How To Come Up With the Perfect Brand Name

When Shakespeare pondered, “What’s in a name?” he obviously wasn’t familiar with the importance of branding a business.

Because your business’s brand name matters, a lot. 

Choose the wrong brand name, and you will forever regret your decision.

But don’t worry; help is at hand.

Here you will find all the information you need to choose the perfect brand name for your business and spare yourself the misery of being stuck with a company that’s name is a clanger.

You can thank us later!

In the meantime, read this ultimate guide to discover how to come up with a brilliant brand name for your business.

What is a Brand Name, and Why is it Important?

A brand name is a name given to a company, product, or service.

A brand name is used to differentiate a company, its products, or its services from its competitors.

Your brand name will play a vital role in your business, making choosing a unique and memorable brand name essential.

Why a Good Brand Name Matters

Surely a business name is not that important; I hear you cry.

In theory, how well your business serves its customers and the quality of its goods should be enough to get people to sit up and take notice.

But, in practice, a new business needs to stand out from its competitors to get noticed by potential customers.

Your business name plays a crucial role in this process.

The Benefits of a Memorable Brand Name

A memorable brand name is a significant asset and can transcend the value of your products or services.

Building a successful brand starts with a memorable name, and from here, everything else can follow.

Here are some of the many benefits of choosing a brand name that is memorable:

Create Brand Equity

Ultimately, your business wants to create brand equity.

Building brand equity means customers choose your products and services over your competitors but also have such a strong preference for your brand they are prepared to pay more for it. 

Brands that boast high levels of brand equity have a higher perceived value thanks to their memorable brand names, quality, and easily recognizable brand imagery.

Build Brand Identity

Building a strong brand identity is vital for any company that wants to make its brand stand out from the competition.

Your brand’s identity is your company’s personality and should communicate your brand’s values.

Many components make up a brand’s identity, and all impact how the brand is viewed by consumers.

Every element of your brand identity needs to be carefully considered.

This includes selecting a company name that fits how you want your brand to be portrayed.

So a memorable business name can play a crucial role in building your brand identity.

Attract Attention 

A great brand name can make a lasting impression on your target audience, especially if it reflects your brand’s values and ensures these align with your target audience.

A brand name that grabs your target audience’s attention and is easy to remember is a winning combination, making your brand instantly more appealing.

How to Come Up With a Brand Name

Creating a brand name is no easy task, and you may be feeling stuck for inspiration.

There is no magic formula for the perfect naming strategy.

However, knowing how to create a brand name requires a deep understanding of your brand story, potential customers, and competitors. 

Keeping the following pointers in mind will make it easier to come up with brand names that are perfect for your business.

Consider Your Target Audience

Your target audience should be at the forefront of your mind throughout the naming process.

After all, the whole point of choosing a good brand name is to attract their attention.

As a new brand, you likely have customer profiles detailing your ideal customer that you have gathered when researching your target audience.

Dipping into this information can provide you with valuable insights for your naming project.

These insights will help you develop a far clearer idea of the type of company names that will appeal to your target audience.

Reconnect With Your Company’s Purpose

A good brand name should align with your company’s purpose and values.

Keeping the reasons that you started your company in mind throughout the brand naming process will make it easier to find brand names that feel authentic.

For example, if your company’s ethos is sustainability and environmental awareness, your naming strategy may be focused on words connected to nature.

Capture Brand Essence

What words come to mind when you think about your company’s brand essence?

How do you want your customers to feel when they use your products or services?

What emotions do you want to evoke when customers interact with your brand?

These questions can be used to springboard brand name ideas that capture the essence of your brand and how you want it to be perceived. 

According to the IPSOS Global Trends Report 2023, 52% of consumers are willing to spend extra on a brand image that appeals to them.

This demonstrates the importance of choosing brand names that tap into the values your brand shares with its target audience.

Start Brainstorming

Brainstorming plays a crucial role in the brand naming process and will help you let your creative juices flow.

So, it’s time to gather the team, grab your whiteboard and markers and get to work.

Assessing each potential brand name against the criteria mentioned above should keep everyone’s ideas on the right track.

What Makes a Brand Name Powerful?

Choosing a powerful brand name is an excellent way to stand out from your competitors and capture your customers’ attention.

A lot of company names are descriptive and simply use the service they offer as the brand name.

An example of this type of brand name could be ‘Yoga Classes R Us’ or ‘Bargain Online Bookseller.’

Of course, businesses with descriptive brand names can achieve success.

But if you want to drive brand equity by creating a brand that is more than just the sum of its parts, you need to create a powerful brand name.

