Many naming specialists cringe when they hear the words “consumer research.” This negative reaction isn’t because the idea of research is inherently bad. Instead, it’s because naming firms have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to the execution of naming research. And, because many researchers don’t understand the nuances of naming research, the results can often cause more harm to the naming process than good.

It’s incredibly difficult to test names out of context (i.e., without graphic treatment, marketing communication, PR efforts, etc.). It’s especially difficult to get at the underlying emotional and evocative aspects of a name when it’s still just words on a screen. These emotional depths are what give a name its foundation as you begin to build a brand around it. So, it’s incredibly important to structure your research to elicit responses to these factors. Simply asking “Which name do you like the best?” will almost always backfire.

When reviewing names out of context and being asked to pick their favorite, consumers almost always pick the most descriptive and familiar (aka, “boring”). Badly executed and rushed naming research can derail a naming process and end up leaving you with the Lowest Common Denominator – i.e., the name that customers felt most comfortable with, and not the one that has the potential to excite and intrigue them. Poorly executed research may have left us with CompuWorld instead of Apple, BookWarehouse.com instead of Amazon.com, or CoffeeHouse instead of Starbucks. Let your customers tell you what’s relevant to them, but don’t let them tell you what name to use for your brand.

Consumer-facing brands are the most appropriate for naming research (and even then, it’s not necessary in all cases). The more of a niche audience you have, the more complicated it becomes to find appropriate respondents. Furthermore, the more ethereal (less concrete) your product or service, the harder it becomes to test names for your concept.

Naming research can be incredibly useful when it is done well by experts. First, ask your naming specialist for advice on whether you actually need to conduct naming research for your project. If you decide that you do require naming research, then allocate an appropriate amount of time and budget, and hire a reputable naming researcher. Rushing a naming research project or using a cheap research provider is a recipe for disaster. Do it right.

This is the tenth and final part in our CatchThis series. Check out our previous Naming Tips here.

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Everyone loves an epiphany. Unfortunately, expecting an epiphany from a naming process is usually a bad idea. It’s common to want to fall in love with a single name candidate that communicates all of your desired messages, that is legally available, and that has an available dot-com. But expecting this to happen on your first viewing of any name can lead to heartache and disappointment. Murphy’s Law of Naming says that if you fall in love with a name before the lawyers have given their nod of approval, that name will be unavailable to you.

The solution is simple: Keep several promising names under consideration. Once your lawyers give you the green light, and the dot-com issues have been settled, then you can pick your final name candidate. Choosing before you know all the facts can be dangerous.

The problem with falling in love with one name, or even with ranking a few names in order of preference, is a psychological one as much as it is logistical. If, for some reason, you’ve ranked your names and your lawyers rule out the top “favorite,” you may be left with a name that you consider to be “second best.” Naming specialists see the fall-out from this misguided strategy all the time. In order to distinguish between a first, second, and third ranking, clients often find (or create) unjustified or unfair concerns with names. Then, if the second name gets the nod, it just doesn’t seem as good anymore.

The rule of thumb is to always keep a group of names under consideration and on a level playing field, until after the lawyers have given their nod of approval. Once you have the all-mighty legal blessing, then, and only then, can you pick your favorite final name candidate!

This is part eight in a ten-part CatchThis series. Check back every Monday morning for subsequent naming tips. Check out previous Naming Tips here.

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Don’t be afraid to be BOLD. Distinguish yourself from your competitors; don’t imitate them. You think everyone felt comfortable with the name Virgin? Of course not. But it stood out and had a great story to tell. A name’s edginess can play to its advantage by signaling a brand that’s different and game changing.

Embrace the dark side! No, seriously. Most juicy words have a lot of connotations – positive, negative, neutral – depending on the context. Just because a good name has a dark side, that isn’t a reason to kill it. Just be sure that there’s enough “good” left in the name. (Even Darth Vader had good qualities deep down inside!) As long as your name’s negative associations don’t completely overshadow its positive ones, the edginess will likely help you stand out and be remembered. And remember: most consumers aren’t spending their time at the store thinking of all the negative associations that come to mind with any given product name. Context can help steer their perceptions in the right direction.

