Every product, company, or cause has a name. The name is the one single feature that will last the entire lifetime of the brand, and in the world of branding, naming is good business.
Organizations that need a name want a great one, and when they come to me they believe their best chance is to hire a professional to take on the challenging task. After naming dozens of products and companies, I can tell you the toughest part of the process doesn’t rest with me.
The secret to a great name is courage. Your courage. The courage to recognize the potential in a good word; the courage to ignore silly criticisms during the selection process; and the courage to introduce it to the world with conviction.
Most people won’t have the courage to know a good name option when it is presented raw. That’s right; raw. With no history to back it up; with no cultural familiarity to make it part of our common language. It starts as just a word on a page. Raw.
Excellence in naming is hard, and inspiration for some of the most famous brand names have very different origins. Unfortunately there isn’t one proven formula for success, a situation that only makes the process more complicated for the uninitiated.
Naming is not an exercise in excellent creativity. It’s not a magical guessing game where the perfect word somehow looks better than all the other ideas. It’s next to impossible to come up with a great name; instead, select a good name—a name that helps introduce an interesting story and supports the strategy—and then make the effort to make it great! That’s what everyone else did.
There are tools that support the creative process—from brainstorming concepts to testing the best choices—and I am not suggesting anyone ignore rational discussion on the strategic value of a name. All I ask is that you enter the process with courage and an open mind. The right word will be there, and when you know who you are, you will pick a good name that you can make great.
Stephen Abbott - Brand Strategist 