Founded by Chip and Joanna Gaines, the Magnolia Market is only one of the couple’s many businesses, that all contain an emblem of a magnolia tree in their brand. “We love magnolia trees,” Chip explained. “It really embodies our company. It’s basically become our mascot… Every project we do, we love to plant a magnolia gem.”

What is Magnolia Market?

Locals in downtown Waco, Texas, are aware of the landmark 120’ high silos that were erected in the 1950s as part of the Brazos Valley Cotton Oil Company. Now that the silos are no longer being used for storage, and the surrounding land is open to the public, two famous TV personalities acquired two blocks and turned them into a shopping complex. The shopping complex is sometimes called by its nickname, “the Silos”. It’s been a major hit with the locals since it has resulted in a massive influx of new business – the restaurant industry got a major foothold and the shopping complex now attracts tourists regularly enough to warrant daily visits from tour buses.

The entrepreneurs behind the brand

The TV personalities behind the popular brand Magnolia’s Market are a husband and wife team,  Chip and Joanna Gaines. The couple is well-known because they host HGTV‘s popular TV series, Fixer Upper. Joanna Gaines actually studied a completely different profession and completed her academic career at Baylor University with a degree in Communications. Her husband, Chip, had an interest in construction form a decor and remodelling perspective. Since they shared a passion for aesthetics and living spaces, they launched their own TV series “fixer-upper” which turned into a massive hit, making them famous. The couple now owns a series of businesses under the word “Magnolia”, including Magnolia Homes, Magnolia Market, and Magnolia Table. 

About Magnolia Market’s customers

Magnolia Market has taken their ability to brand themselves well and they have really run with it, seizing every single opportunity they can use their branding. This includes vertical surfaces, signboards, and other decorative methods. ANother branding element that has truly made this couple a popular due that people look up to (and love to buy from) is their use of humor. Chip can be incredibly entertaining with his odd antics – it adds personality to their brand. ANother reason this brand has really taken off? They’re nos rangers to social media. In fact, they invest very heavily in this method of marketing. Joanna won the “TV Personalities on Social Media Chart” and it’s easy to understand, she’s natural and authentic online. 

Magnolia Market at the Silos: The brand story 

This family-friendly brand appeals to people from every walk of life They’re straightforward and down to earth but together, they have a fantastic eye for aesthetics. Being a husband and wife duo, they’re relatable and create quite the image that DIY couples look up to. Chip and Joanna leave the boundary-pushing tactic to other brands, sticking to family-friendly, relatable, and relaxed content that you can use to learn from or simply enjoy in the background. 

So, why did they choose magnolias to symbolize their brand and as a uniform element across all of their business names? During one of the shows, Chip explained it to one of his children: “You know what’s interesting about a magnolia tree?” One of Mama and I’s first dates, I climbed up a magnolia tree and I pulled her off a magnolia bloom and I gave it to her.”

Choosing your brand’s “forever name”

If there’s anything we can learn from Magnolia Market, it’s that sometimes the simplest gestures of kindness or affection can leave us remembering a particular flower, a tree, or even a date in the calendar. These kinds of experiences stand out in life. They’re little placeholders of joy. These experiences create a perfect opportunity to choose a brand name and build your companies identity around that happy memory. Do you have a good idea of what you’re wanting, but battling to nail it perfectly? Take your experiences and memories and put them into a business name generator for some inspiration.

Home Depot got its start in 1978. It broke into the marketplace as a no-fuss one-stop-shop for everything related to home improvement, decorating, and DIY. Far from the pretentious perfection that many other brands were portraying back in the day, Home Depot decided to brand themselves as approachable, laid-back, and the warehouse where DIY solutions and bargains are readily available. So, they chose a simple and straightforward e-commerce business name idea: Home Depot. 

What’s in the name “Home Depot”?

