What’s in a name?

A company name brands the business, attracts customers, and may be a decisive print on the business world. If it’s catchy and clever, making a mark in your industry is that much easier.

By Craig Falck for Africa Report.
Photograph: © Roger Jegg | Dreamstime.com

If you need a name that will be easy to remember, catchy enough to attract attention, and clever enough to make a mark in your industry, then you may have to give it some time, energy and even few creative and wild brainstorming sessions. Buckle up; it might be a bumpy but worthwhile road!

Whether you are launching a new product or starting your business, you need a name, be it striking, powerful, representative of what you are doing or completely innovative and colourful. What does it take to get it right?

Getting your name on your customers’ tongues is one of the golden keys to getting customers buying your products.
Coca-Cola, for example, a name who was whispered to inventor John Pemberton by his bookkeeper Frank Robinson, comes from the coca wine, a famous drink at the end of the 19^th Century. Surfing on an established flavour but innovating on the recipe, Coca-Cola soon became engraved in people’s mind and mouth. Even the slang name, Coke, is known around the world, thanks to its short, snappy spelling; 94% of the world’s population knows the name Coca-Cola – and the product behind.

Rule #1, sit down and get your core team and even one or two sample customers, around the table. You will need brainstorming sessions where names are thrown out to find the one that will crack the market.

Rule #2, select three options and send it out to relatives or friends. They might be potential customers and their input (out of the brainstorming session) might be helpful to get an idea of how the market will react.

Rule #3, if your product/service is sold internationally, check the translation of your name into other languages. Some names sound striking into one language… and turn out to be swearing words into others.

Final rule, make sure – spare you form unnecessary rights-fights – that the name isn’t used by anyone else. Google it and do a background check to prevent any surprises down the lane.

Once you find the right name, the next step will be building your brand identity; another exciting process to place your brand on the market. Forever.