Over the last couple of months, I have received countless emails from entrepreneurs requesting help on either coming up with a brand name or helping select from a short list of potential names. Although these friction points are on opposite ends of the naming journey, both have their unique challenges, from brand positioning to trademark…
You’re a sophisticated marketer. You know that great names aren’t scribbled on a cocktail napkin at an impromptu brainstorming session after work. You’ve run your list through a preliminary trademark screen and you’re ready to pull the trigger. But have you done a linguistic check? A linguistic check is the only way to make sure…
I can’t believe it, but I launched my naming blog over four years ago. At the time, I was working for a startup in Seattle and was inspired by the entrepreneurial energy. I made the commitment to launch a blog, but there seemed to be a blog for everything, even strange things like, Ryan Gosling’s…
Innovation. Such a powerful concept in today’s economy. The ability to create something new is at the heart of nearly every success story you read, whether it’s seeing something in a new way, envisioning and developing a new tech solution, or engineering and building a tangible and useful product. Innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit drives…
There are two types of people starting businesses: one of them knows exactly the type of business they want to start and what it should be called. In fact, they’ve already come up with something catchy and bought the domain five years ago. The other type knows they want to start a business, and they…
For too long, I’ve been thinking about testing the creative engines behind four crowdsourcing naming platforms, but have continuously backed down because I was having a hard time spending over $1,000 on a brand name for a fictitious company. Until… I stumbled upon a website that instantly inspired me. Wishbone.org (what a dreamy name!) is…
Early this week, we published a fascinating story behind Warby Parker’s brand name. After months of generating names (2000+) and gathering feedback, the four Founders – Neil Blumenthal, Andrew Hunt, David Gilboa, and Jeffrey Raider – finally agreed on Warby Parker, primarily because no one could associate anything with it, allowing them to control and…
I’ll just come out and say it, there are a lot of unknowns when starting a company. Early stage founders are forced to enter unfamiliar territories, make gut instincts and wear multiple hats in order to keep this ship sailing in the right direction. One of these early obstacles is coming up with memorable brand name….
There’s no magic formula for choosing a brand name. To make matters worse, even when you discover what you think is the perfect name, you’ll continuously second guess yourself. Most understand the basics of forming a memorable brand name: keep it simple, short, unique, flexible and easy to pronounce. But then it starts to get a…
Brand mascots can be an effective marketing tool if they are built into the story of your brand. Slapping a whale, bunny or robot onto your brand won’t increase your marketshare or awareness overnight. Mascots naturally create brand triggers in the marketplace. For example, every time I see a white duck, I think Aflac (often…