Many of the best brand names have characteristics in common.

Here are the features these successful company names typically share:

Uniqueness

If your business is going to stand out from the competition, you need to ensure it is unique.

But, you may be wondering how to create a unique brand name.

Thinking about the characteristics of your business and what makes your brand unique is an excellent place to start.

Identifying what differentiates your brand from the competitors is a helpful way to generate a meaningful brand name that is unique to your business.

Easy to Remember

Making your brand name memorable is essential to ensure that your target audience remembers who you are.

A memorable brand name will help facilitate brand recognition, ensuring that your brand not only grabs the attention of potential customers but also ensures it is not forgotten.

Focus on Strong Connotations

Many brands choose names that have strong connotations.

It makes sense to select a name that is going to create a positive association with your brand.

So choosing brand names that evoke powerful ideas, concepts, or feelings in your customers will ensure that it sticks in their minds. 

Using Greek goddess names is a route many companies have taken when creating a powerful brand name.

The strong connotations that Greek goddess names evoke make them ideal for use as brand names.

Nike is the best-known example, and the sportswear giant is named after the Greek goddess of victory.

Jewelry brand Pandora and Gillette’s Venus razor blade brand for women are further examples of goddess names used to create strong brand names.

Choose Alliteration

Names that use alliteration so that each of the words starts with the same letter are popular choices when creating brand names.

Alliterative names instantly sound strong and are also much easier to remember, so alliteration is a win-win when creating a brand name.

A prime example of alliteration in action is one of the world’s biggest brands, Coca-Cola.

Keep it Short and Simple

Choosing a long company name may sound grand, but it makes more sense to keep things short and simple.

It’s no good creating a name for your company that is hard for your customers to pronounce or difficult to spell.

Instead, we should take inspiration from Steve Jobs, who named his company Apple because he thought it sounded simple and sophisticated.

Although the fact he really liked apples probably influenced his choice too!

Fat Joe is another great example of a short and simple brand name.

Take a look at this video to discover how Fat Joe got its name:

 

Why TF did we call our company FATJOE? pic.twitter.com/eSDINn5mbR

— Joe Davies (@fatjoedavies) March 30, 2023

How to Avoid Potential Pitfalls When Choosing Brand Names

So, you now have a few different brand name ideas that could work, but before you get your business card printed and start telling everyone all about it, it is vital to pause for a second. 

Consider Other Languages

If your business has global ambitions, you need to ensure that your brand name will translate well in different languages.

The last thing you want is to proudly launch your products overseas only to discover that the name means something completely different, or worse, is deeply offensive. 

Using linguistic screening will help to spare your blushes by checking brand names to ensure they are not offensive in other languages and are culturally acceptable.

Services such as Language Solutions can take care of linguistic screening on your behalf.

Think About Domain Names

Researching domain availability is essential when choosing brand names.

As well as ensuring the domain name is available, it is also helpful to consider the length of your domain name.

A domain name that is just a couple of words long will be easier for customers to type and remember.

Will it Stand the Test of Time?

Coming up with your company name is something you should only need to do once.

So it is essential that you choose a name that will age well and remain relevant for decades to come.

Does it Already Exist?

Are there other brands out there that already use the same name?

A quick Google search is the simplest way to check whether there are other brands with the same name.

But, it is best to be thorough and double-check that there are no trademarks in place for the brand name.

The Easy Way to Make a Unique and Memorable Brand Name

Coming up with a unique and memorable name for your business can be a challenge, but it doesn’t need to be. 

The brand naming process can mean spending many hours trawling through brand names.

If the idea of being holed up in the boardroom with your founding team working through endless naming exercises for the next decade doesn’t appeal to you, there is an alternative option.

Sooner or later, you will need to stop brainstorming and decide on a shortlist of brand names.

This is where Optimo can help.

Introducing the Optimo Brand Name Generator

Using the latest AI technology, the Optimo brand name generator tool will provide new ideas for brand names in a matter of seconds. 

This innovative tool can generate 10 excellent brand name ideas for your business almost instantly.

Simply enter a description of your company and what it does, and you will soon have 10 perfect brand name ideas ready and waiting for you.

What’s Next? Beyond Your Brand Name

You’ve now found a powerful brand name that works perfectly for your business.

But you may be wondering what to do next.

Now that you have decided on a name for your new brand, it is time to protect it before anyone else gets there first.

Applying to the United States Patent and Trademark Office is a wise idea at this stage. 

From here on in, it’s time to get to work on strengthening your brand and ensuring your brilliant new brand name gets the attention it deserves.