It’s all in the name…
Just how important is the name of your company? I’d say pretty important. Probably not worth agonising over for six months (is anything??), but worth getting right. After all, once you’ve chosen your business name it’s quite hard to change your mind.
Broadly speaking you can put company names into three categories and if you’re struggling with your company name then I hope that these give you a little inspiration and insight into what will work well for you.
Inspired by your name: Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Michael Page Recruitment (and at the less salubrious end of the spectrum DC Tiles, LMS Services) – this says very little about your business activity, but if you’re an expert in your field can work well in your favour, and also doesn’t tie you into one market too heavily.
What it does: printing.com, Wash and Go shampoo, Tilestore, Bathstore, Toys R Us. Great for communicating your products and services (provided that the name covers all of your services). On the downside, makes it much harder for you to market anything else that you do – for example, the name printing.com doesn’t suggest that we are branding and marketing experts. That has to come from other sources like this blog and our marketing literature.
Random: Flujo, Purple Door, Oasis, Monsoon. These names don’t tell the reader what you do, but they do evoke a strong sense about them, provided that the reader understands of course! Often the most fun to design logos for because the brand is all about the feelings and associations rather than the product.
