Names Matter
You know this. I know you know this. But I’m going to say it anyway. Names matter. They matter a good deal.
Last week I was driving down the highway behind a big RV. On the back was the name of the vehicle in big, bold letters: INTRUDER. I thought maybe it was a joke, maybe I was missing something. I checked the dictionary. I thought of all possible scenarios where an RV might be used, thinking that the name “Intruder” might make sense in at least one of these scenarios. Nope. This is just an awful name. When you go camping you do so for the peace and quiet it offers. You don’t want an intruder of any sort to ruin that peace. I researched the company today and found that it wised up and is no longer making this line of RVs.
There are a lot of bad business names out there, including plenty of terrible band names. When thinking of a name, in addition to the legals checks, I’d recommend the following:
- Check it over with people who’s opinion you trust and who will cut it straight with you.
- Look it up in the dictionary to see if it makes sense for your application.
- Brainstorm a list of possibilities, keep this list and look at it occasionally, allow the best to show itself.
- Think long term. Be sure the name will fit various forms of your business in the future.
Idea: One creative naming solution friends and I have used is a tournament bracket. Anytime we came up with a name we liked, we added it to a tournament bracket (like this). We ended up with hundreds of names. Each week we would go through the brackets and compare two names at a time against each other (as if they were competing in a game). The winning name would advance to the next round. This continued to the final four and then the championship where the final winner emerged. In each round there would be a few of us voting on our favorite name so it insured that the final winner only got there through team effort. It was a fun way to go about creating a name. We ultimately used 4 of these names for various musical projects or businesses.
Whatever method you use, don’t rush the decision and ultimately try to find the name that you love. Then use it.
The tournament bracket idea is just what http://www.ourstage.com does with musical acts, pitting two songs at a time…. and eventually battling it out for the best of the bunch.
The car industry seems to be quite prone to name-gaffes… for some reason they always seem to get stuck with names that have a sexual double-meaning…
Years back Mitsubishi launched the Pajero… remember that one? Well.. in Spain and Latin America pajero is what you would call someone whose main activity is “self-gratification” (if you know what I mean).
Also remember the MR2 in France… Enmerdeux… not precisely a name to be proud of..
As for the Intruder… well… ehem…
It’s a make or break deal, the right name can immediately tell people what to expect from your band, book, or product. It should evoke mental imagery.
I found you through Seth. A couple of days ago you send an email telling us about you and wanting to know us.
Well, I am a guy that has figured out a simpler way of how to teach people to hit a golf ball. There is one “Key” difference between guys how can strike a ball well and those who can’t. And, that is where they release the club. What is cool about it is once someone realizes this their ball striking ability will improve very quickly.
Now I am going through the process of trying to invite people to my door. Because, they surely aren’t beating a path to it, yet.
I enjoy your style and your insight. Keep up the good work and Thank You!!
Elizabeth~ Thanks for the reference.
Ivan~ Good to hear from you again! When I was writing this post I was thinking about the classic story of Chevy marketing the “NoVa” in South America and how it didn’t work. I did some research and found out that was a myth. I’m glad to know there are some other good gaffes though! Thanks for sharing those.
Jez~ Nice to hear from you again as well! Mental imagery. I like that.
Lance~ Thanks for the story! It’s nice to meet you. I’ll drop you an email as well.
If the only path to success involved picking names that made sense, then how did these companies ever get off the ground?
* Starbucks – the first mate in Herman Mellville’s “Moby Dick”
* Old Navy – crusty sailors
* Amazon – a jungle, river, rainforest
* Apple – a fruit
* Gap – distance between things
* Kodak – made-up word
It would seem that some of the most successful brands in the world have opted to go 180° in the opposite direction by picking names that have *nothing* to do with their respective industries/categories.
Also, I go camping to get away from it all and enjoy some peace (as you do), but not everyone is like us. There are a lot of dudes who love going out in the woods to tear it up — motobikes, snow mobiles, guns and beer. These guys ride Grizzly 4×4 ATVs and take their 20′ Avenger out fishing. I imagine they don’t think twice about kicking back in their Intruder after gutting a deer.
Hi some thoughts on names…
Ivan is right. There have been many translation mistakes over the years. The link below will give you a few. (and some laughs)…
http://www.i18nguy.com/translations.html
I once visited a store in Sweden and found a cheesy snack (like Cheetos) called Plop!
(exclamation point was included). My guess is that it did not achieve high volumes of export sales.
So if you are thinking about going international (or cross-cultural) you might want to check out the name in some key languages – Spanish/Portuguese, French, Japanese, German – depending on the genre.
Another issue is about recall. Getting something lodged in the brain is a lot to do with creating an associative pathway. To do this you need repetition and/or impact. And, of course, strong associative sensory input (picture, feeling/emotion) and a compelling story are incredibly important to make the name ‘sticky’.
But take care – does the name bear repetition? If you base the name on a pun – the joke can get old really fast. Impact – should be about meaning not simply a shock tactic. Its only shocking once – then it can just become annoying/offensive (unless you are deliberately setting out to limit your audience to 14 year old boys).
A few words about pronunciation/spelling. Why make it difficult for people to spread the word. By people I mean e.g. Radio DJs, Company execs. Promoters and, of course, the fans. By way of an example here is a liner note from Joe Bonamassa’s latest CD Black Rock. And I quote “To my fans……. It never ceases to amaze me how far you all will go spread my name around. Especially because I know you all have to sound out BOHN-NAH-MAH-SAH every time you’re explaining to people how to pronounce it……..”
Joe has stuck with his name. And I know there is an argument that says simply by the act of spelling it out you make it memorable. However, this assumes somebody is engaged enough to bother spelling it out. All I am saying is give your name a chance…if you can.
If you have the money to create impact or repetition or have a great story you can over come a difficult name. I suspect Robert Zimmerman would have succeeded anyway. Talent will out…
If you are lucky the name quickly looses it actual meaning and simple becomes the label that triggers the associative link to the part(s) of the brain that store all the good stuff about you and your music. U2 is no longer a spy plane. Queen is no longer The Queen. Nirvana is no longer simply a Sanskrit word for freedom from suffering
Oh yes, …The brackets game. It is a good way to get rid of the rubbish names but please leave room for inspiration and intuition. After all, who would have thought Led Zeppelin would work?
Ultimately a great band that have something to say, will succeed with an average name. However, the best name in the World will not make up for lack of meaning. Santana is not a particularly memorable name but the fact their music means something to people counts…
Cheers Guys
Jeffry and Chris~ Thanks for your thoughts!