Brand name
Your business name is the default face of your company. You may have influence or celebrity to support your brand, but your name and the image it creates in the customer’s mind should always be your priority.
As the founder of your company, you have the power to determine the future and success of your company through your products and business name.
Unfortunately, the business world is full of many businesses that ended up as disasters because they failed to replicate their success in creating a unique product with their brand names.
Today, we’re going to learn from some of these examples, specifically about how to come up with a business name.
Here are some common naming mistakes that lead to branding disasters and how to avoid them when naming your company.
- Not Brief: It’s hard to resist the urge to scroll right to the full, brainstorming and domain-name availability check. But without a good naming convention, you’ll be spinning your wheels.
- Poorly defined goals: “Fun” brand names aren’t very fun if they don’t meet your goals. Descriptive names clearly convey meaning, and suggestive names draw attention and stand out. Choose wisely.
- Trying to say too much: A brand name—usually just one or two words—can only say so much. Great names tell the beginning of a brand’s story and let the design, copy and product or service tell the rest.
Avoid Common Mistakes in Brand Naming
Names With Implicating Connotations
When it comes to solving sensitive social issues, buyers always express strong feelings. If your company decides to address such issues — even if it’s unrelated to your business name — you’ll lose customers because those who aren’t on board with the cause will be less likely to buy from you.
Names like ‘Typo,’ and ‘Yikes,’ two horrible words that Colourpop chose for their dark cosmetics, and Lime Crime’s ‘China Doll’ only attract negative comments because these names are rude and insulting.
Brands With Complicated Names
Short and simple names are perfect because they are easy to understand and search on the Internet. Customers are attracted by simple, clear, and unique business names.
If your company name is too complex, you may lose customers to competitors with simpler, original and catchy names.
Unfortunately, many businesses overlook the importance of choosing a catchy business name, using Amazon, Apple and their strong brand names to position themselves in the minds of target customers.
Undesirable Foreign Translations
People from all over the world will come into contact with your company, either through advertising or by chance. Customers will abandon your products in favor of a better-known competitor if your brand name offends them in their own language.
So when looking for an awesome business name, You invest time in extensive research to guarantee that the chosen name is unappealing to customers in other countries.
Two examples of products with unpleasant names in foreign languages are Mazda’s Laputa, which translates to “The Whore” in Spanish, and the Iranian soap “Barf.”
Also, the name of Nokia’s flagship phone Lumia was Spanish slang for ‘prostitute’. And Spanish customers quickly rejected the car because it was offensive to their language.
Always Prioritize Your Customers
One of the most difficult aspects of branding is that mistakes can quickly create and define your entire company in the eyes of potential customers.
Remember that bad brand names are usually the result of business owners failing to prioritize the needs of their company and their customers. These companies end up with names that don’t accurately reflect their brands, upsetting customers and making it difficult to market. As a result, make sure your company has a clear brand identity that customers can identify with.