list or words and phrases as you possibly can. Remember, the longer and more abstract your list, the better off you'll be. So go wild...
• What does your product do?
• What does your industry do, what's its purpose?
• What is your product's benefit to the consumer?
• What will happen for them?
• What will they get?
• What are the "ingredients" that go into your product or service?
• How are you different from the competition?
• What makes you unique?
• What's the lingo in your industry? What are the expressions that are unique to your offering and business?
Add your own to the list, as you see fit.
Synonym search
It's pretty simple, really. Take every one of the words you brainstormed above and plug them into a thesaurus. Run through each entry, keeping the words you like, trashing the ones you don't. Put these into a new list, paying attention to name possibilities. Here some good links:
www.Dictionary.com
www.Reference.com
www.Thesaurus.com
Word combining, a cool name-combining tool
After you've done some focused brainstorming and/or a synonym search, try word combining. Pop ALL of your words into a word combiner like My Tool (http://www.my-tool.com/word-domain/word-picker/), tweak its settings to reflect what you want it to show, and combine.
Depending on how many words you put into the system, you may get a massive list returned to you. To weed through them quickly, you can then hit the button at the bottom and check each domain for availability.
...
Finally, be yourself
By and large, using your own name for a new company or product is a sensible way to go. If you have a brand-new business and you're thinking of dubbing yourself, let's say, Axepia – stop. There's a less expensive, more personal and likely easier-to-pronounce alternative out there, and it's already printed on your Visa Card.
