How to pick a product name that fits and can last its lifetime?

Over the last couple of years, I’ve had the opportunity to participate in numerous naming exercises for some very unique products — of different launch sizes, serving dissimilar audiences, and at different stages of the company’s maturity. In this article, we’re going to look at top things to keep in mind when it comes to naming a product.

The perils of picking a poor name are numerous and probably warrant a separate article in itself. But for now, how do you pick something that is just perfect for your product, and that you can use (lawfully)?

Here are some things to keep in mind:

1] List product values. It is imperative that you have the answers to who the product is for (your buyer personas), what they care about (their challenges), and the value your product provides.

2] Define naming criteria. Depending on where your company is in its stage of maturity, you may have several criteria:

• Choose names that are descriptive or self-explanatory as opposed to opaque (proper nouns tend to be opaque). Larger companies that have made a name for themselves have more luxury to experiment with “marketing” (opaque) names.
• Pick names that fit your portfolio of products but still maintain differentiation. The names should indicate that they belong to the same family (like children of a family with different names but the same last name).

3] Source names. This is a perfect whiteboarding exercise with your team— nothing can be more fun to do on a Friday afternoon. If you have the time (and $), you could even run an internal contest to crowdsource more options. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to reach 100+ options when at the start of this exercise you felt like it would be hard to come up with even three.

4] Narrow w/ the “sentence” filter. First, narrow down your 100+ to maybe 10+ top favorites — you could vote with your immediate team. Next, and more importantly, apply this litmus test to your shortlist — try using the names in a sentence indicating their value or usage (from 1). Ex: We’ll get up to speed on how to code with “Acme Launchpad”. This should flow naturally; indicating that someday, your customers will probably say this sentence just as naturally.

5] Get exec and legal buy-in. Now I know this can be the hardest part, so start with both processes in parallel. Have legal do trademark checks on your top three options while you send the same three options and the reasons behind your choices to your executives. Hint: List your options from least favorite to most. ;)

6] A name lasts a lifetime. Once you’ve settled on a name, say “no” to further changes. The product should hold the same name for its lifetime. From my experience, even “working names” tend to get sticky and tough to break away from. And, from a customer POV, changes lead to confusion.

I’d love to hear your experiences with product naming.

Cheers!