Business Names Do Matter, Norm Brodsky

In the November 2005 issue of Inc. magazine, Norm Brodsky wrote: "Your company's name plays little, if any, role in determining your success."

I agree completely that a company with a bad or mediocre name can reach success. However, here are 10 reasons why coming up with a snappy, interesting and memorable name is worth the business owner's or organization's time and energy.

1. When you call or speak with strangers and mention the name of your company, and the name in...

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Article Body:

In the November 2005 issue of Inc. magazine, Norm Brodsky wrote: "Your company's name plays little, if any, role in determining your success."

I agree completely that a company with a bad or mediocre name can reach success. However, here are 10 reasons why coming up with a snappy, interesting and memorable name is worth the business owner's or organization's time and energy.

1. When you call or speak with strangers and mention the name of your company, and the name in and of itself provokes delighted recognition, this can get the business relationship off on a positive footing.

2. A distinctive name can attract the kind of customers you want and keep away those you don't want. For instance, if you can't stand dealing with those who have no sense of humor, a punny name repels such folks. Au contraire, if you want people to know you're serious and weighty, a shrewdly chosen traditional name can impress people accordingly.

3. Cool company names can in and of themselves generate media coverage, either because there's something newsworthy in the name or because many journalists are more attracted to highlight companies with fun names than boring ones. Case in point: Rent-a-Wreck.

4. A distinctive name increases repeat business because it helps previous customers remember it when looking at a list of possibles in the Yellow Pages or elsewhere. For instance, House Husband would jump out of a list of competitors like A-1 Handyman, Acme Home Repair, etc.

5. A wisely chosen name is simple to spell and leads to one and only one possible URL. This enables more people who have heard about a company to find it online.

6. A well-chosen name can embody the #1 benefit you offer customers and make it possible to get across an appealing marketing message in less space.

7. A hastily chosen name can lead to legal troubles or bad PR, both adding needless expenses and needlessly alienating customers. Just ask my friend Andy, who had to change his business name not once but twice in three months because he hadn't done his homework on the name. And just ask the shoe company in the UK that named some new sneakers "Zyklon," which was the name of the gas the Nazis used to kill millions during World War Two.

8. If customers need to find you in the Yellow Pages, a name that's near the beginning of the alphabet makes it easier for them and may make it less crucial to have a huge, expensive display ad.

9. A boring name contains no sparks for getting started on persuasive descriptions of your company's products or services, while a creative name makes it easy to riff off it with inspired marketing copy.

10. The name affects how people who work for the business feel about it. A company name they love to say and that customers respond to positively makes for a more pleasant working environment than does a name that is confusing, hard to pronounce or has some negative connotations.

For Business Names And Tag Lines, Popularity Shouldn't Rule

Don't turn your search for the perfect name or tag line into a popularity contest! Two instances of this have crossed my path recently.

First, someone I know asked people to vote on the best title for a forthcoming book. That's unwise, because what people say they like in a book title:

* Doesn't necessarily distinguish the book from others
* Isn't necessarily clear, spellable and free of negative connotations
* Doesn't mean those who are the best audience for the boo...

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business names,company names,naming,startups,contests,marketing,sales,logos,tag lines

Article Body:

Don't turn your search for the perfect name or tag line into a popularity contest! Two instances of this have crossed my path recently.

First, someone I know asked people to vote on the best title for a forthcoming book. That's unwise, because what people say they like in a book title:

* Doesn't necessarily distinguish the book from others
* Isn't necessarily clear, spellable and free of negative connotations
* Doesn't mean those who are the best audience for the book will "get it"
* Isn't always easy to remember and repeat
* May not perform well in search engines

Second, according to The New York Times, the state of New Jersey put its prospective new tourism slogan to a vote. The winning entry, "New Jersey: Come See for Yourself" received just a few more votes than "New Jersey: The Best Kept Secret."

Both the winning and the runner-up New Jersey slogans flunk an elementary test for the effectiveness of a tag line or slogan: It should distinguish the company, or in this case the state, from most or all others. Try this out yourself by plugging in names of other states besides New Jersey - most of the time, the slogan becomes no more and no less applicable. This means the slogan cannot make a strong case for the Garden State. More bluntly, it's mainly hot air.

The New Jersey contest had another serious flaw. To be eligible to vote on the best slogan, you had to be a New Jersey resident. While residents do have the greatest stake in improving the reputation of their state, they by definition don't belong to the target market of the tourism slogan. To understand what would appeal most to non-New Jerseyans, don't look to New Jerseyans en masse. Many will be clueless about this and get it upside-down. Outsiders are the ones who need to understand the slogan and respond.

I'll never forget an ad for a Great Plains software company that obviously assumed that a photo of a flat-to-the-horizon landscape without trees was an appealing image. For me, a die-hard New Englander accustomed to heavily wooded hills, this picture had the opposite effect - it filled me with horror.

Of course, someone who lives in New Jersey or North Dakota may be perfectly capable of portraying their region appealingly to outsiders. Instead of asking any group to vote on a winning name or tag line, set up your contest so that people can submit suggestions. Then have either one person or a committee cull the entries according to a list of criteria drawn up beforehand.

By selecting and judging rather than mass voting, you're most likely to end up with a name or slogan that wins over your audience.