What to call your company/brand?
We will provide guidance on what to call your company/brand.
Your name matters!
Customers and clients will form a first impression of your brand, partly from hearing or seeing your business name. What you call your company will represent you … especially when you cannot be face-to-face with prospective leads or customers. This means it needs to capture the essence of your company.
With a world of options available to you, here are some helpful ways to select the right name for your brand.
Express your business values
Get your name right the first time around by establishing what you want to achieve with your business. Think about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ you operate here. Articulate this and you can begin to align these goals with your company name.
For example, if you are launching or rebranding a business that will revolutionise the local music scene, one of your key goals should be to entertain people with premium performers and live events. You could therefore highlight how the music events you will organise are exhilarating and energetic, before echoing this in your name … Exhilaration Events.
Expressing your business USP and values to customers via your brand name is essential. It connects at a deeper level and can bring them onboard from day one. What do you want to achieve and how will it make your target customer feel?
Your audience matters
A business name can sound like ‘the one’ when said aloud, but it also needs to be user-friendly.
Ask yourself will it be easy to spell in terms of your website URL? After all, your company’s online presence is vitally important to help build your brand. Avoid unknown foreign phrases, merging two separate words and hidden meanings for this reason. What sounds like a witty backstory full of personal significance to you, could fail to resonate with the public and leave them feeling cold or confused.
Whilst your brand name should reflect you and the services or products that you offer, the truth is startling. A savvy marketeer knows that your branding efforts and copywriting will be geared towards the customer or client. Your social media and marketing will relate to improving their lives – rather than focusing on your company in a vacuum.
Invite your close friends and family to give feedback on the names you have brainstormed. Does any one company name resonate more than the others? Finally, be sure to ask them if the name is pronounceable, appealing and communicates what your business does.
Tap into your brand’s location
Alternatively, if you were the same organiser, your name could benefit from highlighting your local or regional presence. Focus on improving the local cultural scene by including this work in your company name. A business name such as ‘Larbert Loves Live’ would tell people exactly what to expect and reinforce the USP of scheduling authentic local music.
However, you should avoid featuring the name of your town or city if you plan to expand geographically in the long term. You do not want to restrict your reach or appear irrelevant in other markets. Whilst there will always be exceptions to this piece of advice, taking the time to look forward and consider your projected or intended growth will clarify things. It’ll also help to narrow down your naming options.
Consider your industry
Some companies are more restricted by their industry or sector than others.
For example, a legal firm, estate agency or medical brand needs to project a particularly trustworthy and professional image given the nature of their services. Would you trust a solicitor if they strayed too far from the tried and trusted format of using the partners’ surnames, opting instead for a quirky or trend-led format?
It may sound superficial, especially given the brevity of just a few words, but your business name will say so much about your company and your industry. Make it count for the right reasons.
However, brands such as lifestyle, disruptor and tech companies have more leeway to brainstorm ‘out of the box’ business names. This branding playfulness can work in their favour, suggesting that they offer something unique from their more established competitors. The brand naming end goal is to call your company something memorable to stand out and create intrigue.
Later, you will want to apply a consistent tone of voice to your marketing and social media communications, to reinforce this message.
Be Creative
The products and services that you sell can also form the inspiration for your company name. Using a creative name will help you stay memorable and drive interest around your launch.
Embrace your inner wordsmith by writing down any associations relating to what your offer and the nature of your business. Witty business names may be taken from popular phrases and lyrics. Just be careful not to approve any pun-based brand names that could be viewed as rude or offensive.
If you struggle to find the perfect company name this way, there is always alliteration. It may sound simple but it works – just ask PayPal, Krispy Kreme or Coca-Cola. We would also recommend keeping your business name as trimmed down as possible. Aim for 1-3 words so people do not forget your entire business name; it is then easier to recall and visit your well-designed website.
Other considerations
Pause before you start to use your chosen brand name. There are also technical and legal aspects to consider when naming your company. To avoid disappointment and complications further down the line, you should check the following points:
- Is the domain name available?
- Is the name already trademarked?
- Is there a similar-sounding company in your sector?
- Is the social media handle taken?
All of these areas can be checked with a few searches online. You don’t want to step on any toes, just as you would not want to use a previously reserved business name. Trademarking your name offers added peace of mind; knowing you legally own the name.
Next steps on your company name…
A company name can communicate so much about your brand. Used throughout the lifetime of your business, it pays to brief the professionals. Our award-winning Branding Services will help you achieve results, so contact us today to see how your business can benefit from our expertise.
If you are enjoying this article please read our blog What is SEO and where to begin? or Why a brand is important and why it’s not just a logo, all of which are important to reaching clients and increasing sales/business opportunities.