When you’re thinking of a name for your new business, you might run into people who tell you not to worry about your business name. Some people say that there isn’t a noticeable value to a business name – that names are just frills that aren’t worth investing time and resources into researching. However, research shows that simple, catchy names outperform non-interesting names on the stock market by up to 33%.
Rather than looking at the direct financial benefits a good brand name brings, consider the opposite. How can a poor brand name diminish and damage your business? Let’s consider the possibilities so you know why it’s so important to have a strong brand name.
A Bad Name Won’t Establish a Solid Brand Foundation
In today’s modern market, first impressions are everything. Often, your business name is the first thing a potential client will hear about your business. You brand encompasses everything from your name, logo and your business’s mission and values. The brand encompasses who you are, and should all be rooted in the name
If your brand name is weak, it will not be able to benefit your brand in any way. If potential clients hear your name and don’t know what your brand it about, they will likely move on without a second thought. The business name should invite questions about the brand, and intrigue your target audience. A good name should summarize who you are as a brand and who you want to become.
Failure to Capture Target Audience
Your target audience is likely overwhelmed by the numerous options in today’s market. Your business may offer unique services or commodities, but without a great name that intrigues your audience, you risk losing customers. If your business name does not capture their attention, they will move on without exploring your business, causing you to lose out on potential revenue.
A good brand name should create connections and offer your audience something to hold on to. For example, Apple is such a successful brand name is because everyone knows about apples. Apples are one of the most basic, accessible fruits. In addition to that, an apple is a tangible, everyday object. This is why naming a tech company after a tangible object is so interesting and effective at captivating an audience.
Risk Losing Your Audience
As much as your brand name should attract your audience, you also need to make sure it does not drive them away from your business. Difficult, complicated, or offensive names will likely drive away a large portion of your audience. Avoid cringey or embarrassing business names as they will likely be a turn off for many people and send the wrong message to your customer base.
For example, a salon named Curl Up & Dye is descriptive and clever name, but it may send the wrong message about the quality of service offered. The name relies too heavily on the audience’s sense of humor, and it risks losing potential clients that do not find the punny brand name amusing.
Audience testing is a simple way to ensure that your brand name performs well with your target audience demographic.
A Forgettable Name Creates A Forgettable Brand
If a brand name is bland or too confusing to say and spell, a customer probably will not remember it even if they wanted to remember your name. When your audience can’t remember your name, you will lose out on many potential sales.
One great is example is Jeff Bezos started an online book retailer called Cadabra, Earth’s largest bookstore. This name was intended to be an abbreviation for the magic term “abracadabra,” but Bezos realized that the name was not catching on with his audience. The name was too difficult for people to spell and understand. This confusion lead to many simply not understanding the reference to magic. After brainstorming new name ideas with his wife, Bezos decided to change the company name to Amazon. After the name change his company took off and became the retail giant that it is today.
Changing the name to Amazon had several benefits for Bezos. To begin with, Amazon starts with A, so it’s usually found at the top of alphabetical lists. In addition, the Amazon Rainforest is the earth’s largest forest, so the name works metaphorically because Amazon the company is the largest online retailer. With one simple company name change, Bezos solved his poor name problems, and Amazon grew to become a hugely profitable business.
A memorable name makes for a brand your customers won’t forget. Make sure that your brand doesn’t fall to the wayside by coming up with a catchy, notable name. Browse some winning brand name ideas to get an idea of what names catch your attention.
Grant Polachek is the Director of Marketing at Inc 500 company Squadhelp.com, the worlds #1 naming platform, with nearly 20,000 customers from the smallest startups across the globe to the largest corporations including Nestle, Philips, Hilton, Pepsi, and AutoNation. Get inspired by exploring these winning brand name ideas.
