๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ-๐ฅ๐ฆ-๐ด๐ข๐ค ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ฆ๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ.
– Sir Barnett Cocks (1907โ1989)
In my years of developing names, itโs not a lack of creativity that causes a project to stagnate; our nature to โfit inโ, often at the last minute, causes the most problems.
Otherwise, enthusiastic entrepreneurs and seasoned executives tend to become conservative when faced with various names from which to choose.
They do this because they feel their choice will reflect on them. Couple this with a natural fear of the unknown, and we can understand where this conservatism comes from.
๐๐โ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ; ๐ถ๐โ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ด๐ผ. ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒโ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ถ๐.
We all want successful businesses, and typically, being successful is serious. The immediate logic, even if only subconscious, is that you need a โseriousโ name if you want people to take you seriously.
When choosing a name, itโs essential to understand your vantage point throughout the entire process.
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In my experience, the most challenging aspect of naming is not the development and creation of a master list of candidates; this is a creative challenge for the most part.
The most challenging part of the process is choosing a name from the hundreds or thousands of possible names created. You would think that the sheer volume of names would present the biggest challenge, where having too much choice is the primary cause of anxiety.
However, thatโs rarely the case in my experience.
๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ป๐๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ปโ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ณ๐๐น ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐.
Committees are beneficial only if theyโve helped to write the creative brief. Comments from anyone outside of this group will create too much self-doubt.
Your commercial imperative is to select a name that doesnโt get in the way of building your brand. The best advice is not to let yourself or others get in the way. Let the brief be your guide.
๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ โ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฟ, ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ณ๐๐น, ๐ฏ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ.
If youโve done the strategic groundwork โ defined your brief, understood your audience, checked availability, and sanity-tested the name in context โ the only thing left is to back yourself.
Be bold. Go with your gut. Back the name. And remember: people rarely scrutinise brand names โ they recall the ones worth remembering.