Choosing a name for your company is important—it can make or break your success.
Your business needs a that reflects your brand positioning, embodies its character and values, evoke strong emotions from your target customers, as well as be memorable and unique enough to stand out from the competition.
Yes, crafting an ideal name requires thoughtfulness, creativity, and research, but with some simple steps, you can create a winning brand identity that’ll help you reach new heights in no time!
And in this, we’ll explore how to craft an ideal name for your business that conveys a solid image for years to come.
- Six Solid Ways to Crafting a Unique Brand Name
- 1. Align Your Name With Your Brand Positioning
- 2. Consider Using Metaphors, Visual Imagery, and Emotions
- 3. Brainstorm Names
- Here’s a Simple Analysis of Some Powerful Brand Names
- 4. Use Audience Testing
- 5. Validate Your Names With Trademark Research
- Ensure You Find a Powerful Name
Six Solid Ways to Crafting a Unique Brand Name
1. Align Your Name With Your Brand Positioning
The first thing you must consider when naming your business is the nature of your business and its core values. Why? That’s because your brand name should reinforce those values and your company’s core mission and vision. Your brand name should also represent what makes your company unique in the marketplace.
One great example is how Amazon was named after the world’s largest river. Choosing a name like this does an excellent job of emphasizing the company’s mission to become the world’s largest online retailer. Similarly, Apple used its name as a metaphor to communicate innovation, success, and simplicity.
2. Consider Using Metaphors, Visual Imagery, and Emotions
For your name to effectively establish a solid bone with customers, it needs to quickly trigger a positive emotional reaction in potential customers and convey your company’s values with just a few words.
Metaphors, visual imagery, and emotions should all come into play when you are coming up with ideas for brand names.
Nike has become synonymous with power and peak performance, all thanks to its slogan, “Just Do It.” And yes, this slogan does a great job of leveraging both emotion and visual imagery.
And speaking of leveraging imagery, Ford Motors uses the color blue in its logo to convey feelings of trust and dependability.
3. Brainstorm Names
When it comes to naming your firm, brainstorming as many name suggestions as possible means creating a long list of prospective names. You should go outside the box and come up with original, one-of-a-kind solutions that express your company’s vision and values.
The more concepts you can generate, the higher your chances of coming up with a name that both customers and your company will like.
Consider the context in which your products will be used; consider their function, style, and price. Consider employing foreign languages, such as Zappos, or funny puns to help your business company stand out from competitors in the same area.
Finally, while reducing your list of alternatives, don’t forget to try various spellings as well as different letter combinations until you discover one that exactly reflects what you’re searching for.
If brainstorming seems too time-consuming to fit into your busy schedule, don’t hesitate to use a reliable brand name generator or visit a naming agency and purchase great brand names that perfectly represent the type of business you want to establish.
Here’s a Simple Analysis of Some Powerful Brand Names
Here’s a quick look at some exciting brand names that inspire you.
- McDonald’s: Gotten from the founders’ names. Today, McDonald’s has come to represent a solid commitment to providing quality food made with ingredients from local suppliers.
- Nike: Coined from the Greek goddess of victory, Nike symbolizes power, strength, dedication, and victory.
- Apple: Named after the apple that fell on Sir Isaac Newton’s head, Apple communicates innovation, creativity, and discovery.
- Walmart: The name Walmart is derived from the first three letters of the founders’ last name (Walton) combined with “mart” to communicate the company’s vision of providing customers with everything they need at a good value.
- Coca-Cola: The name originates from combining the names of the two main ingredients used in making the original recipe: coca leaves and kola nuts.
- Samsung: Samsung was derived from the Korean words meaning “three stars” and was intended to represent the brand’s ambition to be “bigger, better, and faster than the competition.”
- Microsoft: Microsoft is a simple combination of the words “microcomputer” and “software.” The name conveys the company’s mission to produce high-quality technology products for every user.
- Amazon: Refers to the world’s largest river but also symbolizes the size and scope of the business, which has revolutionized the way people shop online.
4. Use Audience Testing
Finally, ensure you test your potential brand name with a sample of your core audience before making your final decision. However, be careful what questions you ask—your questions should be about which names draw attention and inspire action and which names best align with your brand ideas.
5. Validate Your Names With Trademark Research
Before you settle on any name for your brand, you must validate it with trademark research. It’s important to ensure that no other company is already using a similar name. Otherwise, you may receive a cease and desist letter from another brand with a similar name.
Ensure You Find a Powerful Name
The power of a name can make or break your business. With the right name, you can attract customers, create an unambiguous brand identity and stand out from the competition.
The most important thing to remember when crafting an ideal name for your business is to assess your goals and brainstorm creative ideas that capture the essence of what you offer in a unique way that resonates with potential customers.
By following these simple tips, you will be well on your way to creating a perfect name for your business that sets it apart from its rivals and guarantees success!
Grant Polachek is the head of branding at Squadhelp.com, a 3X Inc. 5000 company that provides naming services to Fortune 500 companies and growing startups. As the #1 crowdsource naming platform, we’ve identified and analyzed over a million powerful names and created a list of the top brand names on the internet.