How to Come Up With a Brand Name

Almost all businesses in the United States are small businesses, and they employ about half of the working population. With the majority of workers employed by fewer than .01% of businesses, the average small business is at a huge disadvantage.

One of the ways this can manifest is in branding. It’s easier to come up with a brand name when you have an entire think tank to help you. That doesn’t mean that you can’t come up with something stellar by yourself.

You don’t have to go it alone, either. We’ll offer some advice on how to come up with a brand name in this article.

1. Stay On-Topic

It doesn’t matter how great your name and brand are, they won’t work if they don’t have anything to do with the shop. For instance, Tom’s Tires won’t work if you sell bagels, or if your name isn’t Tom.

There are a few tricks you can use, like naming the company after a foreign word for something related to your product. It could also be a combination of words that fit the company’s image.

Some companies that have done this include Volkswagen, which is German for ‘people’s car,’ Lego, which combines two Danish words meaning “play well,” Coca-Cola, is named after two of its original main ingredients.

2. Be Introspective

Creating a brand name means creating an image of yourself. If you’re the head of the company, every decision comes down to you. Whatever impression people get of your company they also get of you.

This raises the obvious question of how you wish to be perceived. What characteristics do you want your company to reflect?

Finding your ‘angle’ is vital to establishing your brand. If you’d prefer to be seen as honest and trustworthy above all else, using your name as part of the company name, such as ‘Don’s Place’ can accomplish this.

Using a foreign name or an acronym for your brand can give your company a sophisticated and exotic feel.

3. Market Research

When brainstorming brand name ideas, it’s important to do research. Research can help you out in a few different ways.

Some types of research, such as surveys and focus groups, can tell you if a brand idea works. Research into the market itself can tell if somebody else already laid claim to your logo concepts or cool name ideas.

Once you’ve got a working name and a good logo, you’re ready to introduce your products to the world.