After some case histories of famous brands let us to summarize some tips to use when you’re choosing a name for a new company or a new product.
Sometimes what seems to be the right choice can’t be used, maybe because a competitor has a similar name, or because it has an ugly meaning in other languages, ​​and so on.
To keep in mind these tips is the more important the less you have to spend in brand awareness.

Here are some guidelines that will help you in the difficult operation of finding a new company or a new product name.

1. Simple and easy to pronounce

The name should be easily pronounced and possibly should be immediately understood in verbal communication, even with people who have never heard it before. The fact that you need to spell or use a mnemonic trick to make it understood should not be that bad. To explain its meaning or make a combination to help other person to remember it might be helpful, but it must be an easy and immediate trick.

2. Distinctive

Thanks to Internet, anyone can do a bit of research to find out if the name already exists in the same market sector. Obviously this is not a substitute for professional benchmarking, but it helps to avoid choosing a name already used by a competitor that you can find with “one click". You can also check whether the domain is free or not. If your new name does not have a free domain you can find out if it's for sale and buy it (watch out for the high prices) or use a variation, for example adding some suffixes (e.g. -group,-online, -service, etc. ..).

3. Evocative

By referring to the world of the brand you can justify a proposal which appear to be nonsense (apparently). There are many possible references: historical, cultural... It is important that these references can be understood by everyone, not only by the one who thought it.

4. Complete (with the tagline)

The tag-line can be a natural answer to the name by "explaining" and "clarifying" some meanings. It can also represent the company's mission. In some cases the tag-line has the same importance of the logo icon. Think about famous cases like "Just do it" Nike, the "Connecting People" by Nokia, the "Impossible is nothing" by Adidas and so on.

5. International

Thanks to the web a brand can be seen and read by customers with completely different cultures and nationalities. It is necessary to ask what’s the meaning of the name in other languages. If you are opening a small shop on the corner, this would not be a problem, but today also a farmer can buy and sell products around the world (thanks to Internet). So you should be more careful than before.

6. It should not age quickly

While you’re looking for ideas to your brand name is important not to be very close to short-lived concepts which are the fashion today, but tomorrow? The name might be old even before completing the brand identity and launch the product on the market.

7. Fits within company's vision

Even if you do not have 20 years of history behind you brand, the tone that you want to give to the corporate image should be clear from the choice of the name. Serious or ironic, reliable or provocative, engaging or institutional ... the name should reflect one of these features and will be the first and fundamental element on which create all the brand identity.

8. Grammatically attractive

A name can incorporate many elements to tease the curiosity, and among them you can use different grammatical tips. For example, the alliteration, as in the case of Coca-Cola, Kit Kat, or you can find / create a name palindrome (not that easy but with results like "Civic" by Hyundai, the famous "M&M", or the insurance company "AXA"). You can also try to use the onomatopoeia (e.g. as "Yahoo", "Twitter") or the rhymes (including name and tagline) or neologisms where (almost) everything is allowed.