For entrepreneurs, the importance of picking the right name for a company may rank second only to naming a child. (And it’s lot more expensive to change.)
Name consultants are paid millions each year to help decide what to call a company.
San Francisco naming boutique Eat My Words has come up with a test called the Smile & Scratch Test.
To test out a company’s name, first ask if it possesses these qualities:
Simple –- one easy-to-understand concept
Meaningful –- customer instantly “get it”
Imagery –- visually evocative, creates a mental picture
Legs –- carries the brand, lends itself to wordplay
Emotional –- empowers, entertains, engages, enlightensThen scratch the name if it’s got these deal-breakers:
Spelling-challenged — you have to tell people how to spell it
Copycat – similar to competitor’s names
Random – disconnected from the brand
Annoying – hidden meaning, forced
Tame – flat, uninspired, boring, nonemotional
Curse of knowledge – only insiders get it
Hard-to-pronounce – not obvious, relies on punctuationPhoto by Stabilo Boss.
How To Choose A Company Name
June 19, 2008 by Rich | 7 Comments
In Advertising, Advice, Branding
Tom Lindstrom on June 19th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Nice post.A good business name should be something catchy and easy to remember, same goes for the URL.Not so easy these days :)
Mike Michalowicz on June 19th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Great tips. I am going to link this from my blog. You make an important discovery process, very simple.
Curt on June 19th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
There is a good about this called, “Crafting the Perfect Name: The Art and Science of Naming a Company or Product”.
Chris Pietschmann on June 20th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Good tips, but… The following very successful companies didn’t follow these rules: digg, flickr, del.icio.us, amazon, yahoo, barnes and noble, GoDaddy. And these are just some. For example digg and flicker have odd spellings, and del.icio.us is just wierd. Also, Amazon, Yahoo and Barnes and Noble, and GoDaddy have names that have nothing to do with their business. Yet these companies are very successful, so really.. What’s in a name?
cassy on June 23rd, 2008 at 1:24 am
For me, a companies name doesn’t matter, but the quality of the product and there assets.
Tony Brueski on August 16th, 2008 at 7:11 am
From a standpoint of someone who has to communicate a companys name through a commercial or other verbal form of marketing. I can not stress how important it is to have an easy to remember, NORMALY SPELLED NAME.
With a main way of people finding you - being the web - spelling the word two with the number 2, or the word you with the letter u, or any other odd mix and match of letters is marketing suicide. The general public is not going to take 10 minutes to figure out your exact spelling if they heard about your site on radio, tv, or from a friend who simply told them to visit- “betogetehrforever.com”, when the company spelles it “b2gether4evea.com”. If you have an odd spelling, but the domain that could also be a common spelling of the name as well… ok, enough of that rant. :)
Tony
http://www.bestradiocommercials.com
Tony Brueski on August 16th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Chris to your point - digg, flickr were not commercial retail sites, they were internet viral sites that had build a follwowing through viral links. That is how they worked out so well. Digg wasnt buying radio time to get people there - if your business is selling to the general public - you need an easily remembered spelling of your name.
http://www.bestradiocommercials.com