What’s in a Name? Does a Rose by Any Other Name Sell as Sweet?
Good product names act as advertising for your product. They differentiate you from your competitors and keep your customers coming back because they remember you and your product name. There is an art to naming products, and all great product names have the following qualities:
1. The words sound familiar even if it is a new word combination.
2. The word combination illustrates exactly what it product is.
3. The name shows how the product works/operates.
4. The name looks good on the page and on the product.
5. Words are easy to pronounce and sound pleasant.
6. The name grows on people over time.
7. The name is completely different from competitor names and is not confused with other products.
8. After hearing it once, people remember the exact name.
9. It appeals to the demographic of the product.
10. There’s something unique, wacky, fun, humorous or original about the name.
11. There are no trademarks with the same name.
Tips for Creating Your Own Great Product Names
The first thing to do is to keep a list of names you love. Now next to each name write why you like the name. On another page write down competitor names and what you don’t like about them. On the bottom of the page write how you could improve your competitors’ names.
On a separate piece of paper, write down all the words that describe your product. Is there a saying or term that is similar to what you see? Are there any words that jump out to you from the page?
On another page write down what your product does and the needs it fulfills. Use the computer thesaurus to generate similar action verbs.
When you are in good mood and in nice relaxed place, like in a garden or someplace you like. The creative part of the brain works better when you are in a positive or meditative alpha state. When the right brain is an alpha state it ignites your imaginative and creative characteristics as well as your intuition out. In this state the ideas will flow like a river. The alpha state makes you more conductive to innovative thinking, and it creates new ideas rather than just processing old ones over and over again. Sometimes people get in the alpha state while hiking, driving, singing, swimming, dancing, or playing. Do what you love to get into a good state of mind.
Without editing write down all the names for your product that come to mind. Get really silly, see if there is a funnier way of saying what you want. How would a great comedian say it? What would an artist see? What would your crazy aunt call it? Give it an foreign accent. Say it like a teenager. Say it like a baby or little kid. Does it relate to movie name or a saying? What song would it be on the radio?
Once in a meeting room with executives who uncreative but wanted a new product name, I asked, “Bachelor Number One, if you were a hit song on the radio, what would you be? If you were a flower how would you smell? If you were a dog, what breed? What saying would you be on a T-Shirt?
In a flash he came out with the perfect name for the product. Keep asking silly and inane questions and eventually you will get an answer to your prayers.
When you get a good name, it’s like you hear a cash register ring. When you say it to other people their eyes light up with joy and comprehension. It like a hit song, you want to sing over and over again.
If you don’t get any good reactions it will be time to get back to the writing board or hire a professional who thinks out side the dictionary. Maybe some like Lynn Walford at Freelance Writer Now…
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