Creating Great Product and Company Names

Successful product and company names may appear to have been created by magic, but it is possible to develop names that are dynamic, effective and fully leverage a brand's potential if you have the right process in place. A process that is clear, insightful, logical and focused will lead to a name and tagline that are powerful components of your brand strategy, and pave the way for buy-in throughout your organization.

Before you begin, it is essential to decide what you want your new product or company name to do for you. To make that decision, you need to understand the possibilities. A name can:

• achieve separation from your competitors
• demonstrate to the world that you are different
• reinforce a unique positioning platform
• create positive and lasting engagement with your audience
• be unforgettable
• propel itself through the world on its own, becoming a no-cost, self-sustaining PR vehicle
• provide a deep well of marketing and advertising images
• be the genesis of a brand that rises above the goods and services you provide
• completely dominate a category
  

Every naming project is unique and our process is customized for each of them. We make sure that all aspects of a work plan are designed to complement your naming project, corporate culture, approval process and timeframe. Consequently, our process is flexible enough to be tailored to the specific needs of your company.

Whether we are developing product or company names, the process steps outlined below are what gives us the ability to create powerful and lasting brands:

• Competitive Analysis – Our process begins with a thorough competitive analysis, in which we quantify the tone and strength of competitive company names or product names. Creating such a document helps your naming team decide where they need to go with the positioning, branding and naming of your company or product.
• Positioning – The next step is to help you refine and define your brand positioning. The more specific and nuanced your positioning is, the more effective the name will be. All great product and company names work in concert with the positioning of the businesses they speak for.
• Name/brand Development – Product or company name development begins by applying the positioning strategy to figure out what you want your new name to do for your marketing, branding and advertising efforts.
• Trademark – We prescreen names under development through our trademark attorney to determine the likelihood that your company will be able to procure the names. We do this in order to feel confident that the names your attorney submits for final trademark screening and application have been deemed by an attorney as likely to pass muster for registration. If not, valuable time is lost.
• Creative / Testing – A standard part of our naming process is the production of creative support materials to flesh-out potential names, and market research testing when appropriate. These may include stories, ad treatments, or graphic layouts featuring leading name candidates.
• Name and Tagline – Final names and taglines, along with a well-defined positioning strategy, are the outcome of our process.

To print out our entire naming process and more, download our detailed PDF Naming Guide.