Naming is a serious business and branding exercise, but it’s also creative one, and naming meetings can and should be the most fun you have during your workday!
Come to your name review meetings with an open mind, a positive attitude, and the energy of a child and you’ll almost certainly be more productive and leave for your next meeting with a goofy smile on your face.
If your naming agency has done its job, you’ll complete the process with a great selection of unique and powerful name ideas for trademark evaluation. However, while most naming agencies conduct preliminary trademark screening on the names they present, they don’t generally conduct full, comprehensive trademark evaluations, at least not until your team has identified a short list of highly preferred names.
It’s important to keep in mind that some names will be eliminated after a comprehensive legal evaluation is conducted, and possibly even your single most preferred name! Setting expectations and ensuring members of your team are aware of the legal challenges you’ll face is an important component to a successful naming initiative.
Sure, everyone wants a part in naming the new company or product, but too large a team can be counter-productive, and make it harder to get to a final name decision.
Generally speaking and depending on the project scope (product versus company naming), a good team will include brand owners (those folks primarily responsible for the product, service or company being named), senior marketers (your CMO, or other marketing head), senior communications specialists, and senior brand directors and product managers. Minimum of four, no more than ten individuals. In addition, if you have an in-house trademark attorney it can be helpful for that individual to participate in meetings.
Naming is a subject that even the most seasoned marketers don’t have to address every day, so it’s understandable if you’re a little unsure about how to articulate your brand name preferences initially. However, providing detailed feedback on name ideas, including not just what you like you but why you like it, is the best way to ensure your naming agency delivers brand names that are in line with your stylistic preferences, and that will “wow” you.
Think holistically and consider at least the following aspects of a name: