Developing a business name is like a scrabble game, but the process is much more fun and challenging. Because coming up with a business name is one of the essential steps in starting a business. Finally, your brand will be recognized and remembered by its name.
A great and effective name can boost your company, and the wrong name can ruin your business and become a marketing nightmare. Look, advertising campaigns and company promotion are built around the brand name, product, or service. So it is important not only to come up with a name that looks cool on your business card or sounds good but also to think about how it will be used in marketing and communications and what it communicates to customers.
What makes a good brand name,
There are plenty of theories on what makes a good name. But for us, a good brand name is a combination of creativity and simplicity as well as we always try to eliminate unnecessary details and create effective, clean, aesthetic products.
A good brand name should highlight your company’s vision, purpose, and values while showing creativity and being easy to remember.
You can also pay attention to common traits that make a brand name easier to use and remember. Good brand names tend to fall under some of these categories:
Descriptive
Brand names that tell potential clients what exactly your brand does. For example, Booking.com or PayPal.
Evocative
It should elicit an emotional response and invite potential customers to learn more about your business. Often such uses metaphor to hint at its values and tell a brand story.
For example Greek mythology, Nike is the Winged Goddess of Victory. The logo is derived from the goddess wing swoosh, which symbolizes the sound of speed, movement, power, and motivation.
Simple to spell and pronounce
Aim to develop a name that people can easily interpret, say, spell, or Google because the last thing you want is for people to struggle when reading or writing your brand name.
Recognizable
Made-up names are an excellent way to differentiate your company and show your unique brand identity because a good brand name should stand out amongst the crowd – Google, Pixar, or Zoom.
Future-proof
A great brand name can grow with the company and adapt to different products and brand extensions.
Visual
Visual it’s also an essential part of your brand development. You can communicate your brand name through design, icons, logos, colors, etc.
Let’s look at the brand name of one of our internal projects. And break it down into categories.
Edmradio – is a unique and new streaming music service and community for people who love EDM.
Here the application name tells potential clients what exactly the app does. Also, the name is simple to spell and pronounce.
We are also expanding the application’s functionality; in this case, the name is easily adaptable to different brand extensions and features. For example, “Edmradio podcast” or “Rising Radio Stream.”
An important part is also visual. For this brand, we created a simple and minimalist logo design. Here the blue circle symbolizes the music column playing at festivals, raves, or even at home. Also, in the animated version of the logo, you see a rhythm that evokes the correct associations.
Great, now we know what criteria to consider when developing a name. But before we move on to practical tips and techniques for creating a brand name. Let’s take a closer look at the people you’re making a name for – your audience.
Who is your audience, and how does that affect your choice of a brand name?
Our clients do not always understand their company’s niche. But understanding your niche directly depends on the audience you want to work for. Look, we divided audiences into several types.
Rationalists
Such people like all information to be easily accessible and understandable. In this segment, people do not need intricate brand names. The critical thing is clarity, so if you want to work with such an audience, pay attention to descriptive brand names.
Innovators and hedonists
These people follow all the news and trends. They are the first in the line to a new restaurant or to buy a new phone. Working with this segment must provoke the market with the brand name, design, and product. The name must evoke emotion—for example, Apple, Tesla, and Starbucks.
Independent
It’s all about luxury brands. Your brand name should be simple, without frills, but elegant – Bentley, Capital Group, Rolex.
Emotional
Sensitive and subtle natures. The brand and its name must evoke pleasant emotions and give a feeling of comfort. For example, We Are One, TheKallective.
The last two brand names are our projects. Here are a few words to understand why they choose such brand names.
“You are about to become a Citizen of Life. We are about to become a global society.” – We Are One“Get the brands you love at the prices you want while supporting amazing causes.” – The Kallective
How to come up with your brand name in 5 steps
Follow these steps to create a brand name that’s sure to turn heads and invite consumers to learn more.
1. Determine your brand identity and goals
First of all, remember that brand clarity comes from the inside out, not the outside in. People choose specific companies not only because of the product or service but also because of the long-term emotional connection they have to them. By the way, 89% of shoppers are loyal to brands that share their values.
So ask yourself:
Your vision: Why does your company exist?
Your mission: What does your company do?
Your values: How do you do what you do? And what exactly is important and valuable for your brand.
Your brand personality: What’s your brand identity? What do you stand for? What do you want to accomplish with the brand name?
If you don’t know the answers to these questions, you can start by simply finding 10-15 words or phrases that describe your brand. These words should convey your brand’s overall essence.
For example, for our company Sweetcode Lab we can use such words as trustworthy, clear, friendly, technological, honest, innovative, dedicated, and customer-focused.
2. Get to know your industry and audience
Always ensure your brand name speaks the same language as your customers. To do that, you need to know your niche. We told about this a little earlier in this article.
Another crucial consideration is your industry. Ask yourself: What are the naming norms? What are your competitors doing? And based on your brand positioning, decide whether to follow the industry formula or choose a unique name that makes your brand stand out.
Step 3: Brainstorm
It’s time to get creative and start a brainstorming session. Here it would be best if you gave all your ideas and thoughts a chance because you can always weed out some options later in the process.
We want to share one of our cases of brainstorming ideas for a brand name.
This year our team started working on a new internal project. An app to help people reduce stress by relaxing their minds and falling asleep better by listening to calm music. Sleeping sounds, nature sounds, rain sounds, meditation sounds, white noise, and many more.
We had a task to come up with a great name. We wanted to make it creative, memorable, and elicit an emotional response. Also, since this niche is quite competitive, we wanted to stand out and bring something unique.
With this task in mind, we started brainstorming. Here are a few options that we wrote down: Chillwave, Cozy Sounds, Dreamer Radio , Melissa Radio, Lavender, Chillradio, Nature sounds, Breeze, Circadia and Zab Wave.
Of these options, we chose the best in our opinion – Lavender. When selecting a brand name, we did research that helped us make a choice; in addition, we surveyed potential application users.
We also paid attention to the visual part of the application. Lavender App design conveys the brand name – purple tones, illustrations, and fonts follow the idea of the brand name.
4. Make sure your brand name is available
There’s no point in testing anything that’s already taken, so you must vet your options and ideas.
So, narrow your brainstormed list down, try to keep 15-20 brand name ideas, and search the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s database of registered trademarks. If you’re planning to register your business in the U.S., you’ll want to verify that your title isn’t already taken.
Are you planning to go global? Check with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) if your brand name is trademarked outside the U.S.
– Do a Google search: Check that your potential name isn’t identical to something else out there in the same country and industry.
– Check for social media availability: Make sure Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin accounts with your brand name don’t already exist.
And do a domain name search. In 2022 you most likely need to develop a website to achieve a solid online presence. And because your domain name should include your name, you’ll need to ensure it’s available. You can use different online tools and websites to check domains.
5. Make sure you love your brand name
You must love your new business name and feel confident about putting it into the world. To be more confident, you can conduct a linguistic screening. Your brand name should be easy to write and pronounce in the language of every country you plan to target.
You can do this by checking a dictionary, doing an in-depth Google search, or asking your team, customers, stakeholders, or peers for feedback. This way, you’ll quickly learn if a name is difficult to pronounce or rubs people the wrong way.
Try your best to get the name right on the first attempt to ensure your business is off to a great start.
10 Tips for developing a unique brand name
1. Abbreviate
Cut one part of the word and connect it to the other. Take FedEx, Microsoft, and Goretex, for example.
2. Acronyms
Such brand names are easy to remember. Many major companies use acronyms instead of full names. For example, IBM ( International Business Machines Corporation), BMW ( Bayerische Motoren Werke AG), UPS (United Parcel Service), or BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).
3. Alliteration
The conspicuous repetition of identical initial consonant sounds – Robin Bobin, Dunkin Donuts, BreadHead.
4. Founder
A name based on a real or fictional person, such as Ben & Jerry’s, Warby Parker, or Betty Crocker.
5. Create mash-ups
Think about two or three words that are meaningful to you and your business. Can they be combined in some way –either in pieces or entirely? Such as TripAdvisor, Evernote (from “forever” and “note”) and Netflix (“internet” and “flicks”).
6. Make it descriptive
What are the words that describe your business best? Write down all of your options, and visualize how these words can fit into your brand name. Such names tell what you do or make, for example, General Motors or 7-Eleven (they’re open from 7 AM-11 PM daily).
7. Use a symbol
You can try to draw inspiration from a symbol or essential element of your work. For example, a name like Naturol communicates the business and is easy to remember.
8. Draw inspiration from mythology and literature
Here you need to do some research to see if a mythological figure is relevant to your company or service. One of the brightest examples is Nike in Greek mythology, she’s the goddess of victory.
9. Magic spell
A name that is a portmanteau or a real word with a made-up spelling, such as Kleenex, Deasign, Kreado, FaceBook, or Flickr.
10. Use foreign words
Another creative way to develop business name ideas is to incorporate a non-native language—a confectionery with a French name or a tea shop with a Chinese one.
In conclusion, effective name generation is both an art and a science. So, turn on your imagination, open dictionaries, and notes! We believe that you will come up with the perfect brand name.
What’s next?
Once you’ve come up with the perfect business name, it’s time to take action. Now you’re ready to design the visuals that bring it to life. And our team is ready to help you! We know how to make an effective brand identity that draws in customers, successfully launches a product, and helps you develop your brand that keeps people coming back.
Take a look at our portfolio, and feel free to contact us at hello@sweetcode.pro to continue your way to a successful business.
