How To Come Up With A Business Name (Brand Name Ideas, Examples & Strategy)

What's up brand builders Stephen Houraghan here  at BrandMasterAcademy.com and in this video you're   going to learn how to choose an epic brand name , for your business so you can step away from the   tasks within the whole spectrum of branding , and that's because of the sentimentality   attached to it when we name things when . we learn to name things growing up we'll   name things that we're emotionally attached to  we'll name our toys we'll name our first pet then   we might name our first car when it comes along  and then we'll start to name our children as they   come along and then ultimately we'll name our , businesses so when it comes to naming a brand   for the first time that task usually falls to  the business owner now most business owners   will approach this task in the same way that they , approach any other task when naming anything else   throughout their lives they'll approach it with  that sentimentality point of view and listen i'm   not saying that sentimentality doesn't play a  role i mean if the business owner is emotionally   attached to the business and there is that . sentimentality there then they're far more   likely to get behind the business but really . when it comes to naming a brand it's all about   the audience it's all about connecting with the  audience with who they are with what they want   and that sentimentality doesn't really come into , play nobody really cares about who the owner's   dog was or what street they first lived on and , if the business owner takes that sentimentality   into naming their business then it misses the . opportunity to connect with who the audience   is and that is ultimately the role of the name of , the brand is to connect with that audience so what   is the goal of the brand name well the brand name . has multiple goals but the main goal that it has   is memorability the brand needs to be remembered , and that name plays a really important role   in whether or not the brand will be remembered but  memorability is not the only task that the brand   name has the brand name plants a seed in the mind . of the audience so that the audience remembers the   brand but that seed then needs to grow and that . grows into the image and the position that the   brand wants to own in the mind of the audience so . what makes a great brand name well as i've already   covered it's not sentimentality and if you're , able to remove the task from the business owner or   if the business owner is able to step away  from that sentimentality then the outcome is   far more likely to be effective but there are  two main characteristics of a great brand name   the first as we've already covered is memorable , it needs to be memorable that is the job of the   brand name if the brand name is forgotten if the , audience cannot remember what the brand is called   then the brand name has failed in its primary , task it needs to be remembered if it's catchy   and that adds to the memorability great but that . is the task of the brand name it needs to be   remembered the second characteristic is that , it needs to be strategic it needs to help   to solidify a position in the mind of the audience , and solidify that image of how the brand wants to   be remembered so if those two characteristics are . included in the brand name in that it's memorable   and it is strategic then it's well on the way to 

being a great brand name so let's take a look at   a few brand name ideas an example now the first , brand name idea is the founder brand so this is   where the brand is named after the founder and  there are a couple of very famous examples here   in both mcdonald's and ford mcdonald's named by . the mcdonald's brothers and ford named by henry   ford the next example of a brand name idea is the . descriptive brand name so this is where the brand   name describes what the company actually does so  an example here would be coffee club or toys r us   after that we have the aligned brand name so . this is where the brand name uses associations or   metaphors to align with an idea so i'll give you  an example here amazon aligns with the vastness   of the amazon jungle and virgin alliance with that . idea of new and innovative next up is the invented   brand name now the invented brand name has no real . meaning or association essentially it's a figment   of somebody's imagination and the word actually  doesn't exist so a couple of examples here would   be google or pixar or xerox lexical brand names , are where related words are combined to enhance   memorability so you might have two words with . the same first letter so an example of this would   be dunkin donuts or krispy kreme next up is the . acronym brand name now to be honest i'm not a big   fan of this brand name type and it's definitely  not something that i would recommend any of my   clients do but that's not to say that it can't , work and there are some very famous examples of   acronym brand names such as bmw mtv and ibm . and then finally we have the geographical   brand name and essentially these brands are . aligning themselves to a flag or an origin   from where they've come and that usually comes  with a certain type of reputation so an example   here would be singapore airlines or swiss brand . so how do you choose a brand name well i'm going   to give you a six step process that you can use  to choose or find a great brand name for your own   business or for your clients step number one , create your buyer persona now as i mentioned   earlier the brand name is not about the founders , not about the business owner and it's not about   their sentimentality it's about the audience who , they are what they're looking for what they want   what they're feeling and when you understand  the image that you want to create in the mind   of your audience that's when you can create a  really effective brand name but first step is   understanding who that audience is so go out and . create your audience avatar step number two define   your differentiator now this is the strategic . aspect of the brand name if your differentiator   the position that you want to own in the mind  of your audience is included or associated with   the brand name then the chances of your audience . remembering your brand for that image or for that   position is significantly increased so make sure , you define your differentiator that you know what   it is you know the position that you want to take , in the mind of your audience before naming your   brand step number three is brainstorm keywords so  now that you know who the audience is and you know   the difference that you want to own in their mind . that you want to be known for in the marketplace   now you can start to gather ideas for your brand . name now this needs to be exhaustive and there   is no bad idea at this stage you want to get out ,

everything you want to include every single word   that can be even loosely associated with your . audience or the difference that you want to own   in their mind so take the time here to exhaust , out every single idea possible in both keywords   and brand name ideas and take your time with this  really exhausted and go as far as you possibly can   step number four is integrate amalgamate and , consolidate now this step really is dependent   on the previous step being exhaustive in that you  have taken the time to get as many ideas and as   many keywords as possible because here you're . going to merge you're going to truncate you're   going to extend and really push the boundaries , in terms of what's possible you're going to   merge words together you're going to chop , words up you're going to create something   out of nothing and really the more time you take , with this the more chances you have of coming up   with something new and something unique so really , involve a heavy dose of creativity here take the   time to integrate amalgamate and consolidate step  number five is quality filtered now chances are if   you've done this correctly you are going to have , a lot of crap remember i said earlier that there   is no bad idea early on and you want to exhaust . as many avenues as possible but when you get to   step number five here you're going to have a , lot of crap and you're going to need to filter   all of that through some quality control and  the quality control that you want to filter it   through is to ask is it memorable is it strategic , and is it concise if you're able to filter it   through that quality control and it comes out , the other side and it takes all of those boxes   then you're well on the way and step number  six real world application so this is where   you apply your brand name into the real world so  you stack it up alongside the competitors within   your industry you stack it alongside the global . brands of the world to see how it fits to see   if it feels right for your brand you can also . put this into submission statements into some   vision statements into industry sentences to see . how it fits within your industry and how it fits   for your brand now look there is a reason that . business owners get hung up on the brand name   partly because it's sentimental to them but partly  because it's extremely important the brand name is   one of the most difficult things to change within . a brand so essentially it's like marriage once   you choose that name it is very difficult to  change so you need to make sure that the name   has strategy behind it you need to make sure that  it is memorable you need to make sure that it's   going to stand the test of time and represent your . brand for the image that you want to own in the   mind of your audience but if you get it right not  only can it enhance the memorability of your brand   it can act as a pollinator to sprinkle the mind  of your audience with the seed that is your brand   position now once you plant that seed the tagline , and the slogan can act as the rain to help that   seed grow if you want to understand the strategic . difference between the tagline and the slogan then   this video will help you out until next time brand . like a master and i'll see you in the next video.