This is part seven in a ten-part CatchThis series. Check back every Monday morning for subsequent naming tips. Check out previous Naming Tips here.

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Everyone thinks they need the exact dot-com URL for their company name. Some are right, but many are mistaken.

Online consumer brands may well justify this prime internet real estate, because there’s no question that the average consumer will first try the exact dot-com domain. However, with the rise of deliberately misspelled company names, dot-net domains, and a host of other factors, search engines are becoming the consumer’s best friend. And, if your audience it extremely tech-savvy, you may have more freedom to explore domain names that require some modification (like adding the words Inc, Co, Tech, etc.). A relevant and exciting name that requires domain modification is often a better marketing decision (CatchwordBranding.com for example), than a Dr. Seuss jumble of meaningless letters chosen for sole purpose of having an exact dot-com domain (i.e., MoloGogo, Zimbra, Asoboo).

B2B companies, service companies, and non-retail sites in particular may be able to do without exact dot-com domains. High-tech business customers are much more adept at using search engines to find the web site they’re looking for. Additionally, well-executed SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can offset and even drive more traffic to your site than just owning the exact dot-com domain.

Very few real-word and pronounceable dot-coms are immediately available today. Sometimes your naming specialist will get incredibly lucky and stumble on that real-word dot-com that is completely available. That’s rare. So what can you do if you really really want an exact dot-com domain? You have three options: A) Be prepared to spend money for a real-word dot-com domain, B) Be willing to adopt coined or made-up names which are more likely to have immediately available domains, or C) Modify your name with a descriptive phrase (Tech, Inc, Company, Systems, etc.) to help acquire a relevant domain.

Domains sale sites (Sedo, BuyDomains, etc.) are becoming more useful in the name game. If you are convinced you need an exact dot-com domain, and there’s nothing your friendly naming specialist can say to sway you, then you should include a budget for purchasing a domain. You should be prepared to spend a minimum of $2,000 to buy a domain from one of these sites. The closer to a real-word and the more desirable a name or metaphor, the pricier they get. Expect to pay anywhere from $2k to $15k for a relevant dot-com domain, possibly much more for a highly-desirable word.

Negotiating the purchase of domain name can range from the quick and easy, to the difficult and complex. Yet another way that naming professionals can help you secure a fantastic new name and a great domain name to match!

This is part six in a ten-part CatchThis series. Check back every Monday morning for subsequent naming tips. Check out previous Naming Tips here.

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You’ll always have multiple audiences for your product or company name. At the very least you have your customers and your internal staff (from CEO to Admin Assistant). And at the very most, you may have a diverse and multi-tiered customer base to consider, a board of directors, industry analysts, etc.

But it’s crucial that you identify the single most important audience for your new name. This is likely to include some element of your customer base – the people you do business with. For this reason, try to put yourself in your customer’s shoes; live a day in their life. What’s the most important aspect of your business to them? What naming message is going to appeal most to them? What naming styles are going to fall flat for them?

Don’t be blinded by your personal preferences. Remember that it’s not always about what you like, but what is going to get your customers to notice and engage with the new name.

This is part five in a ten-part CatchThis series. Check back every Monday morning for subsequent naming tips. Check out previous Naming Tips here.

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You should involve all key stakeholders from the very start of your naming project. Ask yourself, “Who has veto power?” Then include them on the naming project team. Even if it’s the CEO, do your best to include her/him in as many stages of the naming process as possible.

We’ve heard it time and again: “Oh, don’t worry. The CEO (or CMO, or Board of Directors) doesn’t need to be involved at this stage. They’ll be comfortable with the names we recommend to them after the process is over.” If we had a dime for every time someone regretted uttering those words…

In some ways, it’s a plain and simple psychology game. You want to make sure that people who have a final say know that their opinions and preferences were addressed during the entire naming process. There’s nothing worse than getting to the very end of the naming process only to have a top-level manager tell you that’s not the way they want it.

