Your brand's name is a precious asset customers use to remember, recognize, and trust your business. Studies show up to 75% of people are willing to pay extra for a product with a familiar and trusted name. Name recognition is vital for securing funding, with 82% of investors considering it an essential factor in their investment decisions.
In this guide, we'll explore how to choose a brand name and the key characteristics that make a name memorable.
Table of Contents
How To Come Up With A Brand Name Using These 4 Key Principles
- Focus On Your Audience
- Find Your Brand Archetype
- Reflect The Tone And The Function Of Your Offering
- Check The Availability Of A Potential Business Name
The key approach to naming your brand is to start with the big ideas and then go small and specific. That is why, before thinking about the actual name, there are several things that need defining first.
1. Focus On Your Audience
77% of shoppers buy from brands that share the same values.
Knowing your target audience will help you:
- Find inspiration: Identify your target market’s favorite brands and draw inspiration for your own.
- Find a voice: Let your audience help you find your identity and voice. This will play an important role in name selection.
- Connect: Basing your name on your target market’s preferences will increase your brand’s likeability.
Specifically, brands whose target audience is generally not familiar with the types of products or services they are offering more often use abstract names to convey moods or activities associated with them. Because their demographics are low on product or service knowledge, it’s all about selling the brand - not product or service.
Brands with high-knowledge shoppers have “muted” names that allow customers to focus more on the measurable quality of the product and service rather than rely on the name.
Fashion brands, for instance, are often named after their founders (Dior and Chanel, for instance). Their names imply and highlight the quality rather than project an association or image.
In the case of high-knowledge shoppers, it’s the intrinsic quality of the product that sells. The name is a factor, but not as big.
2. Find Your Brand Archetype
The concept of an archetype is derived from Jungian psychology and frequently applied to branding ideas. It refers to a universally familiar character that helps experts infuse brands with personality customers can relate to.
To apply this concept to your name, start by thinking about your:
- Audience’s collective persona: Who is this persona? What do they look like? What do they sound like?
- Brand’s persona: How does it (or will it) resemble that of your audience’s persona or their aspirations?
There are twelve main brand archetypes:
- The Innocent (the desire for safety)
- Everyman (belonging)
- Hero (mastery)
- Outlaw (liberation)
- Explorer (freedom)
- Creator (innovation)
- Ruler (control)
- Magician (power)
- Lover (intimacy)
- Caregiver (service)
- Jester (enjoyment)
- Sage (understanding)
To find your archetype, consider these questions:
- What brand values do you want to communicate?
- Is there a historical/mythical personification of the said values?
- Do you want to bring a sense of luxury or affordability to your customers?
- What are the non-verbal and emotional associations you want to create for your brand?
Here are some real-life examples of archetypes used to build a brand image:
- Nike: This well-known apparel label is also the name of the ancient Greek goddess who personified victory.
- Dove: Doves conjures the images of purity and softness - qualities of the Innocent archetype.
- Channel: A brand of the Lover archetype maintains an amorous atmosphere in marketing campaigns.
Companies build the meaning of the name through stories, products, marketing activities and visual associations.
Some of these names use phonetic symbolism to support their archetype.
3. Reflect The Tone And The Function Of Your Offering
The name can set a certain tone which becomes a character and attitude of a business.
The brand tone has two primary functions:
- To speak to your audience
- To reflect your business goals and needs
A defined tone can give you control over your audience’s perception of your brand. Some of the tones you can employ are:
- Emotional: EveryHand and Sharing Spoon
- Intriguing: RocketSlice, Alchemitics, Ethica
- Playful: Blink Of An AI, Playformance, The Whey to Go
- Pragmatic: Rentcierge, Simple Key Realty, The Tea Shack
- Innovative: Apple, Netflix, Amazon
- Prestigious: Dior, Cartier, Swarovsky
4. Check The Availability Of A Potential Business Name
57% of customers say they’re more likely to buy from a brand they follow on social media. Businesses must strive to choose a name that is available across platforms.
- Do a domain name search with multiple providers.
- Look for companies using similar name on social media like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
- Make sure your potential names are not trademarked.
- Think carefully about the extension of your internet domain - make .com, .net and .org a priority, if they are available.
When looking at legal availability of your desired name and registration of the website domain, bear in mind that, thanks to advanced SEO and brand signals, it’s not as important any longer to choose the name of the brand based on available domain names at it used to be.
Top Characteristics Of Successful Brand Names
- Good Brand Names Are Simple And Memorable
- Successful Names Are Futureproof
- Good Brand Names Are Original
Most world-renowned brands have shared qualities that play to their identity and memorability. These qualities will help you critically assess your options and guide you in your brand naming process:
1. Good Brand Names Are Simple And Memorable
A big part of creating a powerful business identity and branding strategy is finding a name that the target audience can remember.
