Choosing a Name
With the exception of choosing an actual product, one of the toughest decisions you will inevitably face when launching a company is choosing its name. We’ve struggled with that at Divide Nine recently for a new project, and I thought I’d share a few of thoughts that have come up throughout this process.
Past the traditional approaches of choosing a name that is not already registered and one that reflects your business in some way. Last year, Fast Company wrote a great article on Lexicon, a company that specializes in this practice and gave some insight into the naming process that they use.
It’s broken into these steps:
- Use the product and find its core value. Get not just to what it is, but the why.
- Use these words and come up with metaphors, sounds, and words that relate (In the case of Lexicon, a team of linguists).
- Separately, ask a group to come up with metaphors, sounds, and words without knowing what the product is to create new products based on a fictional mission.
- Consider these options
Two other things that teams I’ve worked on have considered in the past…
- Hard C and K sounds have better brand recall
- Consider checking the numerology of the company to see what it denotes.
For example, Apple’s numerology is 5, 8, and 6. 5 – Expansion, change, visions, growing evolution, 8- ambition, power, production, money, security, materialism, and 6 – harmony, creativity, art justice, balance, love, protection.
So, are you sure that non-profit you are starting should be a 5? Consider that Toms is a 4, 7, 6… 4- stability, security, objectivity, 7- philosophical, understanding, inspirational, 6- harmony, creativity, justice, balance, love, protection community, sympathy
Maybe it’s a mix of voodoo, practicality, and luck… but what other tips do you have for naming products and companies?