Private: Intelligence

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In my business, we work with a lot of start-up companies and one of the questions we get asked is “what do we think of the name”.  When the start-ups don’t ask the question, I typically ask them for the genesis and significance of their name, so I can gather some insight into who they think they are or what they think they do.   

A name is a funny thing because it’s important to everyone, but it can quickly and easily become too important. 

A name is definitely important.  When done well it provides the first impression into what you do and the kind of services you offer.  When first launching a company, selection of a name is a fun exercise, and it provides a preliminary opportunity for the team to engage with one another in the creative process.  Conversely I know of a number of companies who spent tens of thousands (if not more) on naming their company, only to abandon the name or change it at a later date.  In many cases marketing execs come into a company and the first thing they attempt to do is rebrand and/or rename the company.  Far too much of the time this is an act of self-perpetuation, where the marketing exec is literally creating unnecessary work to make themselves feel important and leave their “mark” on the company.

There are times when a company needs to re-brand, but “need” and “want” are two entirely different things.  A company should rebrand when they have changed their business model, offer a new suite of services, or have in some other way dramatically changed their business.  Iterative growth does not necessitate a change because whether you like the brand or not, it has built equity in the eyes of your customers.  Very rarely, in my experience, has a company won or lost a piece of business based on the name.  If they have, then either the client was probably not someone they would have wanted to work with in the long term, or the team did not do a good job portraying the benefit of that company over the competition.   Names don’t win business; business wins business.

All that being said, here are some pieces of advice for when you do decide to name a company:

1.     Try to pick a name that evokes what you do, not just something “cool”.  The web is 50/50 on this, constantly creating new companies with cool-sounding names that don’t mean anything, but the majority of those companies never amount to much and the ones that do typically have a story behind their names.

2.     A name should be unique or exclusive enough to stand out and not be confused with your competition.  It can be very difficult to literally own a brand name across multiple categories of business, but do your homework and weigh the pros and cons of other companies with similar-sounding names.

3.     A name should be easy to say, or spell.  I tend to ignore this advice altogether, with companies like the Arkitektive being uniquely generated brand names, but for the most part you want something that won’t be misspelled repeatedly.  You want your customers or clients to know how to find you easily and quickly.

4.     Do your best to “own” your name; check out the domain registers, check out trademarkia, and check out any business-related database like Hoovers to see if someone else is operating under your desired brand name.  If there is too much overlap, move on.  It’s like naming a child; your significant other always has immediate veto power, no questions asked.

Starting a company is exciting, and a bit unnerving, but naming that company should not be the most stressful thing you do.  It should be a component of what you do, and a fun one as well. 

Do I suggest you hire an outside firm to name your company?  Not really.  It’s a creative process, but one that you can certainly undertake.  And if business is going well, don’t let someone tell you that you need to change the name to get to that “next level”.  Like I said before; very few (if any) times has a company lost a piece of business because of their name.

What do you think is in a name?  Tell me on the Spin Board!