Why Doesn’t Every Brand Have a Great Name?

Great brand names are not a given. Very few just happen. They have to be created, advocated, debated, and pushed through resistance. Great names tend to polarize naming committees adept at presenting powerful, persuasive arguments against them.

These are some primary challenges as to why every brand doesn’t have an outstanding name. Let’s explore some of these challenges more in depth. Behind each one, there’s also an opportunity (along with practical advice) to help bring great names into the world.

Name, rank, and serial number

For too many people and companies, a name is merely an identifier, a functional string of letters or numbers with little brand value. This is the baseline, primordial meaning and function of a name.

As the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein puts it, “A name cannot be dissected any further by means of a definition: it is a primitive sign.”

This begs the question – what more can a name do for you? We think it can do quite a lot! But people and naming committees must move beyond the primitive notion that brand names are merely descriptive, functional signifiers.

Embrace the mess

Language is messy. It’s governed by rules that are often broken and riddled with exceptions that give it life.

In order to create the best possible name for a company, product, service, or other, you have to be willing to do anything and go anywhere with language. Nothing is sacred. Language is alive and on the move. Keep your mind open to new possibilities and metaphorical connections that breathe life into your brand.

When mucking about with language, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.

Never explain. Demonstrate, demonstrate, demonstrate.

Great names demonstrate your brand positioning. Weak names force you to explain your brand positioning, and that’s called advertising. It’s often expensive, and not nearly as effective as demonstrating.

Clients often tell us that they got stuck when trying to name a company or product themselves because they are “not creative enough.” In response, we assure them that they are creative enough. However, they likely have the wrong filters in place, or filters, period. And these filters — like blinders on a racehorse — keep people from even seeing, let alone seriously considering, a vast range of potential names.

The first step to removing these blinders is to focus relentlessly on the brand positioning. Simply put, the positioning of a brand is the big picture story it tells to the world. It’s also the unique way it tells that story, through tone, personality, emotion, and narrative.

So, here’s a better way to think about it: You are not really naming a company or product. You are  naming the positioning of a company or product. Once you determine the brand positioning, only consider names that map strongly to that positioning. In order to be as successful as possible, any names you consider must support and reinforce the brand positioning.

Born of science, transformed into art

Great names are born from a specific process approaching science in its rigor, but the result is pure art.

There’s much more to successful naming than the proverbial pizza, beer, thesaurus, and a whiteboard. Consider all of the elements, from competitive analysis to brand strategy, positioning, name development, trademark prescreening, linguistic connotation screening, and finally name evaluation and adoption.

The goal of all this hard work should be a great brand name with the power to set minds reeling, ignite conversations, spur involvement, create brand loyalty, and become embedded in memory.

The power of an evocative name

Your name is the cornerstone for your entire brand identity — logo, tagline, website, social media, advertising, etc. That’s why it’s vital to get it right. In our experience, an evocative name packs the most powerful brand punch.

Many of the greatest and most widely recognized brands have evocative names. These are names that map to and support the positioning of a brand metaphorically, rather than literally and linearly. (Think Amazon, Apple, Virgin, Tesla.) They paint a bigger picture and often work on multiple levels of meaning.

How does an evocative name rise above?

A great evocative name has the ability to demonstrate the ideas and qualities that you’re looking to communicate. It can and should do several things, such as:

• help your brand rise above the goods and services you offer
• create a positive and lasting engagement with your audience
• be memorable
• provide a deep well of marketing images for many years
• generate press
• ignite social media and word-of-mouth buzz
• dominate the conversation in your industry

For more on this topic, see our post, Evocative names make the most powerful brand names. In it, we take a look at 14 well-known evocative brand names and explore the way each takes a bold, evocative leap from where they could’ve (descriptively and forgettably) landed. We also provide 14 evocative brand names created by Zinzin with a case-study link for each one.

Remember, naming should be fun

There are definitely parts of a naming project that can be hard, challenging work — trademark screening, due-diligence research, linguistic connotation screening, domain checking, etc. However, the actual name generation, discussion, and deliberation should be engaging, thought-provoking, cathartic, stimulating, argumentative, enlightening, and just plain fun.

But just because naming should be fun doesn’t mean it always is. It’s important that you have an open mind and allow yourself to be alive to the possibilities of what a name can do.

Set a positive tone for this exercise right from the start. If you’re stuck in a miserable naming rut and the experience seems like torture, change your approach. Companies and products are not born from misery or ennui, and neither are the best names.

Lastly, our Manifesto is your Manifesto

Zinzin believes that creating great names is both a science, for which we have a rigorous, battle-tested process, and an art. It is the art and poetry of great names that separate brands from their uninspired competition.

For a free naming resource, inspiration, and encouragement, check out Zinzin’s Naming & Branding Manifesto. You’ll see some key points made here in this post and much more. You can also download our comprehensive Naming Guide (which includes the Manifesto) from our Resources page.