As an entrepreneur wanting to develop a strong brand, you should understand that a lousy brand name will not help you build one or get into the thoughts of your consumers.
And when it comes to developing fantastic brand names for your business, most entrepreneurs use one of three approaches: brainstorming, utilizing a trustworthy business name generator, or seeking assistance from a renowned naming agency.
Whatever road you take, there are certain specific characteristics you should look for and certain others you must avoid if you want your brand name to make a great impression in the minds of your clients.
Four Major Things to Avoid When Naming Your Business
1. Names with Questionable Interpretations
When naming your organization, bear in mind to avoid questionable words. Brands with names like K.K.K, Hitler’s Kitchen, and Druggie, to name a few, always struggle to attract customers because most people wouldn’t want to associate with these kinds of brands.
Customers everywhere around the world are drawn to businesses because they have common values about issues such as politics, social problems, and the environment. And every brand must address these issues cautiously to avoid alienating a healthy segment of their target audience.
Therefore, when starting your business, ensure you select a unique brand name that conveys a positive and encouraging message.
2. Brand Names That Are Difficult to Pronounce
When selecting the ideal business name, we advise founders to avoid names that are extremely difficult to pronounce since no one wants to expand brain power attempting to recall your company’s name.
People choose company names that are clear, simple, and memorable since they are easy to comprehend and find on the internet. However, if your company’s name is too complex, you risk losing clients to competitors that have straightforward, unique, and interesting brand names.
Yet, unfortunately, many firms have disregarded the need to establish an appealing business name, forgetting that companies such as Amazon, Apple, and Target leveraged their strong brandable names to establish themselves in the minds of customers.
3. Strange Foreign Interpretations
Everyone recognizes that commercials have a broad and immediate influence on people all over the world, who may simply locate your brand on the internet. And if your company’s name is offensive in their language, these customers will distance themselves from your products or services.
As a result, when searching for a fantastic business name, every entrepreneur must conduct significant research to ensure that their selected name is not offensive to customers in other countries.
So, whether you’re running a domestic or international firm, always keep in mind how people from different parts of the world view and interact with your company’s name.
4. Choosing a Business Name Influenced by Emotions
We’ve all felt the emotional investment that comes with creating anything, whether it’s an idea, a product, or a service.
And just as every parent takes particular care to pick the best name for their child, you must put in the effort to come up with a fascinating name that will give your firm the best chance of market success.
However, don’t let emotions affect your decision-making. Adopting a name based on your own preferences rather than what your clients want is a recipe for disaster. Adopting a name based on your sentiments about it rather than research will critically affect your choice of business name.
So, ensure you test your brand name in front of an audience, as this will provide you with valuable input that you can use to study and develop the name so that it meets the expectations of a bigger audience.
Get it Right!
Entrepreneurs generally fail because, rather than focusing on their customers and business’s core requirements, their misplaced priorities cause underperformance of their brand.
These business owners wind up with names that do not properly represent their business, disturb clients, and are not fit for the market. So, while naming, also make sure to establish a distinct brand identity that your clients will willingly associate with.
Grant Polachek is the head of branding for Squadhelp.com, 3X Inc 5000 startup and disruptive naming agency. Squadhelp has reviewed more than 1 million names and curated a collection of the best available names on the web today. We are also the world’s leading crowdsource naming platform, supporting clients such as Nestle, Dell, Nuskin, and AutoNation.
