Email marketing: what it is and how to implement it

 In this article, we will talk about the naming process. The choice of a name is the most important stage in the formation of a brand. Reading this article will help you avoid common mistakes that entrepreneurs make when working on a company name.

8 Mistakes to Avoid When Naming Your Business

8 Common Naming Mistakes

When you decide to come up with or order a brand name, you are laying the foundation for the future success of your business. If the foundation is laid correctly, then the building will be durable. If something is wrong, the house may eventually collapse.

Here are eight common mistakes to avoid when choosing a business name:

Mistake 1. Coming up with the name "the whole world"

We live in a democratic society and, at first glance, it seems right to have your friends, family, employees, and customers involved in making such an important decision. However, this approach is fraught with several problems. The first and most obvious of these is that a large number of people are unlikely to agree on one name, which can create ground for discontent and conflict. The second point is that wanting to please everyone, you can end up with an uninteresting “compromise” option.

Instead, involve only key participants in the name selection process (the fewer, the better) - those who, in your opinion, are deeply and sincerely interested in the success of the company. Personal ambition should not get in the way, so you need people who can push their own ego into the background.

Also, make sure you have right-brain people on your team. The clear dominance of reason over emotions can lead to the fact that the name of the company turns out to be too literal, and descriptive.

Watch a short video about naming tasks, how to create and how we develop bright, loud, and catchy names.

Mistake 2. Use "incompatible" combinations and clumsy neologisms

In an attempt to come up with an original name for the company, many aspiring entrepreneurs, without further ado, combine two words or parts of them together. However, such neologisms are not always successful. Examples of this are such names as Khlebobank, Business Angel, Perfumania, or QualiServe. It's like mixing ketchup with chocolate - individually they are quite good products, but they don't fit together. Phrases such as "World of fasteners" or "Academy of nails" can be attributed to the same category.

Mistake 3. Suffering from "literalism"

Descriptive names are only forgivable to pioneers in an industry, such as "General Motors" or "General Electric." However, when you have competitors, this option is not suitable. Imagine that Yahoo! would be called "GeneralInternetDirectory.com"! Of course, such a name would give a much better idea of ​​the type of activity of the company, but it would be much more difficult to remember it. And, given the huge flow of advertising information pouring on us from all sides, today, when creating your own niche, it is more important than ever to emphasize your uniqueness. And nothing contributes to this like a carefully chosen name.

8 Mistakes to Avoid When Naming Your Business

Mistake 4. Choose a name based on geographical location

Often, the company name uses the name (or part of the name) of the city or region. There is nothing wrong with this if you do not plan to expand your business. Otherwise, the “geographical” name may begin to interfere with you over time. Suppose you created a moving company in Novosibirsk and named it "Novosibirsk Movers". A great option as long as you offer your services only in Novosibirsk. But if you decide to expand your business and conquer other cities, such a name will only interfere and confuse potential customers.

At one time, Minnesota Manufacturing and Mining and Kentucky Fried Chicken faced this problem. So that the geo-referencing in the name does not interfere with further development, they had to change their names. Today these are the world giants known as "3M" and "KFC".

Mistake 5. Use grandiloquent metaphors

As we have already found out, a too simple, “descriptive” name is not the best option. However, you should not go to the other extreme - use grandiloquent words like "golden", "ideal", "summit" or "peak" for the name. Perhaps earlier you would have managed to impress someone with them, but today such names sound unoriginal and hackneyed. Better choose a positive metaphor that resonates with the scope of your activity. A great example of such a solution is Iron Mountain, an electronic storage company. This name evokes associations with strength and reliability and at the same time sounds unbanal.

Mistake 6. Create an aura of mystery

On the one hand, it's great if the name of your company has an interesting history - it can be used as a brand legend. However, if the name is incomprehensible, and difficult to spell or pronounce, then do not be surprised if potential customers prefer to bypass you.

In general, resist the temptation to use the phrase “we are the best” in Latin or the name of the Greek god of fast service for the name of the company. Of course, if such a name is euphonious and intuitive, it can work. An example of this is the popular Russian dating service “Teamo”, which means “I love you” in Spanish. Otherwise, you will remain a mystery to others. This is especially critical if your product is aimed at a wide audience.

Mistake 7. Use meaningless or distorted names

To match the domain name with the name of the company, many settle for strange, meaningless names or names with deliberately distorted spelling. Moreover, when you spend all night looking for a free domain name, you begin to treat everything more loyally and a name like “QualiTronix” no longer seems terrible. However, refrain from substituting "Q" for "K" and "Ph" for "F". This will only complicate the search for your company on the Internet.

The above doesn't mean companies with similar names can't be successful - Xerox and Kodak did! However, keep in mind that a company with an obscure name may require much more funds to promote. Rebranding is also expensive. For example, Verizon and Accenture have spent millions of dollars on it.

Mistake 8. Refusing to change a bad name

Even realizing that the name was chosen unsuccessfully, many company owners are in no hurry to change it. Perhaps they are hoping that the problem will magically resolve itself. However, you shouldn't count on it. If a problem exists, it needs to be addressed, and the help of naming specialists may be required.

Life stories:

1. The name of the company "Portables" was not a good one - instead of transportation and storage, it was more often associated with mobile toilets. After contacting a branding agency, the name was changed to "PODS" - short for "Portable on Demand Storage" (storage moved on demand). Things went smoothly and as a result, the company entered the world market.
2. A California entrepreneur bought a maintenance and cleaning company called "Regency", which means "regency". This name did not really fit with the profile of the company and was more suitable for the cinema. Through the efforts of branding specialists, a new name was chosen - "Spruce". The word has two meanings: the first - "spruce" - allowed us to create an eco-friendly logo with a Christmas tree, and the second - "cleaning" - directly reflected the type of activity of the company. Moreover, a successful slogan was also invented - “The Everclean Company” (“ever-clean” company) by analogy with “evergreen” (evergreen).
3. Law firm "Trusted Sovetnik" worked for several years on the market with this name. After that, it became clear that the company was interested in the market of young dynamic IT companies and needed to get rid of the image of a law office. The company rebranded and changed its name to DS Law.

As companies develop, they begin to “grow out” of their original names and are faced with the need to change them. However, if you make the choice of name seriously and show foresight from the beginning, such problems can be avoided. After all, coming up with a name that will work for you, both short and in the long term, is quite realistic. Let it become the foundation, relying on which, your company will conquer new heights.

The next step after designing the name is creating the logo. If you have already decided on the name of your business, we will be happy to help you give it the desired shape. Order the creation of a logo for our professional designers.