Things to consider when choosing a brand name
We’ve put together a few things that we think you should keep in mind when choosing a name for your brand or business.
You’ve had the great idea, you know what your business will be or do so you need a name for it that tells the world just how incredible it is. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Coming up with the right brand name is really important. You need it to be memorable and to have an impact. You need people to be interested in your product, simply by hearing the brand name.
So, where do you start?
Well, we’ve put together a few things that we think are worth bearing in mind. That doesn’t mean to say these are definite no-nos, plenty of big international brands may have ignored these rules and gone on to be hugely successful. But, if you are a small start-up, they could give you a bit of direction if you’re struggling to come up with something genius.
Avoid a name that is hard to pronounce
If you choose a word that is hard to say, simply, people will avoid saying it. Word of mouth is such an important tool for a start-up business and you really need people to talk about your idea. Even if people are talking about your business idea, it’s not much good if they don’t associate it to you. ‘Oh whatshisname’ or ‘Something, I don’t know how you say it’ is not going to get back to you and people won’t remember your business.
Stay away from anything embarrassing
In a similar way to the first pointer, people won’t want to say your business name if it sounds rude or offensive. Making people uncomfortable before they even know what you do or what your business is about is an incredibly easy way of making sure nobody remembers your brand.
Avoid long and unmemorable brand names
A brand name should be short and snappy. If your name is too long, people won’t remember any of it, or they will only remember parts and that can often lead to misunderstanding or could lead them to a completely different business altogether. Long generally means it’s not memorable so stick to something brief but exciting.
Try not to be boring and uninspiring
By this, we mean try and be witty and different. Try not to simply take a ‘does what it says on the tin’ approach. Just because you are a digital marketing agency doesn’t mean you should call your business ‘The Digital Marketing Agency’. You don’t stand out, you’re not inspiring, and searching that term would bring up a load of your competitors anyway!
So, the above guides are simply suggestions. We don’t think your brand could never be successful if it had a brand name like the ones above. With the right marketing, pretty much anything could be successful! But, if you find that you don’t understand why your brand is not successful, it is perhaps worth checking out whether it follows any of these rules.