brand-naming-strategies

Brand Naming Strategies

Quick reference for strategic brand naming using expert methodologies from Lexicon, Eat My Words, Catchword, and Igor.

"A name should make you smile instead of scratch your head. If it makes you scratch your head, scratch it off the list." — Alexandra Watkins

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Key Statistics

• 2.5x increase in company value after Emode renamed to Tickle (4 months)
• 30% traffic increase from name change alone
• 2 syllables = optimal for memorability
• 1,000-3,000 candidates needed before finding gems (Lexicon)

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The SMILE & SCRATCH Framework (Alexandra Watkins)

SMILE — 5 Qualities of a Great Name

Letter	Quality	Description	Example
S	Suggestive	Evokes something about your brand	Amazon suggests vastness
M	Memorable	Makes an association with the familiar	Apple connects to something everyone knows
I	Imagery	Aids memory through evocative visuals	Jaguar creates immediate mental picture
L	Legs	Lends itself to extended wordplay and branding	Nike allows "Just Do It" mythology
E	Emotional	Moves people	Patagonia evokes adventure

"Legs" Explained: A name should provide "a theme with mileage you can build a brand around."

SCRATCH — 7 Deal Breakers

Letter	Deal Breaker	Red Flag
S	Spelling Challenged	Looks like a typo
C	Copycat	Sounds like existing brand
R	Restrictive	Limits future growth (Boston Market)
A	Annoying	Forced, excessive wordplay
T	Tame	Flat, descriptive, uninspired
C	Curse of Knowledge	Speaks only to insiders
H	Hard to Pronounce	If people avoid saying it, they avoid you

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Sound Symbolism Quick Guide (Lexicon/Placek)

Sound	Psychological Impact	Example Names
V	Vibrant, alive	Corvette, Vercel, Viagra
B	Reliable, solid	BlackBerry
Z	Attention-getting	Azure, Zara
X	Innovative	Xerox, SpaceX
Plosives (b, c, k, p)	Memorable	Coca-Cola, Kodak
Soft sounds (l, m, n)	Approachable	Lululemon, Amazon

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The Naming Matrix

Position names on two axes — Approach (descriptive to abstract) and Construct (real-word to coined):

                    CONSTRUCT

         Real-Word    Compound      Coined
              ↓           ↓            ↓
         ┌─────────┬─────────────┬──────────┐
Abstract │  Roku   │   YouTube   │  Xerox   │
         │  Apple  │   Snapchat  │  Kodak   │
    ↑    ├─────────┼─────────────┼──────────┤
    │    │ Amazon  │   Airbnb    │ Spotify  │
Suggestive│ Slack  │  Pinterest  │ Verizon  │
    │    ├─────────┼─────────────┼──────────┤
    ↓    │ PayPal  │  Salesforce │Accenture │
Descriptive│General │ TripAdvisor │  (rare)  │
         │Motors   │             │          │
         └─────────┴─────────────┴──────────┘

APPROACH

The Clarity vs. Creativity Spectrum

Descriptive ─────────── Suggestive ─────────── Abstract
100% clarity            Sweet spot             100% creativity
0% creativity           Balance of both        0% clarity

Sweet spot for most startups: Suggestive names (Netflix, Airbnb, Slack)

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Marty Neumeier's 8 Criteria

A great name should be:

1. Distinctive — Stands apart from competitors
2. Brief — Short enough to remember and type
3. Appropriate — Fits the brand personality
4. Easy to spell — No guessing required
5. Easy to pronounce — Flows naturally when spoken
6. Likeable — Creates positive first impression
7. Extendible — Works across products and markets
8. Protectable — Can be trademarked

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Catchword's 10 Touchstones

#	Touchstone	What It Means
1	Available	.com and social handles obtainable
2	Trademarkable	Can be legally protected
3	Memorable	Sticks after one hearing
4	Scalable	Allows business expansion
5	Short	Few syllables, easy to type
6	Positive Affect	Creates good feelings
7	Good for SEO	Searchable, not too generic
8	Easy to Pronounce	No stumbling
9	Easy to Spell	Intuitive spelling
10	Distinctive	Unique in category

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Name Generation Techniques (Quick Reference)

1. Three Words Technique — Each person writes 3 words that should describe the brand
2. Syllable Recombination — Cut words into syllables, combine randomly
3. Root Word Mining — Greek/Latin roots for professional-sounding names (Xerox from "xeros")
4. Portmanteau Creation — Blend two words (Pinterest = Pin + Interest)
5. Sound Symbolism — Use letters that evoke desired feelings
6. Free Association — Idioms, proverbs, song lyrics, foreign words
7. Novel Spelling — Phonetically equivalent spellings (careful: don't fail SCRATCH)

Key Principle: Generate 1,000+ candidates before evaluating. Quantity leads to quality.

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The Naming Funnel

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│     1,000-3,000 candidates          │ ← Wide generation
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│       200-300 initial screen        │ ← Basic criteria
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│        30 for availability          │ ← Domain/TM checks
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│       10-15 for presentation        │ ← Full vetting
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│        5-7 vetted options           │ ← Client decision
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

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Domain Strategy

Priority Order

1. [name].com — Always check first, highest value
2. [name].io — Strong for tech startups
3. [name].co — Viable alternative
4. [name]app.com — If product-focused
5. get[name].com — Action-oriented alternative

Social Handle Considerations

• Keep under 15 characters for Twitter/X
• Check consistency across platforms
• Tools: BrandSnag, Namechk, Knowem

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Common Naming Mistakes

1. Generic/Descriptive — "Best Tech Solutions" fails to differentiate
2. Ignoring Availability — Falling in love before checking domains
3. Cultural Blindspots — Names with negative meanings in other languages
4. Too Complex — Long, hard-to-spell names frustrate customers
5. Trendy Suffixes — "-ify", "-io", "-ly" date quickly
6. Beauty Contest Testing — Testing for likeability produces bland names

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Key Principles

"You need 1,000 to 1,500 names before you'll find gems." — David Placek (Lexicon)

"Comfort has no power in brand naming." — David Placek (Sonos was initially rejected)

"It's called branding, not blanding." — Catchword

"The hard part of naming is not coming up with a great idea. The hard part is finding an available name." — Jeremy Miller

Universal Truths

1. Names are strategic assets — Every marketing dollar spent on a good name compounds
2. Memorability beats cleverness — If they can't remember it, nothing else matters
3. Sound shapes perception — Phonetics work subconsciously before meaning registers
4. Legs enable growth — Names with extension potential multiply brand investment
5. Availability is non-negotiable — Fall in love with names that are free to own

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Templates

See reference/templates.md for:

• Name Evaluation Scorecard (SMILE + SCRATCH)
• Naming Brief Template (discovery questions)
• Name Candidate Table (for presenting options)
• Comparison Matrix Template
• Domain Availability Tracker
• Final Selection Documentation Template
• Output Validation Checklist

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When to Apply This Knowledge

During Name Development

• Use SMILE test to evaluate candidates
• Apply SCRATCH filter to eliminate deal-breakers
• Consider sound symbolism for strategic impact

During Name Evaluation

• Reference Catchword's 10 Touchstones
• Check Marty Neumeier's 8 Criteria
• Use comparison matrix for objective scoring

During Presentation

• Position names on the Naming Matrix
• Explain strategic rationale for each
• Prioritize .com availability

During Final Selection

• Verify domain still available (can change quickly)
• Recommend immediate purchase
• Check trademark conflicts

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Deep Methodology

For comprehensive naming sessions, the brand-naming-specialist agent contains 800+ lines of expert methodology including detailed output formats, generation exercises, and full professional process.