The Name Game

How Your Brand Name Can Make or Break Your Business

“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than gold.” -Proverbs 22:1

Choosing a name for your business is a big deal. It is one of the first things you decide and it can leave you sleepless, anxious and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options to pick from and other people’s contradicting opinions. While the internet is flooded with articles on how to pick a brand name, whether an invented name is better than a descriptive name and mind-boggling naming formulas, naming is a concept that is quintessentially human and has therefore been around as long as language has, meaning if we can name every human, nation, city, village, town, street, animal, vegetable, mineral, element and even the components of an atom, we can certainly name our damn businesses without making this all sound like rocket science! 

What’s in a Name? 

From the Shakespearean to the Kardashian, the power and value of your name is undeniable and has been an important subject since Adam was given the right to name everything. The greatest leaders, thinkers, prophets and celebrities have all known the power of a name. Would Marylin Monroe be just a global sex icon had she remained Norma-Jean? Would Barack Obama have been president if his name was Tyrone or DeShawn? 

Our names send signals about who we are, where we come from, what our culture, values and behavior is like, our socioeconomic levels, education potential and may other factors. Names can also greatly affect our life choices, career paths, financial decisions and selection of spouses. Simply put, names are important because they contain layers of meaning and association.

Brand Naming

Selecting a brand name is often exhausting. The sheer amount of options and their pros and cons will leave you crying in a corner shaking back and forth. The right name can make your company the talk of the town. The wrong one can doom it to failure, ridicule and worst of all, obscurity. Ideally, your name should convey the expertise, value and uniqueness of the product or service you have developed.

Some experts believe that the best names are abstract, a blank slate upon which to create an image. Others think that names should be informative so customers know immediately what your business is. Some believe that coined names (that come from made-up words) are more memorable than names that use real words. Others think they're forgettable.

A great name can make a big difference. When some smart marketer renamed the Chinese gooseberry a kiwi, the fruit became a huge hit. But we shouldn’t overheroicize names. After all, we live in a world where some of the most powerful brands are called Microsoft, Walmart, and General Electric. Clearly, a mediocre name isn’t destiny. For every Lady Gaga, there’s a Katy Perry.

All that being said, the truth is any name can be effective if it's backed by the appropriate marketing strategy. In general, its best to keep it simple. The shorter in length, the better. Limit it to two syllables. Avoid using hyphens and other special characters. Since certain algorithms and directory listings work alphabetically, pick a name closer to A than Z. These days, it even helps if the name can easily be turned into a verb, like Google me.

There are 4 key factors to consider that can hero you shortlist your brand name options:

The Visual Factor

Your brand name has to primarily be a legible word - easy to recognize, read and write. The structure of the word(s) should be a sensible arrangement of consonants and vowels with the right kind of balance, shape and punctuation. A great way to test visual legibility is to try out the name in a variety of fonts and languages to see how it looks. Does it produce an acceptable acronym together with the other initials in the name? When creating a name, stay with words that can easily be spelled by customers. Some startup founders try unusual word spellings to make their business stand out, but this can be trouble when customers Google your business to find you, or try to refer you to others. Stay with traditional word spelling, and avoid those catchy words that you love to explain at cocktail parties.

The Auditory Factor

Sounds of vowels and consonants can communicate size, texture, experience, and can sound funny, regal, tech etc. For instance, the Bouba/Kiki Test, invented by Estonian psychologist Wolfgang Kohler in 1929, was a famous test where subjects were shown pictures of two objects, one spiky and star-like, the other blobby and rounded. Subjects were asked which shape was called a “Bouba” and which was called a”Kiki” (both nonsense names). Over 95% of subjects assigned Bouba to the rounded blob and Kiki to the spiky star. Many repeats of this same test gave the same results, proving that the arrangement and sound of certain words can communicate an object’s shape, texture and character. 

The main auditory factor, however, is simply pronunciation. Not all languages contain the same letters, for instance, in the Arab world, a Pepsi is always pronounced “Beebsi” and Cheetos is pronounced “Sheetos” because the Arabic language doesn't contain P or Ch. Similarly, Arabic brands can be grossly mispronounced by English, like Emaar or Afia, both containing the ‘3ain’ letter which has no Latin equivalent. So its always a good idea to avoid names that contain unique letters not commonly found in other languages.

The Cognitive Factor:

Is it memorable? Is it easily understandable? Does it have meaning? Is it intellectual? Funny? Thought-provoking? What would you associate with it? Does it sound old-world and luxurious? Modern and urban? Youthful and funky? Could it result in any negative attention? Is it easy to remember? 

Forget made-up words and nonsense phrases. Make your business name one that customers can pronounce and remember easily. Skip the acronyms, which mean nothing to most people. When choosing an identity for a company or a product, simple and straightforward are back in style, and cost less to brand.

The Cultural Factor:

There are hundreds of hilarious, easily-googled branding disaster stories and most have to do with cultural and linguistic errors. For instance, Mitsubishi Pajero’s launch in Spain was a massive faux pas due to the fact that in Spanish, “Pajero” meant ‘wanker’. Many words have funny, insulting or negative meanings in other languages so its crucial to learn what your brand name means around the world. Besides that, some words are very much tied to certain fashions or specific eras e.g. words like groovy, fuddy-duddy and bodacious all belong in their respective decades and should never, ever be brought back! So key questions to ask yourself is: will the name last? Is it too fashionable? Is it timeless or trendy? Will future generations appreciate it still?

Another core cultural factor is your actual audience - will it resonate with their are group, culture, psychology and lifestyle? Will it fit their personality? Does it have 'the right' connotations? Are the brand values projected - is it young and vibrant? Large and well established? Localised or international? A specialist artisan or game-changing newcomer?

Final tips…

Avoid picking names that don't allow your business to move around or add to its product line. This means avoiding geographic locations or product categories to your business name. With these specifics, customers will be confused if you expand your business to different locations or add on to your product line. Always make sure your brand name is available as a domain name and is no trademarked in other countries. 

When you’ve created your shortlist (6 is always good) then try them out on potential customers, investors, and co-workers. Skip your family and friends who know too much. Ask questions about the names to see if they give off the impression you desire.

Shortlist these to your top 3 and then make a decision as a team. Ultimately it has to be name that you genuinely like, makes you proud and simply feels very YOU.