Your company name is the most essential aspect of your brand. Choosing a brand name is therefore not a decision that you want to take lightly. Below are just some of the common mistakes that startups make when choosing a brand name.
It’s too generic
There needs to be something unique about your brand name that makes it memorable. For example, if you’re starting a lighting company, you don’t want to call yourself The Lighting Company or Bright.
Some of the best brand names incorporate obscure or made up words to be unique. Examples include Coca-Cola, Netflix, Uber, Patagonia and Nike. Common inspirations include hybrid words (e.g. Microsoft), mythological/historical figures (e.g. Nike and Pandora) and exotic place names (e.g. Patagonia and Philadelphia).
It’s already trademarked by another company
You need to be careful of choosing a brand name that is already being used by another company (especially a potential competitor). They could sue you if they discover that your company is using their name. The likeliness of them winning a claim could be particularly high if their brand name is trademarked.
It’s worth doing a quick Google search to see what types of companies are already using your chosen name. In some cases, you may be able to slightly tweak a brand name to make it more original.
It’s not easily searchable
On the subject of Google searches, it’s also important to consider how easy a brand name is to search. With many generic words like ‘insurance’ or ‘bird’, it could be very difficult to compete with the pages that are already ranked. This is another good reason to pick something unusual and obscure. However, you need to be careful of choosing something that is difficult to spell or hard to remember.
For example, some brands try to get too playful by spelling out words backwards to make new words. This could include calling your bike shop ‘Elcyc’ (‘cycle’ backwards). You may have made a new word by doing this, but are people going to remember how to spell this?
There’s no room to branch out
Another common mistake that companies make is choosing a brand name that limits them from expanding into other areas – or indeed changing the product they sell. For example, if you decide to call your bagel shop The Bagel House, you’ll need to stay dedicated to selling bagels. You can sell other items, but people will come to you mostly for your bagels.
Choosing a more multipurpose name can provide more flexibility. For example, choosing the name ‘Bill’s Bakery’ could allow you to take the focus off of bagels and experiment with all kinds of baked goods for more variety. If you think this is something that may benefit you in the future, consider this when choosing your name.
It’s culturally offensive
Most companies don’t set out to choose a culturally offensive brand name. It’s typically something that occurs by accident simply by not researching the connotations of a brand name.
It’s particularly worth seeing how your brand name may translate in other languages if you’re likely to be taking on customers in other countries. For example, calling your mattress company ‘LULL’ may not translate well in The Netherlands where ‘lul’ means ‘penis’.
You’re the only one that likes it
Whether you’re starting a business alone or with the help of other people, it’s important to share ideas with others. Discussing different brand names and seeing the reaction they get can help you to find a brand name that everyone likes. You don’t want to pick a brand name that only you like – sometimes a third party perspective is necessary for spotting potential problems with your brand name.
A brainstorming session with your staff/business partners, friends or family could be a great way to decide upon a band name. This guide to brainstorming business names offers a few tips on how to organize a successful brainstorming session.
It’s not future-proof
It’s worth considering how well a brand name will age in the future. References to modern slang words, popular culture or emerging tech can be risky – you don’t if those terms are still going to be used in 10 years. For example, imagine calling an IT repair company the ‘Dial-up Doctors’ back in the 90s.
By choosing terms that are unique or evergreen, you can avoid having to rebrand in a few years time. Think about where culture is heading and which terms may be obsolete in a few years time.