Your brand name is your single most important piece of marketing.
Nothing about your brand will be communicated more often than your name. Names give power and precedence to your product or service and articulate what you stand for. Therefore, great thought should be put forth into selecting the right name for your business.
Can we name it internally?
It’s true, names can be born in moments of inspiration by internal team members. They may name businesses after locations or people, of company benefits or features. The folks at Liquid Death and Dollar Shave Club named their brands internally and have enjoyed incredible success. (They also had top-tier internal creatives working for them…do you?.)
One thing everyone who has ever worked on naming a business (or a child) can agree on: Naming is hard. Selecting a naming agency can make finding the best name for your business flow smoothly, bring management together in consensus, and do it all fast.
If you choose to name your product or business internally, we bid you great luck, and offer these tips to help you on your way. We have faith you can do it.
If you believe in the power of naming as much as we do, hire an agency. Here are five tips in finding the best one.
TIP #1: Find an agency dedicated to naming
As you begin your agency search, you’ll notice there aren’t many agencies solely dedicated to naming. Many firms will claim they understand naming and feature it as an add-on service to their design portfolio, but we recommend avoiding that path – they most likely don’t know what they’re doing. Like any specialty, naming is its own field, with its own intricacies.
TIP #2) Find an agency with a portfolio of names you like
Review the agency’s naming portfolio. Do you like the names – and the background behind the name? It’s important to remember that each project has its own considerations and constraints. Maybe the name had to include a specific word or fit within an established brand system. Once you read about the background of the name and how the naming team solved the problem, it may appear more interesting and likeable.
TIP #3) Find an agency that understands trademarks
With over 290 million trademarks in the United States alone, naming is as much about trademark education as it is about creativity. What use is a firm providing you with a dozen names if all of them are unavailable? At Wonsupona, we work with trademark specialists, trademark software, and trademark lawyers, depending on project budget. We are very forthright about the availability of marks and instruct our clients not to fall in love with just one name, but to select several for final review to ensure ownability.
TIP #4) Find an agency that honors diversity
Diverse teams are more creative because a project is enhanced by the team’s ability to integrate different points of view. How diverse is the team working on your naming project? Wonsupona is a woman-founded agency that contracts naming strategists from around the world, from Japan to Ukraine. We’re a team of both right-brain and left-brain thinkers, of entrepreneurs and creatives, of parents and soloists. Some of us share big-agency backgrounds hailing from Lexicon, MetaDesign and Landor while others have backgrounds in education, investment, and finance. We all operate from the same value that creativity can change the world.
TIP #5) Find an agency as excited by your business as you are
The right naming agency will be excited to work on your project and in your industry. The idea of naming your product or business will keep them up at night (and I know this from personal experience). You want an agency that shares your passion and drive for bringing your brand to life and is as engaged in the process as you are.
Ready to get your name on?
Wonsupona (once-upon-a) is a strategic brand naming and storytelling agency located in Denver, Colorado. We use a combination of creativity, neuroscience, and strategic storytelling to craft names and narratives that appeal to audiences emotionally and psychologically. This conscious approach to brand creation is what sets us apart – and will set you apart, too. Get storied at wonsupona.com.
Download the white paper: How to Choose the Right Naming Agency
