My Brand Naming Process
Most people think naming a brand is easy.
After all, you’ve invested your blood, sweat, and tears (hopefully of joy) into this business or passion project. Who knows it better than you? Who better to christen your budding brand with a name?
Well, the truth is that naming a brand can be harder than naming your first child. That’s because you aren’t just naming a business. You’re naming an idea that can live on for generations, affect social change, and bring thousands (or even millions) of people together around shared values.
You also have to consider logistics like copyright restrictions, domain availability, diverse cultural and historical associations, pronounceability in different languages, and many other factors.
That’s why getting some outside perspective is so essential: you simply can’t envision all possible interpretations, associations, and possibilities, on your own.
How It Works
Phase 1: Discovery
Est time: 1-2 weeks
We begin our work with a discovery phase so I can get to know you, your business as it stands today, and your vision for the future. This process entails you completing a discovery questionnaire, while I complete a mini Brand Audit.
Together, we will clearly define your:
- Purpose
- Mission
- Values
- Voice & tone
- Personality
- Target audience(s)
- Target market
Depending on the tone, personality, and scale of your brand, I may ask you to respond to some personal prompts in order to evoke words, memories, song lyrics, books, and other inspirations that have special meaning to you.
Equipped with these insights, we will go on to gather inspiration and ideate.
Phase 2: Ideation
Est time: 3-5 days (can be concurrent with the discovery phase)
In its most basic form, a word bank may feel like an elementary school exercise. But when we apply brand strategy, a word bank becomes a powerful tool for generating plug-and-play naming components.
Based on our findings from the discovery phase, I will ascribe different naming “categories” and brainstorm words associated with each. You are welcome to contribute to this ideation process, but not required to.
Phase 3: Naming Formulas
Est. time: 1 week
Once our word bank is complete, I will plug these components into tried and true naming formulas to generate a list of name options.
As with baby names, these formulas go in and out of fashion across various geographical areas. Noun + noun restaurant names may be overdone in your city, but novel in another. Or some formulas fit better with some industries than others. For example, removing vowels from a common word was a particularly hot startup trend for a time.
I will take your brand identity into account when selecting and applying these formulas so that all name options align with your voice, values, and target demographic(s).
Phase 4: Vetting
Est. time: 1-2 weeks
Now that the creative part is done, we delve into the nitty gritty.
Out of 150 names, the majority will be claimed. This could mean that viable website domains are not available, or very similar names already hold a strong market position that would make competition too difficult.
At this stage we assess things like:
- Domain availability
- Social media handle availability
- Trademarks & patents
- Historical references
- Cultural sensitivity
The vetting process winnows our robust list down to only those that are feasible given your target market. I will also denote which names are a green light, and which are still viable though potentially challenging.
Phase 3: Final Selection
Est. time: 2-3 days
Now comes the toughest part of the process: deciding on a final name.
If time and budget allow, it’s always a good idea to gather feedback from relevant, objective sources (i.e. not your mom). We may conduct focus groups or, if you are an established business, we can conduct a survey with your existing and prospective customers.
Next, I will compile all our finalists into a presentation so we can view the names together and share feedback. Everyone has their own associations with certain words, so in this phase, fostering dialogue can generate new insights we could not reach independently.
Upon selection, I can connect you with potential logo designers or draft a creative brief to better equip you on the next stage of your branding journey.
