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Contrary to conventional wisdom, the most popular ways of selecting a company name or a product brand are the worst approaches. You want to coin the most motivating, memorable brand name possible that nobody can copy or imitate, a name that will gain you a loyal customer base and may even provide you with a new and independent source of income. In other words, avoid the wildly popular routes for selecting a commercial identifier.
Using your family name
Family pride may drive you to name your new enterprise the SMITH Company, but you'd limit myself in many ways. Problems with similar names may lurk in unexpected places. For openers, a surname isn't easy to register as a trademark or servicemark, or to protect against copycats, unless it has some alternate meaning (for example, if you're a scooter manufacturer with the name Dash). Unless your name is unique and memorable, it contains minimal promotional value, and the valuation and transfer of the name upon the sale of the business is often problematic. And in my case, how many customers have met someone named Smith that they didn't like?
Mimicking another company's brand
Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but why flatter your competitor? Worse, there's liability for infringing upon another's commercial identifier. Copying is stealing, and penalties can include a seizure of your goods and a court order to change your counterfeit brand name. Copying is the lazy way to avoid the discipline of naming. Be unique. Move to the head of your industry, rather than dissolve in the crowd.
Describing your product or service
 | This is the most frequent and serious mistake. Do you want to name your company DIGITAL PRODUCTS (among dozens of Digital This and Digital Thats) or would you rather display uniqueness, brilliance, and creativity with a name like APPLE? Should your beer be known as LITE and lose its identity to a gaggle of imitators or sport a shining tiara like CORONA? A commercial identifier must be unique and distinctive, and not a mere description of your product that could apply to all other similar products. |
A descriptive name is a ticket to the courthouse and to endless, expensive, and time-consuming litigation because it's bound to be imitated eventually by your competitors. The courts have determined that you can't monopolize any part of the language. You can either create a new word out of nothing, such as KODAK, or give a totally new meaning to an existing word, like CREST for toothpaste.
Having brainstorming sessions
Brainstorming monopolizes expensive management time and generates more arguments than deciding on the merits of chocolate versus vanilla ice cream. The result is a predictably colorless compromise that lacks the marketing punch and legal clout you need.
 | Group interaction in naming has its place, but such endeavors need method, structure, and common goals to be effective. |
Holding a naming contest
Holding a public or employee contest to coin a name makes as much sense as practicing medicine by popular vote. It's haphazard at best. And a contest requires a winner, even if the best entry is unsuitable. Have a company picnic instead.
Ignoring the customer
Insiders are too close to the product and its history to be open-minded. A commercial identifier that's effective in the marketplace looks outward; it speaks the customer's language, not the engineer's or designer's. It should motivate your prospect, catch his or her fancy, and be long remembered. Don't focus on your achievement. Consider what will attract the public.
Creating techno-babble
Cold and unpronounceable combinations of Zs and Xs, or meaningless and pseudo-scientific monikers like CHLORASEPTIC and HYBRINETICS just don't communicate. The minor technical gloss doesn't make up for the lost opportunity to carry a high-impact message to the market several times a day.
Choosing availability over exclusivity
Just because a name's not already registered doesn't necessarily make it a good candidate for your product or company. If the name isn't strongly enforceable in court, you'll soon be copied and lose goodwill and market share, to the despair of your investors. Go for the gold, not the tinfoil of an ordinary identifier.
Relying on the logo
A creative ad and a snazzy logo help the customer remember your commercial identifier. When he or she decides to buy a widget, your name will pop out first. A logo should enhance the impact of a name, but great graphics won't save a weak name. Do your best when coining your identifier, and then take it to the graphic artist.
Leaving your mark unprotected
When the time comes to stop a copycat, would you rather limp into court with a wet noodle or swagger in with a bazooka? Registration is your most powerful weapon and should be your top priority. Your registered mark can eventually become incontestable if, after five years, no one has challenged you and you file an affidavit to that effect. Having an incontestable mark gives you an invaluable defense when your success squeezes all those prior name users out of the woodwork.
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