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What’s in a name?

The Founder Institute Barcelona

Michael Clark

May 28, 2013

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While naming and branding are important…

Building a product worth branding should

be your top priority.

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Why a name matters

• Your name is your consumers first impression

• Know who those consumers are

• Easier marketing

– You can market to what you solve not how to spell your

name

– Your name can convey your solution before having to

explain what you do

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Watch Trends

Don’t start when the wave has already passed.Being ahead is not good either.

Be Here! Not Here!

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Brainstorming a name

• Make lists, lots of lists

– Values

– Actions

– Adjectives– Places

• Build metaphors for what you do, it’ll help

• Combine elements of your lists and your metaphor

http://www.panabee.com/ http://www.bustaname.com/

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What should I avoid?

• Anything your audience won’t

understand

• International TLD’s – ask the .ly’s

how that went for them ;-)• Misspelling – whoever spells it right

will get your traffic

• Using names that have alternative

meanings in other languages

Barf means “snow” in Farsi 

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History of the name

• Before you go any further get some history

• Check for trademarks US and International

– http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/process/search/

– Read any similar names to see if they are related

– Ask your attorney

• Search the name

– Was it a spam domain in the past?

– What was it in the past?

– Look for skeletons in the closet

• Are the social network accounts available?

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Can your Grandma understand it?

• Use the Grandma litmus test, if 

she can get it… anyone can

• Explain the same concept to her

3 different ways (techie,

business terms, and dumb it

down as much as you can)

• Ask her how she would describe

it to her bridge club

I think my dad still thinks I fix video cameras

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Ask the crowd

• Test, Test, then Test some

more

• Compare your final name

to the values you

brainstormed ( + or - )

• Compare to other brands

• Ask for demo information

 Test it Online

Build the test

 Test it Offline

Google Insights

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Now you’ve got a name

• Submit a trademark

• Put up a placeholder page (coming soon)

– http://launchrock.com

• Forward the emails for the domain (look for more

skeletons)

• Grab the name on social networks (even less popular

sites)

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Logos - One size fits most

• It’s not just about your web page

• How you will use it on;

Image source: http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=29699

Facebook

Twitter 

t-shirt

favicon

Your Web Page

Tradeshow Banner 

Sticker for your computer 

The wall in your of fice

Business Cards

Banner ads

Facebook Ads

Press Artic le

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Logos - try it yourself first

• You don’t have to master

photoshop to see what you like

• Download some extra fonts and

use word or powerpoint and

type your name using lots of 

fonts

• What speaks to you? Your

customers? Grandma?

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Logo inspiration from “experts”

• Start simple and inexpensive

• Artist communities exist to

compete to help with logo design

• Request multiple sizes and color

palettes as well

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A great brand starting point

Term Definition

MantraA short 3-4 word description of what

your company does. It's a rally cry.

Purpose StatementA broad and inspirational statement

that gives the business a sense of 

direction. This may be unachievable,

but it's a motivation for employees.

It doesn't have to be flashy.

Mission StatementA single sentence that is tangible and

has a specific goal. It should verge on

unreasonable, but it's got to connect

with employees.

Vision Statement The tangible result of your

mission.

Positioning Statement A focused statement that

identifies how your product or

service is different from your

competitors.

Proof Points Simple one line statements that

prove your positioning statement.

 Article can be found: http://www.zurb.com/article/263/the-dreadful-mission-statement

Bryan Zmijewski and Jeremy Bri tton @ Zurb.com

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Branding’s not just external

• What you do with your branding helps give your

entire team a common understanding of what

they’re building

• Your brand should tell your story for you, so you can

get to work building it

• Re-examine your branding regularly; have product

changes effected your branding?

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Finding Me

http://www.linkedin.com/in/mpclark

http://facebook.com/mpclark3

@mpclark3

mike@clark.st