So you want or need a good company name, but it’s not your
“strong suit,” — what to do? Rather than exhausting your entire
management team with a multitude of brainstorming sessions, start by
creating two simple lists. On the first list, write down everything you
want this new company name to accomplish. This is your “must have” list.
On the second list, write down any “deal breakers,” or things that you
don’t want the name to do, reflect or convey. The purpose of this
exercise is to help clarify the true drivers of your branding process,
and to give you an objective set of criteria by which to evaluate each
potential business name. Here is an example of what might be on the
“must have” list…
Must be easy to say
Must be easy to spell
Must have the exact matching.com domain name
Must be unique or engaging
Must provide a platform to build the brand message
On the other hand, list the things the company name shouldn’t do, such as…
Must not be geographically limiting
Must not be too bland, descriptive or generic sounding
Must not have to be overly explained to make sense
Must not sound too… (medical, institutional, governmental, cute, formal, etc.)
Once you have determined the basic criteria for your company naming project,
then prioritize the list from most important to least important. Do
this for each of the two lists. This is crucial, since you will often
lose perspective in the heat of name generation. The new company names
can all start to sound alike and you may decide the winner based on some
arbitrary factor — one that’s not crucial in the overall scheme of
things (for example, you may settle for a name because it’s high in the
alphabet vs.one that better reflects your brand message.)
By establishing these basic branding parameters, you can then turn your
focus towards brainstorming the actual brand names, knowing you will
have a basic list of brand filters to weed out the better names from the
not-so-great ones. This allows you and your team to “go for it” and be
creative, without having to stop and evaluate each name as you go, based
on the mood of the moment. You may find that you will have to add one
or two additional criteria, or change their ranking, as you generate
more ideas. What’s important is that you stay with the process vs.
getting frustrated and simply picking a name randomly out of
desperation. If you get to the point where you don’t “feel” anything for
any of the names on the list, go back and see if they meet all of your
criteria. Assuming you did a good job in identifying your goals, then
the names that meet all the objectives are probably better than you
think… you may just have grown numb to them due to over exposure. Many
great brand names start out small and build over time. You can also use Brandlance for company name ideas and they can also help you come up with a great brand name. Brandlance is a naming agency which helps start ups with their brand names and also they build brand identity. They can help you with logo and whole business stationery design.
You can find more resources here – http://www.dictionary.com/browse/brand-name
Making a list of likes and dislikes (must have and must avoids) will keep you and
your team on track and on target as you move towards finding a company
name that works, and keeps working, for years to come.