Your Choice of Brand or Company Name Matters – A Lot

Dwayne Johnson or The Rock.

Stephani Germanotta or Lady Gaga.

Farrokh Bulsara or Freddie Mercury.

In each case, they are the exact same person.

Yet, when each changed their name…
Their whole “vibe” changed along with it.

I mean, who sounds more like a kick-ass action hero to you?

A dude named Dwayne…
Or a wall of granite called The Rock?

No contest, is it?

And you know what?

The same applies in business.

Your brand or company’s name has a massive bearing on how people perceive what it does, who it serves, and what it stands for.

So, the question is, is your brand or company’s name working for or against you?

Does it do one or more of the following:

1. Make it clear who you serve?
2. Make it clear what you do or provide?
3. Make it clear or hint at what your USP or big benefit is?
4. Reflect your consumer’s self-image / how they want to see themselves?
5. Make it easy for people to remember you?

Or does it:

• Tell people nothing, apart from the founder’s or owner’s name?
• Convey something quirky for the sake of being quirky?
• Convey something confusing, misleading, or irrelevant?

If it’s the latter and not the former…it’s time to consider going back to the drawing board…and coming up with something that’s less Dwayne and more The Rock.

P.S.

If you own a small or medium-sized business – i.e. one without deep marketing and advertising pockets – avoid names like “Google”, “Uber”, “Apple” etc.

Companies with names like this often succeed in spite of, not because of, their name.

Their success was due to the fact they either came up with a vastly superior or disruptive technology or service. Or, they simply had the money to build a brand, whatever the name.

Instead, if you own an SME/SMB, use names like this as your inspiration:

• Speedy signs: which works because it conveys a benefit (speed) + product description (signs).
• Wet and Forget: which works because it conveys a big product benefit (ease of use).
• Or Nelson Taxis: which works because it conveys who it serves (people in Nelson) + what the service is (taxis). Which is especially important if SEO/getting found online is how you get customers.

In other words, if you run a small, medium-size, or local business clarity trumps creativity.