A study that looked at 700 stocks traded between 1990 and 2004, and concluded that brands with simple names earned at least 11% more than those with complex ones.
There are many examples to support this. Think:
- Dove
- Olay
- Twix
- Pepsi
- Nike
- Reebok
- Apple
- HP
2. Successful Names Are Futureproof
Businesses and brands evolve, so when coming up with brand name ideas that won’t become obsolete fast, it is important to think about the big picture.
In other words: Do not use highly specific brand names if you are unsure how your business would brand out in the future.
For example, Women'secret is a highly specific name for a women’s lingerie brand which would make it difficult to diversify the offering and cater to male demographics under the same roof.
Amazon, on the other hand, is a prime example of a company that outgrew its original purpose but had a name flexible enough to encompass a highly diverse inventory the company is now known for.
3. Good Brand Names Are Original
Following the key principles is great, but ultimately, your brand name should represent your unique identity.
Your name can tell a story, carry a legacy or entertain.
Take Adidas: Its unique name was inspired by its founder Adolph “Adi” Dassler name.
BMW is an acronym for its widely unknown original German name Bayerische Motoren Werke.
The more you learn about them, the more you realize that every great brand name has a unique story behind it.
Tips For Generating Brand Name Ideas
When considering how to come up with brand name ideas that speak to your audience persona and represent your archetype, there are certain principles that make the process more streamlined and simpler:
- Keep the brand name simple: Ideally, it should be a two-syllable word as they have a better-staying power in the minds of customers.
- The name should also be descriptive: the reason why archetypes convey emotions with people is that they capture the collective essence and experience. That’s how descriptive a brand name should be - it should communicate essence, experience and benefits of the brand’s products in a suggestive manner.
- Use word association to brainstorm good brand name ideas: Write down as many words as you can think of that are in some way associated with your brand. These can be combined or narrowed down to a few which can be worked on and tested.
- The name should be trendy, but not too much trendy: Something that is “in” today may be completely “out” tomorrow. Strive to have a name that contemporary people can relate to and that will endure the years ahead.
Final Takeaways For Coming Up With A Brand Name
The main benefits of coming up with a good name are:
- It adds value to your products and services
- It lends identity to your business
- Good brands become synonymous with products they make
- It drives sales and revenue
What are the traits of a successful brand name?
- They are simple and memorable
- They are future-proof
- They are original
The main steps to consider when coming up with a brand name are:
- Collect the broad set of ideas of what it is that makes your business. Think about your story, your origins and your big ambitions and ideas.
- Think of a name that caters to the aesthetics and values of your audience as well as your business ambitions.
- Tap into your brand archetype and your audience persona to find your voice and messaging.
- The brand tone should speak to your audience and reflect your business tendencies.
- When brainstorming the name ideas, try to be trendy, but not overly trendy.
Brand Name FAQs
1. What are the different types of brand names?
There are various types of brand names commonly used by businesses. Here are some of the different types:
- Descriptive names directly describe the product, service, or essential features. For example, "SportsDirect" or "Pizza Hut."
- Suggestive names suggest or evoke qualities, benefits, or associations related to the brand without directly describing it. Examples include "Netflix" and "Airbnb."
- Abstract or invented names are made-up words or combinations of letters that do not have a specific meaning. Brands like "Google" or "Kodak" fall into this category.
- Acronymic names are formed by using initials or abbreviations of longer words. Examples include "IBM" (International Business Machines) and "BMW" (Bayerische Motoren Werke).
- Founder/personal names use the brand founders' name (or other important individuals associated with the company). Examples include "Ford" or "McDonald's."
- Evocative names create an emotional or imaginative connection with the brand. Brands like "Apple" or "Dove" fall into this category.
- Compound names combine two or more words to create a unique brand name. Examples include "Facebook" and "Snapchat."
Brand names can also combine these types or have unique characteristics that don't fit a specific category.
2. What are some examples of strong brand names?
Examples of strong brand names include Google, Microsoft, Nike, Adidas, Ford, Dove, Apple, Intel, IBM, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonald’s, Kleenex, Tesla, Twitter, etc.
How DesignRush Marketplace Can Help You Come Up With a Brand Name
DesignRush Marketplace connects businesses with relevant agencies that can complete a project or provide a certain service that a company needs.
If your company is looking for a (new) brand name, we can find the right agency for the job!
Tell us about your project and we will curate a list of up to 5 most qualified agencies out of 15,000+ in our directory to come up with a brand name that will boost your brand recognition! The best of all - it's free!
Schedule a FREE call with us below!