One easy way to head this off is to include these higher-ups from the start. If they don’t have time to be involved in every meeting, consider scheduling a 15-30 minute phone call between them and your naming specialist at the beginning of the process. Then when the exec sees name candidates several weeks later, they’ll know their opinion was considered during the naming exploration. Psychologically, it will help the exec be more receptive to the names and logistically it will help prevent a last minute back-to-the-drawing-board situation.

This is part four in a ten-part CatchThis series. Check back every Monday morning for subsequent naming tips. Check out previous Naming Tips here.

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Some people assume that all naming firms are basically the same. And, that evaluating any two naming firms is as simple as comparing one fresh apple to another. While similarities may exist, naming firms are not all created equal. And while budgets vary among firms, money shouldn’t be the only factor you consider when choosing a naming firm. Selecting a firm without the proper experience or a smart creative perspective can cause more problems (and cost more money) in the long run.

A good naming firm should be able to articulate its creative process clearly, and should also have a solid system in place for vetting names. The firm you select also needs to have an innate sense of what makes a name perfect for you and your target audience. Some firms will push a particular naming style on all of their clients. Naming firms with an intelligent creative process will listen carefully, learn about your unique project, and present a range of relevant names and styles for you to choose from.

Some questions you might consider asking potential naming firms include:

This is part three in a ten-part CatchThis series. Check back every Monday morning for subsequent naming tips. Check out previous Naming Tips here.

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You didn’t create your product or company overnight; so don’t expect to name it overnight either. Naming is a process that works best when ample time is spent exploring the vast creative possibilities. Plan ahead and allocate up to six weeks for a full naming process. The more time you allow, the more time your naming firm has to turn over every stone in the search for your perfect name. A good client will give their naming firm sufficient time to do their job, and in return a good naming firm will provide a fantastic range of naming options.

Unfortunately, extenuating circumstances come up, and sometimes you just don’t have a lot of time. Naming specialists can still help – we know how to turn things around quickly if there’s no other option – within reason, of course!

Still, if you have a choice in the matter, don’t put naming off until the last minute. Call your friendly naming specialists as early as you can.

This is part two in a ten-part CatchThis series. Check back every Monday morning for subsequent naming tips. Check out previous Naming Tips here.

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Catchword has been in the naming business for ten years, and its founders even longer than that! Consequently, Catchword has accumulated a wealth of experience about the right and wrong ways to conduct a naming project. We know it’s tough for our clients: Budget constraints, ever-changing deadlines, and fickle managerial whim all make it difficult to run a smooth marketing or branding project. To make matters even more complicated, naming is often an ad hoc need for which you may not have planned.

That’s where Catchword comes in. We’re here to make your life a little bit easier. Just to show you how helpful we can be, we thought we would offer some key bits of advice before a naming project drops in your lap. The following series covers a host of naming tips based on questions that our clients ask us regularly. What better way to facilitate a smooth naming process than to answer some of your questions in advance? The more information you have, the better prepared you’ll be when it comes time to name your company or name your product!

Find our first weekly tip below, and check back every Monday morning for the next couple of months for subsequent naming tips.

Naming Tip #1) Use a specialized naming firm.

Everyone thinks she or he is an expert at naming; most are mistaken. Even though you named your pet beagle Darwin, that doesn’t mean you have all the necessary tools to create a powerful and lasting brand. Beyond the fresh creative perspective necessary to generate great names, you also need naming-specific knowledge on how to guide the process smoothly. And let’s not forget about dealing with the challenging psychology of picking a final name.

Dedicated naming specialists are prepared for all of these twists and turns. They do this type of work day-in and day-out, 365 - 24/7. Even the bigger branding firms who include naming in their list of capabilities can’t claim to be devoted naming experts. You wouldn’t trust your heart transplant to a general practitioner, would you? Of course not. Trust the specialists. Hire a naming firm with a smart creative outlook, and a track record for launching successful, eye-catching names.

Choosing a specialized naming firm will help you in the long run. They are certain to present options you would have never come up with on your own. These exciting names are also likely to have a higher degree of legal and domain availability than ones you come with on your own. Additionally, you’ll have peace-of-mind knowing that the experts are taking this project off your plate, while you focus on other important tasks on your to-do list.

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