Home Depot is a straightforward no-frills business name idea. The definition of the word depot is as follows: “a place for the storage of large quantities of equipment, food, or goods. Or, a place where buses, trains, or other vehicles are housed and maintained and from which they are dispatched for service.”

Home Depot immediately brings to mind a warehouse that is probably abundantly stocked with items for the home – it’s a DIYer’s dream come true. They’ve played well on both definitions there, the first one suggesting abundance, the second definition of the word depot plays into the thought that has gone into their branding. 

Home Depot branding

That big orange sign has become synonymous with DIY and home improvement. Home Depot explains the inspiration: “The team developed a logo inspired by crates used to transport freight, keeping in line with the “depot” theme. Stamped at an upright angle to symbolize success and christened in orange to help simulate activity, the logo has aimed to inspire more doing since its debut.”

Home Depot started when founders, Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank got the boot at their place of employment. They wanted to start a brand that’s unpretentious, raw, and provided the abundance of no-frills and no-fuss DIY tools and materials. The bright colors not only stimulate creativity, as they suggested, but also gives the brand a memorable element to it. No one can forget the iconically bright hue. 

Home Depot’s statement regarding stimulating creativity through their use of color is incredibly insightful. It indicates that they have an in-depth understanding of their target market. DIY and home improvement, on face value, appears to be handyman and task-related. In actual fact, when you’re working on a home to improve its appearance, there’s a great deal of creativity involved. Home improvement, design and decorating make a house a DIYer’s blank canvas. As a business name idea, Home Depot is memorable and simple.  

Home Depot encourages their shoppers to exercise their creativity and experiment with brave new ideas. 

Home Depot’s target audience

We’ve mentioned home-improvement enthusiasts and DIYers. Their target market includes a wide range of people, since people from every walk of life live in a house. The most prolific shoppers that love to get their hands dirty and enjoy some recreational DIY tasks around the house tend to be young couples. 

Newly weds, couples welcoming a new baby into the family, couples that are moving house, and those purchasing their first home together. Since these people spend a significant amount of time researching the “look” they want to create, they’re not likely to want ready-made and fancy solutions. They want fairly neutral materials that enable them to create what they’ve envisioned. Home Depot’s brand speaks to those who value the ability to customize their look. 

The “Depot” element in their business name idea speaks to their target audience. It’s raw. It’s blank. It’s suggestive of abundance in terms of choice and variety. 

What we can learn from Home Depot’s business name idea

Their goal was to be different. They were not the first, the biggest, or the most unique retailer in their niche but they wanted to meet the needs of their target audience. It helps that both founders were experienced in the industry and had been client-facing – they understood what people visiting their stores really wanted. Their success comes from that. The genuine desire to make it easier for the average DIYer to get what he or she might need. 

In the age where business name ideas – whether it be for schools, brands, art, or music bands – don’t have to make sense or reveal anything of the namesake, the meaning of names can get confusing. Speaking of strange business name ideas, think of Amazon and Apple, neither of them reveals anything of the brand they represent and yet they’ve become household names. Thinking of Amazon as a rainforest is almost secondary to the online marketplace that goes by the same name. Redbubble is another brand that’s going places in the digital world, but the cryptic name gives almost no clue as to what their services might relate to. 

What kind of brand settles on Redbubble as its best business name idea?

Redbubble is a platform that unites creatives and artists with clients, enabling the buyers to select the art they want and have it printed on a clothing item. Redbubble provides the safe and secure meeting point for the transaction to occur, and they facilitate the actual printing and sending process, enabling relatives to do what creatives do best – create – without having to worry about the administrative headaches. Redbubble enables buyers to create the t-shirt design they really want, using the creative works of artists. Much like Etsy, artists start by opening a store where they can display their wares. Buyers can peruse the items displayed in various stores until they find a million-dollar idea that seals the deal. Unlike Etsy, Redbubble handles everything outside of the artistic work, making the entire process easy for all parties involved. Redbubble’s biggest claim to fame is the uniqueness of their art. The works often spark controversy and stay true to the true culture of art – to ignite feelings in the viewer, whether those feelings are positive or negative depends on the individual. 

