How to choose the right business name, without losing your mind or your job

Why do our brains process things as whole objects rather than the parts they’re made of? It’s because our brains crave simplification.

Research shows that the average consumer is exposed to approximately 74GB of information each day. Brands and names have become a mental shorthand that simplifies this daily media blitz.

With our attention now being switched on and off rapidly, we quickly work out what is worth paying attention to and what we can filter out. Science calls this selective attention. The goal is to create a name that is worth paying attention to.

Today, If you want consumers to remember you, embrace the one thing that will help them do just that – stand out.

There’s no point in coming up with a name that makes you sound like everyone else and then spend a large proportion of your marketing budget trying to convince consumers you’re different.

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Approach Boldly

Naming is not for the faint hearted, It takes courage, objectivity, both commercially and emotionally.

Seeing the potential isn’t always easy. So when you’re comparing names against the competition, remember that you’re comparing a new proposed name with an existing brand name. It’s a little bit like looking at a baby in a crib and saying, “There’s no way he’ll be the next Richie McCaw.” (Not with that attitude he won’t).

Here are some old and new brand names that without some courage would have never seen the light of day and the comments that were levelled at them at their time of “conception”.

Focus Groups

You can’t definitively “focus group” names because creativity is difficult to test and harder to quantify. It would be like coach Ian Foster relying on an algorithm to select the next All Blacks® squad.

Here are is what research and experience tells us:

• People participate in focus groups for a variety of reasons and not all their motivations are equal.
• Focus group participants can be untruthful and thankfully, for the most part not deliberately.
• People have a natural tendency to work to enhance their own image of themselves.
• Most of the thoughts and feelings that influence behaviour occur in the unconscious mind.
• The focus group setting is unnatural.
• Focus groups usually compel people to make snap judgments about concepts and products they haven’t seen, used or understood.

Some situations where a Focus Group may be helpful:

• How do consumers pronounce the name?
• Do differing ethnicities have a negative understanding of the name?
• Better understand the tonality of the name.
• What emotional reaction do people have with the name?

Focus Groups can have a place in the naming process. Just make sure you are working with the right people and are clear on your objectives. Just don’t use a focus group to pick the name!

Reaching Consensus

Nothing blocks creativity like too many cooks in the kitchen.

Just Imagine

You ask 10 people for their takeaway coffee orders from your local cafe with one condition: they all have to agree on one flavour. The outcome would be chaos or at best 10 flat whites that the majority don’t want.

Groups of people rarely agree on what’s new or innovative, if they are friends they agree on what’s easy to agree on,
if they have an ill-defined relationship they tend to argue, it’s just human nature.

So don’t be tempted to pick a name because it’s an easy or safe option.

Don’t Ask

This applies to people outside of the brand naming process. we’ve seen naming projects derailed because “Graham from accounts, doesn’t like how it sounds”. People will be happy to give you their opinion, typically delivered in a manner relative to how they actually feel about it.

Everyone is a brand expert!

So before embarking on a brand naming project, decide what the approval loop is going to look like and who has the final sign-off. It will save, time, energy, frayed nerves and relationships.

Remember every great name has its downsides, from Apple to Xero and no name will tick every box.

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Conclusion

If you are thinking about naming from scratch or renaming our company, more often than not, you’re going to need help, so don’t be afraid to connect with someone on the outside, someone who can look at your brand with the right balance of empathy, objectivity and truth.

At Spruik, we go through brand-name assessment with our clients to help define their brand’s origin story and uncover the essence, passion and truth that can only happen through an exercise like this.

Defining your brand’s identity is a journey that can lead you to inspiring places within your business. your brand and your heart.