What’s in a Name?

This post from Marketing Playbook gives an overview of naming from a marketing perspective. Naming is one of the most highly charged marketing topics start-ups face. Finding a name that isn’t taken. Finding a URL that matches. Shifting from a weird name that the founder really loves but no one understands or can spell…

Some ground rules for a good naming convention:

• Names should either be memorable or meaningful
• They should create the right emotion or communicate/imply the actual thing they are naming
• Company names should be flexible and bigger than the names of the products, they are receptacles that you put meaning into. They don’t have to be as concrete as the product names (Salesforce.com is kicking themselves, they are going to have a hard time launching an ERP product)
• Invest in very few core names, build the rest of your convention around them
• Do not name stuff you are not going to support or invest in over the long term
• Don’t work too hard. Even if you don’t love the name, even if it doesn’t make sense, if people already love it and are aware of it, keep it.

Wait, there’s so much more in the Marketing Playbook! Read it!

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