The Rise Of Artsy Business Name Ideas

Not long ago, the rise of punk rock and teenage bands raging from their parent’s garage brought a surge of seriously strange names. Brands like “Bowling For Soup” and “Simple Plan” were all the rage, and it seemed, the stranger the name the more they were favored. In fact, the very name of the group had to speak an artistic or thoughtful truth of some sort. The name had to make a statement and illicit feelings in the audience. Many of the names were seemingly random – like they were an ensemble of random words drawn from a hat. All of that started with a simple band name that conveyed a powerful sentiment. The name of a musical group, an art establishment, or a business name idea that promotes alternative beauty sets the tone and creates expectations among consumers. What kind of expectation and tone does “Redbubble” set, as a business name idea? 

Why Visual Business Name Ideas Are So Powerful

Redbubble is one of the very visual business name ideas, and rightly so as it’s associated with art. Red is one of the most iconic colors when we think of something vibrant and bright – like art. In art, red is also highly favored for its symbolism, it represents danger and blood, passion and courage, as well as featuring quite prominently in pop culture where contrast is valued. Bubbles are equally iconic – they represent daydreams and fantasies, and also feature in art in various ways. 

Have you heard another visual name that really grabs your attention? When your line of work relates to sensory stuff – like art, food or music, a brand name that contains rich sensory elements can go a long way in creating a catchy name that clearly conveys your creativity. 

Why do famous brands choose the business names they do? Is there a recipe for choosing the perfect company name when you’re starting out? As it turns out, there really is. However, that recipe isn’t the same for every industry niche, every brand, and every time period. That’s because names go through trends, just like anything else. Does that mean you have to conform to the trend when choosing your business names in order to stay relevant? No. It means there’s a guideline out there that you can use to draw inspiration from. A few years ago, for example, there was a great surge in single word names. Examples of this include Apple and Amazon and also the famed designer clothing retailer, Gilt. 

Who is Guilt?

Speaking of smart business names, Gilt is a great example. Gilt Groupe first launched their women’s wear in November 2007 and followed with their menswear in April 2008. The business has enjoyed mixed successes and losses but since coming into the hands of  Rue La La in 2018, it has changed its focus to target value shoppers, and this has seemed to be more successful than the eclectic mixture of ventures they ran previously. 

Gilt Groupe is a members only e-commerce store that sells high-end fashion items at massively discounted rates for a brief and limited time. Buyers can expect to save around 60% of designer wear. As a result, the site has been met with suspicion by many shoppers, however, the brand has managed to solidify itself as a trusted entity in the digital shopping sphere thanks to its cohesive branding. Typically, 70% of Gilt’s sale items are sold out within 90 minutes of being listed. They’ve also won some prestigious awards, including Webby Awards – Fashion & Beauty – People’s Choice Winner and Best User Experience – Honoree. 

Business names: What makes “Gilt” work?

Gilt, as a word, has a few different meanings but one could surmise that the most fitting definition, in this case, might refer to the adjective: “gold in color; golden.”  Gold denotes wealth, royalty, power, and beauty. This goes far back in humanity’s history, as is evident when we consider the Ancient Egyptians and other cultures that clad their royal leaders in gold. 

Gilt as a business name: When you consider that Gilt Groupe entered the marketplace to appeal to image-conscious fashionistas, the business name choice makes sense, even if it is rather elusive and cryptic to the average shopper. They are appealing to shoppers who value a good bargain, you can imagine how a name that is so closely linked with “gold” might evoke the trust they’re hoping to inspire in their buyers. Gilt, and the meaning of it, helps to identify this brand as an elite seller as opposed to the cheap retailers that sell knock-off fashion products. It was imperative that the brand makes it clear that they’re the real deal in order to establish themselves. Their business name is one way to do this. 

