What’s in a Great Brand Name?

Actually, quite a lot.

Whether you’re naming a business, a product, or a service, finding a great brand name is one of the most difficult branding exercises you can go through. It’s even more difficult to name a brand than it is to name your kids.

Struggling to find the perfect name for your brand?

Here are Urban Jungle’s top 10 tips to help you in your search.

1. The brand name uses only English letters.

Assuming your audience is English, any name that uses foreign letters or punctuation will be lost in translation.

2. The brand name is spelled exactly how it sounds.

If your name isn’t spelled properly, or if it isn’t spelled how it sounds phonetically, it’s going to be difficult for your customers to find you. You’ll also have to tell customers how to spell it. For example, “That’s Takkle with two k’s.” Think of how you have to spell your own first or last name for people. Your brand name should be no different. The easier it is to spell the easier it is to find you.

3. The brand name is easy to remember.

One of the biggest marketing challenges is to increase the awareness of your company within your service geography. With that in mind, your name should be simple and concise. This makes it much easier for customers to remember you.

4. The brand name rolls off the tongue.

The easier it is to say, the eaiser it is to remember. Isn’t Google fun to say?

5. The brand name is 1–4 syllables long.

The exception to this rule lies in the name’s creativity. An uber-creative name could have 10 syllables as long as it’s easy to remember.

6. The brand name starts with a strong consonant.

Historically, names that start with the letters B, D, G, K, P, and T are successful. These are all strong consonants that demand attention. They also lend themselves well to strong graphic design; a vital component of marketing a brand.

7. The brand name has positive associations.

Avoid names that are suggestive of words that would be misleading or misrepresented.

8. The brand name is meaningful to your customers.

Names with hidden meanings are…well, meaningless. Most of the time you won’t be there to explain it to people. Every time you have to tell your customers what your name means you are apologizing for it.

9. The brand name fits the brand strategy.

Assuming you have a brand strategy, your name should fit and help to communicate you mission, position, values, personality, promise, and experience. When the name fits the brand strategy, the concept can be conveyed easily through graphic design and story.

10. The domain name is available.

Ideally you’ll want brandname.com or brandname.ca, but the likelihood of obtaining these is next to zero. Next you should look for brandnamedescriptor.com or brandnamedescriptor.ca. If you can find these, you’re gold.

10.5 The brand name is legally available.

A good indicator of whether or not a brand name is legally available is if the domain name is available; however, it’s just that. An indicator. In order to obtain the rights to the name you will need to contact your business lawyer to do a trademark search and registration.