Naming Names
June 27th, 2007
Brandweek has a very interesting article about a survey they conducted concerning the public’s favorite new brand names. What really caught my eye is that the names that were preferred were real. And when I say “real,” I mean that they were words that already existed. They weren’t the Latin root of anything. They weren’t two words smashed together. And they weren’t a new, made-up word.
Examples?
Spykes – a new alcoholic beverage (which might have been too good of a name)
go! – a new Hawaiian airline
Tailwind – a new line by Nike
aloft – a new hotel brand by Starwood
Why do I like these names? Well, not only do they go hand-in-hand with Brains on Fire’s naming philosophies, but they allow people to instantly create an emotion about that product or service. And that allows them to quickly and easily internalize it and connect with it.
It’s really not about creating new names – it’s about finding them. They are already there, just waiting to be discovered.
Other posts by Spike.
David Burn says:
Interesting. Just yesterday I was “finding” “real” domain names after learning that cantaloupe.com sold last week for 25 Large.
June 27th, 2007 at 1:19 pmMark Goren says:
Spike, this reminds me of the time I spent weeks and weeks trying to invent some B.S. name for a client’s new venture. Nothing was good enough – or fake enough – to actually be accepted. What they settled on was a totally made up word that made no sense or had no style.
Still irks me to this day.
June 27th, 2007 at 4:28 pmMark Goren says:
I should add that this was during my traditional agency days, a few years back.
June 27th, 2007 at 5:39 pm