Gilt’s target audience and brand identity

Gilt has chosen a tricky target audience, but their business name successfully appeals to their chosen demographic. While they have satisfied a clearly defined need in the fashion industry – more affordable access to designer wear for the average shopper –  the average shopper has become skeptical of anything that sounds too good to be true. Many of these shoppers have identified no-name brands that retail similar looking clothing items at a fraction of the cost. This significantly narrows down the target audience Gilt Groupe can approach as clients. It means they need to appeal to those who value prestige, appreciate name brands, and maintain a very particular image but on a minuscule budget. Their business name doesn’t focus on the “minuscule budget” aspect, choosing to highlight the glitzy side of the service.

Choosing business names? Take inspiration from Gilt

Gilt has selected a retail brand name that is short, succinct, and, even if you don’t know what the name means, it still evokes an image that hints of a designer lifestyle and trending look. 

The importance of naming your e-commerce brand correctly has been established as a crucial stepping stone in establishing your organization’s identity. Harry’s, much like many other examples of authentic branding, seems to have been a trailblazer in their industry. Not only is the name “Harry” a common male name, but it’s also not particularly glamorous. T doesn’t provide as much as a hint as to the nature of the company. It’s extremely abrupt. So, how is it, that a name like “Harry’s” can pave the way for a brand to become a tremendous name in its industry – a household favorite, in fact? And what can other small businesses learn from this valuable example of authentic branding? 

About Harry’s 

Harry’s is a personable brand that embraces authenticity as part of their identity. They’re here with a clear-cut mission: to bring quality shaving products and tools to men without the hefty price tag that generally accompanies the popular name brands. They’re attainable. Stylish. They’re an example of authentic branding, there’s absolutely no pretense here. Their claim to popularity comes from their superior-grade shaving products that are designed, researched and tested, manufactured, and controlled by a team of over 600 engineers, designers, craftsmen, and chemists. 

Jeff and Andy are two everyday men that decided to create a product that’s easily accessible to most guys (they particularly make mention of the annoyance of standing in a queue at a drug store waiting to be given a classy razor out of a cabinet) but still high quality. The success of their authentic branding strategy is largely thanks to their relaxed brand identity – its’ simply so relatable – but it’s not just that. They started with the end in mind, creating something that answered a demand. Men wanted great razors without the hassle, the pretentiousness, and the high prices. 

Why their authentic branding sets them apart from their competitors

They’re bringing a great quality product to the average “dude”, believing that all men deserve a close shave that’s comfortable and kind to skin. So, who started this brand that’s become so iconic? In part, it lies in the power of a name: ‘We thought that other shaving brands portrayed an idea of a perfect guy with a perfect jaw but we wanted an honest brand that says we are for normal guys. We think Harry’s fits the bill. The name actually came from a grandfather figure of mine.’

Where every other name in the shaving manufacturing industry was touting this icon of a man with a perfect jawline and model-like features, Harry’s embraced the messiness of masculinity. The realness of being a guy. It turns out that this authenticity is so relatable, it became their major selling point, leading to other iconic names in the business, that are an established household name, creating product lines imitating this one. Authentic branding refers to how well your brand aligns its actions with its “ethos”. It can also refer to how relatable and real your brand is – is it something an average consumer can relate to or is it the icon of perfection consumers can only strive for? Authenticity refers to the former example. 

Understanding “authenticity” in the branding game

Authentic branding is a new style of marketing that is proving that realness sells far better (in some industries) than perfection. Many consumers are more at ease with a brand that shows its vulnerability and invokes humor to set consumers at ease about their own imperfections. This is because consumers feel at ease with themselves. In the case of Harry’s, authentic branding has worked because their target audience is men, who are generally less inclined to uphold an image. Men are practical. They desire practicality and logic. There’s nothing quite as dress-down and average as the name “Harry”. It’s that “come as you are” attitude that has buyers flocking over, exactly as they are.